Tons of Bob White questions for a newbie.

[BJ_BOBBI_JO]

So here goes all my bob white quail questions:

---about how many eggs a year do they lay? (even though the eggs are small Id still like them for food if they lay a lot like chickens do)

---do the bob white hens need a male in order to have eggs or are they like chickens and dont need males?

---how well do they do in the northern bitter cold awful winters?

---if one has more then 1 male in a pen do the males fight each other like roosters do?

---do bob whites have a pecking order like chickens?

---I know the sound they make, but do they make that sound often like roosters crow all day and night? How noisey/loud are they, like are they loud enough to disturb neighbors?

---how well do they handle having children hold them often? (not super young kids that would literally squeeze them to death. I mean older kids)

---other then swap meets is there anywhere online where one can buy them in small amounts instead of those large runs?

I know all about chickens and have had them off and on all of my life. In November we had to move from our country chicken farm and into a house in the city (small city).

We were able to find a good home for our poultry where they can free range and not be butchered and we get to go visit them often.

We had to move due to health issues causing loads of trouble and money issues.

We really miss having poultry. Miss holding them and being around them daily.

I am looking into Bob Whites. Since they are a "caged" bird I could get away with having them in my fenced in back yard in the city.

Thank you for answering my questions

 

[TwoCrows]

So here goes all my bob white quail questions:

---about how many eggs a year do they lay? (even though the eggs are small Id still like them for food if they lay a lot like chickens do) A healthy hen will lay approximately 4 or 5 eggs a week.

---do the bob white hens need a male in order to have eggs or are they like chickens and dont need males? Hens will lay without males around, just as chickens.

---how well do they do in the northern bitter cold awful winters? Bobs do extremely well in bitter cold temps. My crew has lived thru minus 30 degrees for 3 straight days, although my policy is, if it is going to get below 0, then I use an infra red heat lamp to add some heat. Always provide a good shelter if you live in areas of cold winds and snows.

---if one has more then 1 male in a pen do the males fight each other like roosters do? During the off breeding season, Oct thru March, you can keep all your Bobs happily together. However during the breeding season of April thru Sept, the birds need to be paired off one male to one female and kept separate from each other. Bobs are brutal to each other for territory. They will need about 4 square foot per bird, or 8 square feet per pair. The males will fight with each other, however the females tend to be worse than the males and can kill other females if these girls get near their men.

---do bob whites have a pecking order like chickens? Yes, there is a pecking order amongst the males and the females, however the lead male is generally the leader of all of them.

---I know the sound they make, but do they make that sound often like roosters crow all day and night? How noisey/loud are they, like are they loud enough to disturb neighbors? Mated pairs of Bobs are pretty quiet. A handful of Bobwhites can nearly go unnoticed by your neighbors. However if you have a lone male, he will call quite frequently and loudly. Lone females will also call, but not quite as loud as the males.

---how well do they handle having children hold them often? (not super young kids that would literally squeeze them to death. I mean older kids) You can NOT hold Bobwhites. This is very stressful on them and they should be handled as little as possible. Now, they can be tame enough, if you work with them as babies, to hand feed from your hands and they will look forward to any treats you might have for them. But for the most part, they are pretty aloof.

---other then swap meets is there anywhere online where one can buy them in small amounts instead of those large runs? You can check craigslist, search around for quail farms in your area, look here in the archives at the top of the quail pages in the stickies and there is a breeders directory, or you can even hatch a certain amount of eggs from hatcheries or private breeders.

I know all about chickens and have had them off and on all of my life. In November we had to move from our country chicken farm and into a house in the city (small city).

We were able to find a good home for our poultry where they can free range and not be butchered and we get to go visit them often.

We had to move due to health issues causing loads of trouble and money issues.

We really miss having poultry. Miss holding them and being around them daily.

I am looking into Bob Whites. Since they are a "caged" bird I could get away with having them in my fenced in back yard in the city.

Thank you for answering my questions

I hope I have answered your questions here. I keep Bobwhites and chickens and I have to say that they both are quite interesting to keep. You can raise Bobs in cages or pens as they are called, rabbit hutches or even aviary style set ups. They require quite a bit of room as they are large, energetic and need room to move. They do not make good pets as far as holding and some of them are pretty skiddish. So don't be disappointed if they do not warm up to you. If you start with chicks and handle them to death, they will grow up to be more friendly than most Bobs. They will hand feed, enjoy treats and can even learn their names if worked with enough. I have "clicker" trained mine to go into their coop on bitter cold days or nights. Enjoy your quail adventures!

 

[Woofless]

TwoCrows gave you excellent information. I will say however, my experience has differed greatly as far as having to "seperate" pairs of birds during breeding season. I keep at least 25 to 50 birds penned together year-round and never have any issues with fighting, certainly not with them killing each other. I put plenty of alfalfa in their pen, which seems to keep feather picking to a minimum.

Your mileage may vary of course, there may be other factors that make a difference in bird behavior. But I raise a few thousand quail & chukar every year and personally haven't seen that issue here. Maybe cautiously observe the birds' behavior and seperate if there does become a problem.

Just figured I'd share my experience, enjoy your birds, I for one absolutely love hearing the bobwhite call when I am outside working

 

[UndergroundQuailRoad]

I would build on woofless's sentiments, fighting generally occurs in my experience when there is a diminished amount of resources (space, food, mates). Providing suitable resources leads to a happy pen. Further, bobs that were raised together generally get along. If you hatch them together, they think their situation is normal. Be more aware when introducing new birds to the flock.

 

[Terri O]

I have both Bobs and Cots and if you got cots they can be hand tame and dont stress out. They also dont fly as well so if one got away from you it would be easy to catch it again! HTH--TerriO

 

[James the Bald]

You must forgive me, but I was wondering as to why you "chose" Bob Whites? Years ago, I had great dreams of raising wild turkey, for personal consumption. The more I read about them, the more disappointed I was to learn that there were state regulations pertaining to raising, breeding and owning wild game animals. Where you live, you will be required to have a Game Breeders License.
I apologize if I have offended you by tossing this out there, but I wouldn't want you to be set on Bob Whites when there are other Quail species out there such as Buttonquail, Coturnix and Gamble quail that have fewer restrictions.
The great thing is that you know where to ask questions, and there are plenty of experienced people here to help you.

And for what it's worth, I still wish to raise wild turkey, but in the meantime, I am in the planning stages of building my own pens for Coturnix quail, and when I have one built, I will move foreward and purchase some eggs. When I get confident enough, I may end up filing for a breeders license and raising wild turkey.

 

[Terri O]

Hey James...good point about the game license. Just dont go raising any wild turkey in my neck of the woods! We are overrun with them here! TerriO

 

[Woofless]

James does bring up a good point! While the Indiana license requirements appear to be pretty simple, the license is very affordable, and you shouldn't let it scare you off if you REALLY want Bobs....I also think it's pretty cool there's a whole array of other quail species that apparently Indiana doesn't regulate....makes things more fun at the hobbyist level!

Every state is different and a lot of places require a license for *all* species of quail, pheasant, partridge, etc...my state included. A lot of hobbyists are understandably put off by the idea of having to jump through hoops and pay for licenses, when they simply want a few quail in a backyard pen for their own enjoyment. You are fortunate that you'd be able to have your cake and eat it too, if you wanted quail but preferred not to mess with the licensing.

Of course, like I said, if you DO want Bobwhites, don't be afraid of the whole license thing as it is very easy to deal with.....Just from reading over Indiana's regulations, I'd bet the whole process might take up a half-hour of your time, once a year, and it's $15. Most of what I read is similar to my state's, only I pay $50 yearly for a commercial sales license and it maybe takes me 45 minutes to fill out my sales report at the end of the year lol. The only part I'm not sure about is the "each enclosure must be inspected by a conservation officer" thing...we don't have that here, but you can call & talk to the DNR with any questions. This link has the regulations spelled out in plain language, (it's written for a 4-H program, DNR phone number at bottom).
http://www.four-h.purdue.edu/natura...R/Indiana Game Bird Licensing Information.pdf