Went to the Auction and my DH bought Quail...what do I do????

[rcentner]

Hi,

long time chicken mama here....see the title? what do I feed them? According to my DH they will do just fine with the chickens, they did fine yesterday with them.
Do quail get mycoplasma? Mareks? any other diseases I should know about?
Can quail take denagard?

I have a bad feeling....I am thinking these poor quail just might not make it with all the stuff I have going on with the chickens...
any advice is MUCH needed!

HELP!

I have 2 male bob whites, 4 female bob whites, 4 cortunix and 1 white one (I think a cortunix as well). They are cute! and I love the noises they make.

however....this may be the last auction I take my DH to...he just doesn't think about things like disease...he seems to forget that we have the MG or his brain just doesn't think like that..maybe next auction I will remind him about that if he doesn't buy birds when I go to the bathroom!

 

[BirdCrazyLady]

I once had an adult quail get out of the pen, and when my free range roosters caught sight of him, they went all crazy and attacked him, barely caught him alive. He was pretty torn up. I have also had a 1 week old fly out of the brooder ( while I was turned and scooping feed) next thing I know there was a commotion in my Cochin pen and they literally had Eaten that one. So it's crazy to me that yours are co- habitating. But maybe your penned chickens are not as protective as my free range Roos. Though my Cochins are very sweet, but maybe they thought that little quail was a bug! Who knows. Best of luck to you!

Oh and I feed mine game bird starter( in crumbles) they need a much higher protein then layer feed.

 

[rcentner]

My flock has a bunch of chicks right now so I think the chickens just think they are more chicks, it sure is cute to see the chicks and the quail hanging out together
they seem to be eating the chick food I bought...hopefully it's not bad for them cuz it's medicated.
I am sure I will learn the hard way like I usually do on what not to do with a quail

 

[devinthesaint]

Sometimes chickens can transfer disease to game birds. I always separate mine, but some people keep them together just fine. They need turkey/gamebird starter and that's it. They love dirt and bathe in it all day, so either make an aviary where they can have the ground or keep them in a suspended rabbit cage with a dirt bath. If the cage is too high they can fly up fast when scared and break their necks (I guess, never seen that happen though). Predators are more of a problem because of their size. I think you might separate them because if the chickens get hungry they might see them as a meal.

Other than that they have been very easy to raise, for me, and they're really cute too. Oh yea and the white one is probably a Texas A&M. They are genetically the same a Coturnix but they have white meat instead of dark.

Good Luck!!!

 

[rcentner]

Thanks! They are thoroughly enjoying the nice dust area that my chickens have. We just built a new run last weekend so it really is perfect timing to get small birds. We used rabbit wire on the bottom so the chicks would stay in.
My chickens never get hungry...spoiled things!
I am gonna search and see what I can find about them

 

[bingrancher]

Id separate them from the chickens because of diseases. Chickens caring things that might not bother them but can kill quail, and Ive talked to many people and they dont keep bobwhites with coturnix because bobs are a bit bigger and can bully cots. Definately get them gamebird feed tho like the posts above said. Id also consider putting 1 male bob with 2 females in their own pen unless you can give plenty of room for them to roam.

 

[MaaanMaaai]

Seperate them. Diseases can kill the quail. Also DO NOT feed them medicated chick feed. It is harmful to them

 

[_Randall_]

Seperate them. Diseases can kill the quail. Also DO NOT feed them medicated chick feed. It is harmful to them

Really? Please educate me on the harm of feeding medicated chick feed.

 

[MaaanMaaai]

Medicated feed is too much for them. Their livers can't process it well and it does not have enough protein. Switch to gamebird starter

 

[_Randall_]

Medicated feed is too much for them. Their livers can't process it well and it does not have enough protein. Switch to gamebird starter

Are you talking medicated "chick (as in chicken) feed" or "Game Bird Chick Starter"? Speaking solely for Nutrena (Medicated) Quail & Turkey Starter (30% protein), I raise hundreds of Bobs each year and the first bite of food they get right out of the bator is this feed, and they don't get anything except that for the fist 12 weeks of their life. Short of some super-dooper steroid, I couldn't imagine a feed that would make the grow any quicker, and be any healthier. And another fact about a medicated game-bird feed "myth": It does not cause sterility, at least that I can detect! I hatch living proof yearly, and with very good hatch rates.