Why Quail?

[Valley quail breeder]

Nothing like a sunday cookout and a few Georgia Giant Bobwhites and some hot sauce watching the football games!!! Oh and a few budweizersssssssssss

 

[mhwc56]

i just started out with quail this year. I have Coturnix for the fun of it.

1) They ARE messy and definitely stink when they are on bedding . i like to keep the cages very clean so it takes time. i cover half of the bottoms of each cage with a few sheets of newspaper and each morning i just roll off a sheet and put it in the trash bag i keep handy.For the morning clean up (and feeding too) it takes about 30 minutes

2) Their cages are NOT expensive to make...just about 13.00 each.. The dimensions are 4 ft. X 2 ft. X1ft. high.
i use "J" clips and 1/2 " hardware cloth to put them together. They are in my shed 4 cages to a rack.

3)i haven't found their food to be too expensive ..i pay 11.00 for 50# that lasts my 2 dozen birds over 3 months. i also feed them scrambled eggs and chopped greens and fruits,leftover vegetables from our dinner ,that sort of thing.

4) My Coturnix are friendly enough that most of them will eat from my hands.
One of my males gets so excited when i show up that he starts crowing...it's the only time i ever hear him crow . So he 's either warning me off or greeting me and since he's 1 of the ones who likes to eat from my hand i'm opting for happy to see me.

also, i love to watch my birds . They are very entertaining. every morning after i feed them their treats and all they start popping and acting downright silly and joyous . loooooooove it !

in the end, no matter what anyone else says YOU are the one that has to live with the smell, mess and laughter ....and the meat and eggs if that's what you want ...from having them around so weigh the information that's been shared and if you decide that they are worth a try we wish you good fortune with them

 

[Rozzie]

My thoughts -- my experience is ONLY with Japanese Coturnix and Button Quail, so I can't comment on other types:

1. The Button Quail are pets, only. They are easy to take care of and super inexpensive to feed. After all, they are the size of a finch, so they don't eat too much. Cages will cost more if you have multiples as most people house these in pairs. (I still have some housed in small groups but am getting down to pairs with mine. I only have 2 pens with more than 2 birds in them. One of those pens is 16 square feet and has 1 male and 3 females. Button quail are especially problematic with the "boink" factor. Cages must be super short to keep them from committing suicide. Better still, short cages AND padded tops. If they get loose -- even inside -- they can be the very devil to catch. I had one get loose last week -- flew straight into the garage wall 15 feet away & nearly killed itself. It barely moved for the next 24 hours, but has recovered, thankfully, though it is most definitely NOT laying eggs now. There is some odor with these birds, but not horrid. They will need frequent bedding changes and should NOT be raised on wire. These should not have super high/low temps. They are not suitable for outdoor living, at least not in cold parts of the country. (Can't comment on hotter areas.)

2. The Coturnix "will" have some odor. I don't think it's possible to have them without "some" smell. However, this can be minimized. Lots of people raise them on wire. Mine are on bedding. This must be changed pretty often. I find that I have to change coturnix bedding every two weeks, unfortunately. (Hmmm. Must remember to go buy bedding this week.) They are good little egg layers and the tamest little things. I think the babies pop out of the shell already tame. Mine were RUNNING to climb on my hand within the first hours after they hatched and still are. They are such sweet things. They are really easy to take care of. They do eat and drink A LOT. My coturnix adults drink a cup of water a day EACH. I don't measure how much they eat but it is quite a bit.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I have Jumbo Browns and Jumbo Manchurian Golds for food and pretties. I have a few others in the bator now. We'll see.

I think the hard part is deciding which variety of quail you want to raise.
Then of course the reason for raising them will help in the deciding factor...

Might as well make up some cages and fire up the bator and order some eggs.
That's the only way you are going to find out what all the hoopla is about.

I'm thinking about adding Partridges to the menagerie. Who has Bamboo Partridges?
Talk about some pretty birds.

Just went out to collect eggs, and got to hear a M Gold breeder singing her happy song. That is another big reason to have the coturnix. cho cho cho ouo ouo.

 

[Stellar]

Quote:
Rozzie Kudos on the pairing up

 

[Wifezilla]

Expensive housing? Mine are in a remodeled dog kennel I got for free. They have a hutch I got for free as well. I did have to put up some walls inside the chainlink for wind block, but I used corrugated plastic. 3 sheets were $36. The roof is arched PVC with clear polycarb panels. That was more expensive. $96 for 4. There is some netting on the eves, but I had to buy that for the ducks pen to keep them from becoming hawk food. The quail used about $1 worth. I only have 7 quail in it now but could easily have many many more. I use deep litter so it seldom stinks. I do big cleanouts 4 times a year. The poopy straw goes in to the compost and then on the garden beds. They share a 50# bag of game bird feed with 7 ducks. I buy one a month. The eggs are beautiful and delicious. I almost hate to crack them open! They are like little works of art

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
Oh, I had planned to. It's just taking time to gather & build enough cages for as many as were given to me (plus the ones I've hatched out). The two groups of four are still doing well together, but they have 8 and 16 square feet, so they have plenty of room to roam. The ones with 16 square feet are going to be the very devil to catch when I move them. I need that cage for my coturnix babies in a few weeks.

 

[GBov]

8 coturnix quail fed two adults and three kiddies full to the bursting point when added to mashed potatoes, pan gravy and brussel sprouts. And that was with taking the breasts and legs off so still had the carcases to use for stock.

They are GREAT meat birds!!!

Very rich and yummy.

And the eggs are pretty good too (and yes, little works of art that are a joy to collect each day) although I did have to start having a bowl of water to dab my fingers in after fishing bits of egg shell out of my eggs. A little fiddly but well worth it.

Oh yes, the stinky thing. YES THEY CAN STINK! I keep mine on sand and if it starts raining and doesnt stop for a few days they dont half wiff

but I just dig out an inch or so and lay fresh sand. Have had to do it three times now and I got them in March.

But then again, our dog doesnt half stink when it starts to rain so why should birds be any different

I wouldnt keep any quail on wire but thats just me, its worth it to have a bit of extra cleaning to watch them popping in and out of grass clumps and hay bundles I put round the pen for them to lay in and is there anything to equal the pure joy of quail playing in the sand