What type of poultry should I get? Give me your opinions.

[banter]

They are a rare breed of white duck with black, blue or chocolate splotches.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Anc/AnconaDuckFlock.JPEG

 

[banter]

I had an Ancona drake named Uno, (he had one black spot in the middle of hi forehead) who lived to be 13 year old, and only succumbed to a coyote!

 

[monarc23]

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Yay another quail admirer in the making!

They do well in the winters!

Very well. Though I do suggest that their enclosure be raised up off the ground atleast 2 feet. It helps keep them warmer than the temp on the ground.

They don't need heat, they just need an enclosure that keeps them out of drafts and the elements.

Sure I do (have pics of their set up):

This is facing front of their enclosure....the front of the cage there opens upwards...i dont reccomend this if you're making an enclosure for them as my quail love to plop out while I have it opened, they're dumb dumbs sometimes.

Then i have to stop what im doing and retrieve the escapees.

^ If you notice there's a hole in the back of the cage that's their indoor part, it's a solid wooden area, the floor is even solid. I feed them in here (and give htem water out in the front part- you can actually see the bowl i use...the yogurt bowl i sometimes pour water in too if im going somewhere over night, but if not i just fill up the solid blue bowl and it keeps them watered all day and all night) and it's just an extra area they can go to stay warmer if they need to.


This is a vid when the quails were about 4-5 weeks old out in the hutch I was feeding them by hand to show how friendly they are...if you notice too I'm having to shove some boogers back in that keep trying to sneak out the front he he. You can hear them peeping. that's pretty much their main noise is peeping, but they do a yelk call (not loud) when they're hungry it's adorable. Actually at the end of the video right after i say "alright who's splashing water" you'll hear one starting to yelk.

here's another vid them eating boiled eggs:
they were really young there too

By the way i fyou hear me talking toa "Pippin" that oranged legged lil one in there is not a coturnix it's a young button quail....she's a gorgeous pied adult hen now.

The male does make a loud call when calling hens, but he only does this during breeding season....I dont have a video clip of this yet because my quail were too young when breeding season was around, so I'll have to wait to video tape that when march rolls around

.

This is where I store thier oyster shell...as you can see a hen thinks it's a nice place to snuggle up in...all it is is a plastic rabbit continual feeder:

This is a vid from the first day i put the lil guys outside from being in the brooder...4 weeks old if im not mistaken:

A very bad angled pic from inside the wooden part of the hutch:

By the way the cage is wrapped in chicken wire, then I took hardware cloth and about 6 inches from the "floor" of the wire pen I put hardware cloth so no dumb dumbs stick their head through and accidentlaly hurt themselves somehow.

This is how they sound as babies:



The hutch that i have them in right now is to the right, the hanging pens to the left are what i'll have them sectioned off in in breeding groups for specific colors---but i'll still have many in the hutch too:

The only difference with the hutch now is that i have a very large heavy duty tarp over the entire thing...a 10ft long tarp it covers the wire nicely, down to the legs (which helps keeps drafts out).

Hope this helps some anymore questions just ask!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quick question monarc23...do you feed them chicken eggs, or does it matter?

Edit because my fingers and my brain are not working together very well tonight

 

[monarc23]

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LOL!

Yep just normal chicken eggs....some feed their quail their own boiled eggies too. Do whatever works best for you.

 

[chicken_angler]

I cant wait to get some quail. I remember seeing a place that sells them near me. After I get the hutch built, I am going to see if they are still selling them.

 

[monarc23]

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im excited for ya! I remember how excited i was when I was waiting on the eggs to arrive, and then the day they hatched, and now walking up everyday to feed them they make me laugh and smile...i love my lil dumb dumbs