Quail update

3892 Views 20 Replies 10 Participants Last post by PalmettoTree, Apr 26, 2014

Leon

Discussion Starter · Apr 18, 2014

I'm impressed.

The quail are indeed a viable alternative to chickens for small scenarios, hell even big scenarios these could be a great route to take for a prepper I know mine are. I've mentioned the ability to keep them indoors because of their cleanliness and that they are cheaper, but they are also cold hardy and just a simple easy alternative to chickens.

I've been eating the eggs, replacement for eggs check. They taste better and have all good cholesterol, you get about a teaspoon sized sunny side up. Made batter with it tonight. Much more gourmet than chicken I think and they fluff up and hold air well. You need to open them with a sharp knife, easy enough with a learning curve of 5 or so.

So the incubator build, what to say. It worked. It worked way way better than I thought. I have 22 chicks as of now and probably will see most of the remainder hatch. There's a lot of eggs in there still. I lost three chicks to the water bowl inside, dont understand how they managed to climb it but they went in. Then all the others started coming. 4, 3, 2, 2, 4, 3 just pumping them out. two are in there now pipping the shells so here come nightfall I am betting on seeing a few more before I hit the sack. So I've effectively doubled the size of my flock (covey) for almost no money in a turnover of around 19 days. In a month and a half, by the time summer is here, they'll be grown. That's impressive. I did lose one to a cooper's hawk, it stuck it's head out and the hawk grabbed it and killed it before I shood it off. BUT luckily now I have another possibly 20-30 to chose from for a replacement. I think I'll pack as many into the main population pens as I can and build some more space.

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1 - 20 of 21 Posts

jro1

· #2 · Apr 18, 2014

Mmm quail egg is one of my fav's, I get it all the time when we go out for sushi!!

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paraquack

· #3 · Apr 19, 2014

What kind of quail are you raising?

1skrewsloose

· #4 · Apr 19, 2014 (Edited)

What kind of permits are required to raise them? Here, folks raise pheasants and have to jump thru some hoops to legally have them, as they are regarded as property of the state. Did some on-line searching, pretty much no prob deal. Nevermind

PalmettoTree

· #5 · Apr 19, 2014

When I was young and all up for being self sufficient I considered raising game birds to sell to high end restaurants. I just could not figure I could sell enough to get equipped to pass the health inspectors. Plus the tags necessary to get past the game and wildlife police.

tirednurse

· #6 · Apr 19, 2014

Leon, I am right behind you. I have my first eggs hatching since yesterday. so far 37 of the 40 have hatched. more due next week and the next week after. I raise chickens, geese, and turkeys also, so I don't really need to have quail but we are having a blast with them anyway. They don't require much different than the other chicks except making sure they cant get into the water and drown since regular chick sized waterers are way to big for them.

Reactions: 2

Deebo

· #7 · Apr 19, 2014

awesome, just awesome. I dont know if I could get the fiance on board, but worth a try. Thanks for the vids.

Reactions: 2

Mule13

· #8 · Apr 19, 2014

i just made an incubator 3 days ago got it close to regulated and put eggs in it yesterday, guess i'll know if it works in about 16 days

been having i high humidity around 60, i got it down in the 50's but that still seems a little high, what you all think? im doing courtnix and Texas A&M quail,
also have chickens and rabbits here on the homestead. btw whoever said they needed permits or whatever courtnix arent a wild /game animal so you shouldnt need anything to raise them. (as i understand it anyway)

John

Reactions: 1

Leon

Discussion Starter · #9 · Apr 19, 2014

paraquack said:
What kind of quail are you raising?

To be honest that is yet to be determined maybe someone who knows poultry can help me with this.

The breeder I bought them from from had texas a&m and tennesee red bobwhites in the same cage. I bought three adult reds and 40 chicks which me and Hank split up into red and texas, he took the texas, I liked the reds so I took those.

When my 20 chicks grew up, I noticed that some of the ones I thought were reds are not. They are like a red on top but got a really cool white belly and flights, white markings on the head and they are real hard to tell apart by looking, you have to sex them. But some look acutely like seagulls so I call them seagull hybrids and separated them into their own compartment. The reds I parted out too so they breed only with their own.

Here's where stuff gets cool.

Three of those 20 chicks turned out to be what looks to the eye to be coternix quail roos. But they got big, real big. But they have markings like a coternix but big heads and big bodies. As best I can tell they are coternix or jumbo coternix. The breeder did mention wanting to switch to coternix because they go a little faster. Perhaps he had some in there? Maybe a couple males? we got no coternix females.

Ok so these new chicks start hatching. They are coming out as Texas a-m, hybrids, coternix AND reds. Like I have two populations, separated physically, some grew up and hit puberty here. Yet they are tossing four different kind of quail. Yeah I'm befuddled.

My best reasoning is that the reds are not hybrids but that almost all of my texas and coternix and hybrid babies are some sort of hybrids themselves they have to be. The parents are. But in that video you can clearly see they have three distinct different sets of markings. And yes all of them exhibit traits from both bobs and coternix. One has a big black ring around just one eye (I call him a clockwork orange) and another one is already three times the size of all of his buddies. They think he's the mom. Can't tell if its a roo but it looks like it.

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Leon

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 19, 2014

Mule13 said:
i just made an incubator 3 days ago got it close to regulated and put eggs in it yesterday, guess i'll know if it works in about 16 days
been having i high humidity around 60, i got it down in the 50's but that still seems a little high, what you all think? im doing courtnix and Texas A&M quail,
also have chickens and rabbits here on the homestead. btw whoever said they needed permits or whatever courtnix arent a wild /game animal so you shouldnt need anything to raise them. (as i understand it anyway)

John

The humidity shouldn't be a problem seems like it's within limits. You don't want it getting wet because that can cause a foul egg but that sounds reasonable. The raising issue isn't a problem either, texas a-m, coternix are species Coternix Japonicus, Japanese Quail and they are not native species so they are all good to raise without any permit. My Tennessee reds are a native species, but I live in GA so it's legal to own them too. In Tenn it would be different I bet. Rule of thumb in some states is that you can't sell native species because it would be a problem like ginsengers.

I personally like my hybrids. They are really pretty birds and black on top, yellow on the bottom they sort of look like penguins and have sharp beaks with a sort of bobwhite head on them. They are a touch smaller on the high end but they grow very fast and reliably.

tirednurse

· #11 · Apr 19, 2014

Leon said:
The humidity shouldn't be a problem seems like it's within limits. You don't want it getting wet because that can cause a foul egg but that sounds reasonable. The raising issue isn't a problem either, texas a-m, coternix are species Coternix Japonicus, Japanese Quail and they are not native species so they are all good to raise without any permit. My Tennessee reds are a native species, but I live in GA so it's legal to own them too. In Tenn it would be different I bet. Rule of thumb in some states is that you can't sell native species because it would be a problem like ginsengers.

I personally like my hybrids. They are really pretty birds and black on top, yellow on the bottom they sort of look like penguins and have sharp beaks with a sort of bobwhite head on them. They are a touch smaller on the high end but they grow very fast and reliably.

humidity should be 60% up until the last week and then it should be increased to 86%. If it is not high enough the eggs will dry out and the chicks inside will not get enough air. also too dry and they will not be able to break out of their shells when it's time

Leon

Discussion Starter · #12 · Apr 19, 2014

tirednurse said:
humidity should be 60% up until the last week and then it should be increased to 86%. If it is not high enough the eggs will dry out and the chicks inside will not get enough air. also too dry and they will not be able to break out of their shells when it's time

Everything I read said 50-60%. Isn't 86 a little high? Best I have been able to get that incubator to do is 60% But yeah if you don't have that humidity at least 50 I heard they can come out deformed.

Slippy

· #13 · Apr 19, 2014

Great project. Enjoyed reading the post. I like fried quail but you have to eat 3 or 4 at least. I'm sure the Inor's have a bacon wrapped quail recipe that would be scrumptious.

Mule13

· #14 · Apr 19, 2014

mine stays above 60% humidity, i thought i had read somewhere that if the humidity was to high during the early stages they would drown in the shell? and i'm with Leon on this from what ive read 55 to 70 humidity and that 70 is only last week to help the shells soften or something.

and yes post that bacon wrapped quail recipe lol i'll try it

Leon

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 20, 2014

UPDATE**

Had a cooper's hawk kill another, anyone know how to keep cooper's hawks off my cage? He's got two by the heads already.

Ok AND cool thing I found a guy at a game bird ranch that knew what was up with my flocks. He says my hybrids are called "Tuxedos" and that's what you get when you mix a texas a-m with something like a red. A Tuxedo so that's what I have. And he said its not at all unusual for coternix to sling three colors these days so what I thought was unusual was pretty usual.

One thing that is cool is I havent lost any yet. They had zero moralities and are running around eating and drinking nonstop. The three day old is now getting his flights in, all are fluffed up and the little yellow one that wasn't doing so good is perking up. They grow so fast its like a movie. Tribbles or something. I am up to a total of 23 chicks, effectively doubling my flock once they reach a few weeks. Next run with that new incubator should yield some more so I need to find a place and build some more room.

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Mule13

· #16 · Apr 20, 2014

I had something kill 2 of my quail same way, ripped their heads off. i went out in the morning and theres a quail laying in the cage without a head. i made them a new cage with smaller 1/4 square holes so they cant stick their little heads out of the cage. i'm not sure if it was a hawk or racoon. after the first one was killed i went out the next night and saw some bird of prey sitting on my chicken coop eyeing up the quail but it flew before i could tell if it was a hawk or owl that same night i caught a racoon in a trap. i caught 2 racoons and relocated them about a week ago and built the new cage and havent had any more casualties so far.

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tirednurse

· #17 · Apr 20, 2014

Leon said:
Everything I read said 50-60%. Isn't 86 a little high? Best I have been able to get that incubator to do is 60% But yeah if you don't have that humidity at least 50 I heard they can come out deformed.

Quail Breeding
This is the information I found before starting my eggs and I have had 100% hatch and all doing great.
I used sponges in a pan of water to increase the humidity. If it gets to low I will use a spray bottle and spray down everything inside to bring it up again.

Reactions: 1

Beach Kowboy

· #18 · Apr 20, 2014

Leon said:
UPDATE**

Had a cooper's hawk kill another, anyone know how to keep cooper's hawks off my cage? He's got two by the heads already.

Ok AND cool thing I found a guy at a game bird ranch that knew what was up with my flocks. He says my hybrids are called "Tuxedos" and that's what you get when you mix a texas a-m with something like a red. A Tuxedo so that's what I have. And he said its not at all unusual for coternix to sling three colors these days so what I thought was unusual was pretty usual.

One thing that is cool is I havent lost any yet. They had zero moralities and are running around eating and drinking nonstop. The three day old is now getting his flights in, all are fluffed up and the little yellow one that wasn't doing so good is perking up. They grow so fast its like a movie. Tribbles or something. I am up to a total of 23 chicks, effectively doubling my flock once they reach a few weeks. Next run with that new incubator should yield some more so I need to find a place and build some more room.

.22 subsonic with a can..

Leon

Discussion Starter · #19 · Apr 20, 2014

Mule13 said:
I had something kill 2 of my quail same way, ripped their heads off. i went out in the morning and theres a quail laying in the cage without a head. i made them a new cage with smaller 1/4 square holes so they cant stick their little heads out of the cage. i'm not sure if it was a hawk or racoon. after the first one was killed i went out the next night and saw some bird of prey sitting on my chicken coop eyeing up the quail but it flew before i could tell if it was a hawk or owl that same night i caught a racoon in a trap. i caught 2 racoons and relocated them about a week ago and built the new cage and havent had any more casualties so far.

Exactly what happened with mine, a cooper's hawk. Natural predator of quail, I saw the bastard three times and today I lost another adult to him. This time I went out with some snips and chicken wire and doubled up with an overlap so there's no room for the quail to stick their heads out all the way around. I think it'll work. Thank god I hatched so many so I can replace the lost stock.

Leon

Discussion Starter · #20 · Apr 26, 2014

UPDATE**

The chicks are in a staggered transition stage because they hatched over a period of a week but damn if they aren't going strong. Three or four already look like adults. They suck down way more water now so I need a new waterer. They are all really tame and run up to me when I walk by the brooder or feed them. Ive been decreasing the temperature of the brooder as they get bigger, they like to all cuddle anyways and they watch the younger chicks. The little dogpiles they make with their legs all sprawled out is hilarious. I keep the light on them 24/7 so they eat and grow around the clock but the way they react to it is funny as hell. The one I call a clockwork orange eats and drinks until he just walks over to a clear area and throws himself on his side and stretches out and zzzzz. So all they do is eat and eat, and drink and poop sleep for a minute and bam they're back at it. It's birdwatching at its best. You can watch them change by the hour it seems like.

A little quail funny for you- I went to change the waterers today and this one tuxedo hen started nipping me on a finger I pointed at her. I thought it was cute until she made this whistle sound and suddenly lunged and bit me on the web between my pointer and middle finger and WOULD NOT LET GO twisting and shaking her head and I'm like OW and trying not to hurt her but she's clawing at me and yanking her little needle nose pliers back and forth so I pull her off and she reached around and took a tiny little chunk out of my other thumb! I dropped her and she just went back to drinking water like nothing happened. Didn't even flap her wings. Is that right? I mean do quail do that shit regularly? I'm thinking she had an egg nearby and is going broody. If that's the case I want to single her out and see if she'll sit on her eggs. That or she was scared but I raised her and handle all of them periodically. I had a male in that compartment get all torn up and little chunks taken out of the back of his head like the one on my thumb. What is this? Brooding behavior or just a violent hen?

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