What do I need to know?!!!

[kuchchicks]

I have had chickens for 7 years. I am pretty comfortable dealing with them, housing them, feeding them, emergencies, etc... but recently I hatched out a couple of quail... did not think the eggs were even fertile and surprise... they hatched. They are currently about a week and a half old. I have them in a little wire bird cage in my kitchen as they have started to fly and I cannot leave them in my box with my baby chicks. My questions are this: I am currently feeding them a "meat" bird started that is 22% protein and was recommended to me at the feed store (non-medicated)... any other suggestions? Second, when they are full grown is there any reason they cannot be housed with my silkies and polish? I have 2 Polish hens and a roo as well as 4 silkie hens and a roo. All of them are very docile so I thought they would be safe with them. Lastly, is there any thing else that I need to know about quail? This will probably be my only encounter with them. I don't believe I will hatch them again but these two are awesome. Very sweet and seem to fall asleep in my hand whenever I hold them.

 

[GitaBooks]

Sounds awesome!

Do you know if they are male or female? What species are they? Male quail, or so I've heard, are very aggressive. However, I bet you could keep docile female quail with your laid-back chicken breeds.
I've never had quail before, but I hear that bantam hens can be used to raise quail and have been used in this way for decades.

Best of luck!

 

[kingmt]

Get them away from the chickens. If they aren't already sick they will be. Always care for your quail first & wash well after carrying for the chickens. They can't be houses together.

22% isn't high enough protein for them. You will need about 28%.

You also can't keep only two quail together unless they are the same sex. You need 4 female to 1 male minimal. I keep them 6 to 1 myself. My males were very active. They worked hard at keeping all of their girls taken care of.

 

[cmobley]

I dunno if you have a tractor supply close by if you do look for a product called farmers helper its a high protein feed in a small bag in the chicken feed section add that to your other feed to boost protein percent or feed by itself. If you use a feed store get purina gamebird starter.