When to kick them out of the brooder?

[oktx]

I have 7 11-day-old chicks in my brooder right now. The problem is that I have another hatch due in about a week and a half (April 22). I am planning to build a grow out pen for them this weekend that would be inside. My question is: is 3 weeks too soon to kick them out of the brooder so the new ones can occupy it? I do have a smaller brooder I can use for the new ones if I absolutely have to but the ideal for me would be putting the new ones in the larger brooder after 2-3 days.

 

[Zanna]

I have 7 11-day-old chicks in my brooder right now. The problem is that I have another hatch due in about a week and a half (April 22). I am planning to build a grow out pen for them this weekend that would be inside. My question is: is 3 weeks too soon to kick them out of the brooder so the new ones can occupy it? I do have a smaller brooder I can use for the new ones if I absolutely have to but the ideal for me would be putting the new ones in the larger brooder after 2-3 days.

They should be fine in an inside grow out pen but they should still have a heat source for another week or so. General rule is no more heat after they are fully feathered which is usually 4 - 5 weeks old. I have two large brooders in a horse stall outside. My chicks are fully feathered at 4 weeks, then I take the heat source away, (I use ecoglo's). At five weeks old they go into the big girls coop outside even in the winter. I have roosts in their brooders which they start using in the daytime at about 2 weeks old. By five weeks they are roosting at night as well and make the transition to the big coop well.

Oh, so sorry, just realized you were speaking Quail, not chickens! I really don't know about the quail, raised some about 5 years ago and don't remember what I did..........
Hopefully someone else will come along with advise!

 

[underground chickenman]

If you can keep a heat source on them, you can move them outside. I'm in Florida and our nights are still in the upper 60's. That's too cool if they haven't grown out their feathers. The rule of thumb is start your brooder at 95-97F and drop it 5 degrees per week until fully feathered at about 4 weeks. Factor that into your outside temps and if you can keep the temps in range and the pen out of drafts, go for it.

 

[oktx]

If you can keep a heat source on them, you can move them outside. I'm in Florida and our nights are still in the upper 60's. That's too cool if they haven't grown out their feathers. The rule of thumb is start your brooder at 95-97F and drop it 5 degrees per week until fully feathered at about 4 weeks. Factor that into your outside temps and if you can keep the temps in range and the pen out of drafts, go for it.

Our nights are still in the 30's and 40's because of this weird late Spring we are experiencing around here. I'm going to build the grow-out pen with solid bottom, top, back and sides with only the front open and a small space for a heat lamp on the top of one side. I was going to have the grow out pens in my workshop behind my garage. I can put a space heater in that room to keep it warm and there is no draft with the doors closed. The workshop does have a heater and a/c but unfortunately we don't know how to turn them on since the previous owner seemed to be an electrician with a ... let's call it "unique" ... sense of how to do things. After 4 years of living here, we still have some switches that we have no idea what they are supposed to do.

 

[laseterlass]

Ha. Mean old me. Its darn near 0 at night here. I keep it heated to 35. During the day it climbs to 50. They climb into a bin with straw and a light to sleep There is 74 of them and they are doing great. They go out at 3 weeks.

 

[Smilin01]

How can you tell female from male? Quails that is.

 

[underground chickenman]

What kind of quail? They can all be vent sexed, but some can be identified by their feathers. For instance, in brown coturnix, the males have both spots and rust-colored feathers on their breasts and the females just have the spots and lighter feathers. There's a post on this forum that has some real good info about raising cots and ways to tell the sex. I am sure you can find it by searching for it.

 

[Smilin01]

They are Bobwhites. Also, how do you clip them to keep them from flying away?

 

[Quailsong]

They are Bobwhites. Also, how do you clip them to keep them from flying away?

Save the hassle and don't keep them in an open-top pen. If you miss one to clip or another's feathers regrow quickly you'll be missing a quail before you can think "Oh I should clip them again.."

 

[TonysChickens]

I recently kicked my 15 day old coturnix to the outside coop. They're fine. they huddle up at night and are moving about during the day. I think our nights are in the low 60s right now. I put them in two groups of about 10 each. They're doing fine. Its been 3 days now.