My first quail!

[Nyctra]

I got my 20 chicks a few weeks ago! There seems to be 8 or 9 roosters and the rest are hens. I'd like to keep one or both of the two golden roos. There's just one golden hen. They've grown so fast!
I estimate they hit 4 weeks on the 21st, give or take a couple days. I don't know their exact hatch date, and I'm really just guessing their age based on a sexing video that happened to show a few chicks.

 

[alforddm]

Wow! What lovely birds. Why do you all have to have such lovely birds? Hubby is not going to like y'all very much. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Zass]

My adult birds live loose on the rabbitry floor. I really like them.

 

[Nyctra]

I've been thinking of putting wire around my rabbit shed so I could let them run loose in there when they grow up. Would sure look nicer than more animals in cages.

 

[Zass]

I've been thinking of putting wire around my rabbit shed so I could let them run loose in there when they grow up. Would sure look nicer than more animals in cages.

My two males still fought with about 80 sq ft of floor space that was broken up by rabbit cages objects and had a separate 8 sq foot hen house.

I think 4 females wasn't enough, or males are just brutal to each other. One of the two.

One male with 4 females solved the problem pretty quickly.

 

[alforddm]

Do you eat the quail eggs?

 

[Zass]

I do! There are not too many with just 4 hens, so a friend is testing out her new incubator with about a dozen of their eggs. Theoretically, I should have some more chicks soon.

They do make a nice alternative to chickens, since even the roos are less noisy than my hens were, and they are easier to confine. I always hated confining my chickens.

 

[Dood]

My male quail get along fine, I keep 2 to 3 boys to 10 girls in 48x24 cages.

Last year I put the 4 week olds in my rabbit room to grow out but with the ermine moved in I'm not so sure I'll do it this time, maybe I'll test it out with a couple small males and see if the weasel has a go at them.

Your yellows are a darker more caramel colour than mine, other modifiers at work :shrug: I've test bred mine and they are dominant yellow but I've also gotten a couple recessive yellows/fawns from my flock

I MUCH prefer quail to chickens, they smell better (at least IMHO) are more loveable :mrgreen: they are just so clueless you cannot help but feel nurturing towards them, their sounds are more soothing and their antics are endlessly entertaining - their frenzied "good morning sunshine" dances when I turn on their lights, the way they bob at the door when they see their dust bath box and scramble to be the first one in - just adorable little birds in general

 

[karebru]

Too cool!
I seriously considered quail after getting rid of my "undocumented" chicken flock. (county ordinance) Then I found out that for quail to be legal, I'd need to be on land zoned for it and have a permit to keep wildlife. :?
Don't know if my bunnies are legal... Don't care.

They do make a nice alternative to chickens, since even the roos are less noisy than my hens were, and they are easier to confine. I always hated confining my chickens.

I always wanted to free-range my chickens, but didn't dare let 20 "illegals" run around the yard.
Beautiful quail! Maybe some day... :up:

 

[Zass]

have a permit to keep wildlife

Coturnix are not wild type of quail in the US, they are a domestic fowl and typically would not require a wildlife permit, since they are a non-native species.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_quail

I'm guessing that you were looking into raising one of the US native species?

 

[karebru]

have a permit to keep wildlife

Coturnix are not wild type of quail in the US, they are a domestic fowl and typically would not require a wildlife permit, since they are a non-native species.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_quail

I'm guessing that you were looking into raising one of the US native species?

Yeah, Bobwhites.
The woods around here were loaded with them, not that long ago. Now they're a rare sight.

 

[funnies50]

Your chicks are very adorable

 

[Celice]

cool! I had bob whites for a little while but they were so LOUD! I had to get rid of them. I'll try with pheasants next...

 

[GBov]

Beautiful birds, I love all the colors they come in.

My little flock has FINALLY started laying, only 8 WEEKS late :roll: but better late than never. Well, for them at least :lol: they were about to hit freezer camp next week once the great bunny butcher session is finished.

So a bowl of eggs on the table is waiting for a few more to join them for a test hatch.

In Florida you don't need a license until you hit the magic number of 50 and the noise of them just blends in with all the other wildlife, even in a neighborhood.

Great stealth livestock. :twisted:

 

[karebru]

In Florida you don't need a license until you hit the magic number of 50 and the noise of them just blends in with all the other wildlife, even in a neighborhood. Great stealth livestock. :twisted:

50? Must have missed that part. 50 seems easy enough to accidentally exceed, though, since they're not that big.
Just what I need. Another flock, herd, school pack or covey of something to care for. Meanwhile, the house isn't getting painted... The trees aren't getting trimmed... Mom (Rest her soul.) always said, (In a not necessarily positive way.) that I had a farmer's heart. :farmer2: I must resist! (For now.)

 

[Susie570]

Solo... since I'm building an outside bunny shed.... what is the benefit to having quail under the bunny cages?

I plan on having slant board & gutter system, so hopefully not much lost berries on the ground.

The shed will be about 5' x 14'

 

[Dood]

They LOVE eating bugs and if you're prone to flies or maggots in your rabbit poop they'll dine on them.

I only get tiny black fungus gnats in July to Sept but they scratch up the bedding and pick out the maggots as best as they can and go into hyena mode if a bigger stable fly wanders into the rabbit barn

 

[Susie570]

They LOVE eating bugs and if you're prone to flies or maggots in your rabbit poop they'll dine on them.

I only get tiny black fungus gnats in July to Sept but they scratch up the bedding and pick out the maggots as best as they can and go into hyena mode if a bigger stable fly wanders into the rabbit barn

Are they pretty quiet and clean? Weather considerations?

Edit: my boyfriend is going to KILL me... :roll:

 

[Dood]

I keep my breeders in old rabbit cages with wire floors since they do like to dust bath and I dont want them rolling around in wood shavings mixed with poop :x

The ones loose in the 10x10 rabbit barn are youngesters destined for sale or dinner and they have a specific corner of peat moss to dust bathe in

The males crow and the hens coo but they sound like song birds and not the cackle of a chicken

They get chilled easily, don't do well with too much dampness and need an area with reasonable ventilation. They won't brood eggs so you need an incubator if you want to hatch any out and the chicks are very delicate and need heat for at least a week or so and until they are more feathered

I've got jumbos that are 12 oz as adults and 8 oz at 6 weeks they grow like weeds and need a high protein diet to maximize growth or if you're supplementing with bugs and worms you can get away with feeding a chicken mash - the seed mixes are too big for babies and even my adult birds are not a fan of eating them.

 

[Honey]

Pretty birds! Are they golden catourniques (spelling)?

My girlfriend is trying to talk me into quail instead of chickens. I just like my eggs to big enough to get a few bites out of rather than the whole thing a bite.

What have you noticed that's different/better or worse) than having chickens?

Honey