View Full Version : Quail
GilpinGuy
09-04-2015, 02:02
After considering chickens and then ducks, I decided to go with quail for my first adventure into fowl after LOTS of research. I built a cage this past week and got 20 birds today. Cute little guys. Well, most are gals, actually. I got 17 females and 3 males.
The plan is to get acquainted with each other for a while and gather eggs. Then I'll have them start procreating and hatching. We'll then graduate the older and lesser specimens to the freezer. We'll also hatch excess birds for the purpose of BBQ. Lots of them. Quail is yummy.
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I built this cage up high so I could add more cages below if it works out and I want to expand the operation. If you look close, there is a bigger cage on the left, where most of the birds will live, and a smaller cage on the right. The left hand cage just has a smaller door, so it looks smaller. The right hand cage will be the "breeding cage" where I will have the biggest males and females, ya know, have fun. Those fertile eggs will be hatched for more birds. The cages look small in this pic, but they are way bigger than these birds need. I have 20 birds in there now and could easily double that.
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The main cage.
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Birds getting to know their new home.
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The total cost for this was approx. $200, including 2X2's, 1 sheet of plywood, a roll of hardware cloth, some screws and staples, hinges and latches, a 50 lb. bag of feed, feeder, waterer, and the birds. Plus I had lots of material left over. I did use a bit of scrap material I had on hand, but $200 is about right for what I paid all said and done. And I'm no master carpenter, that's for sure. So you could probably do it for a bit less if you know what the hell you are doing with wood. In hindsight (birds in the cage for only 6 hours!), I'd change a few things, but I think this will work just fine.
Aren't they going to crap up your gas cans?
I think he has a tray underneath? I'm also concerned that over time, those wires are going to get nasty and you are going to get bumble foot and other foot health issues.
I've been wanting for a while to get button quail. Can put 3-4 or so in just a fairly small 40g or 55g aquarium works great or any custom made thing. Some of the bedding options on those are easily scoopable and like millet serves double duty. Granted again I realize thats for pets not for meat production. (Could give the tiny eggs to lizards at least) Just pretty much any animal I've been ever interested including birds, the bare wire wasn't ever great.
beast556
09-04-2015, 13:42
Very cool, wish I had the space for a set up like that at my house.
When you get tired of them, it sounds like we need to have a club shoot.
GilpinGuy
09-04-2015, 15:39
I think he has a tray underneath? I'm also concerned that over time, those wires are going to get nasty and you are going to get bumble foot and other foot health issues.
I've been wanting for a while to get button quail. Can put 3-4 or so in just a fairly small 40g or 55g aquarium works great or any custom made thing. Some of the bedding options on those are easily scoopable and like millet serves double duty. Granted again I realize thats for pets not for meat production. (Could give the tiny eggs to lizards at least) Just pretty much any animal I've been ever interested including birds, the bare wire wasn't ever great.
I do have a tray underneath to catch the poo. That will all go into the compost. I'm using plywood right now but I have to come up with a better system.
Pretty much all the research I did on cages suggested using 1/2" hardware cloth for the floor. It's small enough for the birds to walk on comfortably and big enough for the poop to fall through. I'm sure it will get crudded up over time and I'll have to clean it off with a wire brush or something. I haven't read of any foot problems using it.
They look delicious.
Looking forward to updates as they happen.
pickenup
09-04-2015, 21:09
Need some mouse traps?
Very cute!
If/when you get hens laying a crazy amount, you might try and sell them to local fancy restaurants. Quail eggs are quite a delicacy for many dishes.
Just wait till you guys see my Sand Hill Crane enclosure.
GilpinGuy
09-04-2015, 23:12
I'm also concerned that over time, those wires are going to get nasty and you are going to get bumble foot and other foot health issues.
I did some research on bumble foot. I never heard of it before. Looks like some birds can get it from the wire floor. I'll put something down on a portion of the floor that they can go on. It'll need to be cleaned, but that's no big deal.
Thanks for the heads up![Beer]
BushMasterBoy
09-05-2015, 17:16
Cut some 55 gallon drums longways for the bird droppings ?
GilpinGuy
09-06-2015, 02:49
Cut some 55 gallon drums longways for the bird droppings ?
Not a bad idea, but the stench would be horrendous after a few days of it piling up. The poop tray needs to cleaned out every day or two.
Some large metal trays would work great if I could find the right size.
I'd line those trays with newspaper or pine shavings or something. Bird poo is tenacious stuff to scrub.
+1 to above. Something scoopable or easily replaced ideal. Even just saran wrap better than a surface needing scraped.
GilpinGuy
09-07-2015, 05:46
I found oil drip pans at Autozone for $10 that will fit nicely. Can you compost plain black and white newspaper? I'd use that as a barrier if so. I'm a composting newb and still not sure if I'm doing it right.
Newspaper is compostable. Plus newspaper not the shiny stuff has to be printed with natural ink by law. White ink on other products has some really bad stuff in it like heavy metals and stuff.
Came across all this info when I was researching using shredded paper soaked and pressed into briquettes. Decided against st using anything g but newspaper for this purpose. However I do not have a newspaper subscription so I can't do that. And adding grass clippings to the mush made everything g stink.
GilpinGuy
09-08-2015, 06:05
Bear scare. My wife called me right before left from work this morning saying that a big ass bear is going ape shit by our garbage box and shed (now the quail house) as we spoke. She's freaked out and I'm pissed thinking that he's gulping down my birds one by one. I do 100 MPH getting home. Luckily he only did a number on the garbage box and left the birds alone.
The funny thing is that I was thinking of making some bear "unwelcome mats" today for the door and windows of the shed to keep them away. I definitely am now! I got lucky as hell.
I'm not so much worried about bears smelling and wanting the birds, but there's a tray of feed in there at all times. That would be candy for them. The 50 lb. bag of feed is kept in our house. Glad I thought to do that or it would have been irresistable to a bear and I'd be building a new cage today.
Bear scare. My wife called me right before left from work this morning saying that a big ass bear is going ape shit by our garbage box and shed (now the quail house) as we spoke. She's freaked out and I'm pissed thinking that he's gulping down my birds one by one. I do 100 MPH getting home. Luckily he only did a number on the garbage box and left the birds alone.
I heard rubber buckshotqwerty
The funny thing is that I was thinking of making some bear "unwelcome mats" today for the door and windows of the shed to keep them away. I definitely am now! I got lucky as hell.
I'm not so much worried about bears smelling and wanting the birds, but there's a tray of feed in there at all times. That would be candy for them. The 50 lb. bag of feed is kept in our house. Glad I thought to do that or it would have been irresistable to a bear and I'd be building a new cage today.
I heard rubber buckshot works well on bears... [shithitsfan]
GilpinGuy
09-16-2015, 21:24
Update: the oil pans from Autozone are working awesome. Really no need for newspaper or anything else. The poop really comes off easily. It's like pea sized balls for the most part, not a "splat" like you get on your windsheild. A simple rinse with a hose after a week and the trays look new. Didn't even really need a rinse yet, but I wanted to see how hard it would be to get totally clean. It just came right off with a good blast of water. Sweet.
I have 2 sheets of plywood waiting to made into unwelcome mats for bears tomorrow. The bears are bulking up. Gotta get these layed down asap.
I should have first eggs in a week or so. I can't wait.
buffalobo
09-16-2015, 21:38
Are you eating the eggs?
Busted. Read the post before yours.
Edit -
Wait, do you mean "Are you going to eat the eggs?"?
If so then never mind. My own assumption was they planned to eat the eggs all along. Grew up raising chickens for eggs and meat.
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Yeah, I want to know if they plan on eating the eggs. I was under the impression that he got them for meat more than anything else; plus I thought the eggs are tiny.
jdranchman
09-17-2015, 10:43
I've had several friends that raised quail and all of them ate the extra birds and pickled the eggs - both are quite tasty.
Bailey Guns
09-17-2015, 15:10
The quail are as thick as fleas up here where we're staying. In town, of course, so dinner via the .410 is a no go. Too bad...they're tasty.
Keeping an eye on this to see how the egg gathering turns out.
GilpinGuy
09-17-2015, 21:49
We plan on eating the eggs for now, then hatch a bunch of birds and cull old, small, and extra male birds for meat.
From what I know, 4 or 5 quail eggs equal one chicken egg. And they are supposed to taste the same. What's awesome is the volume of eggs. 1 egg per bird per day on average. I have 17 hens, so figure 15 eggs a day. That's 450 eggs a month! Or 90 to 112 chicken eggs. And the feed to egg/meat ratio is smaller for quail.
The real reason I looked into quail is the small startup cost and minimal effort needed to raise them compared to chickens and ducks. Chickens and ducks make noise too. Quail are almost silent. You could raise them in the city in your garage and your neighbor would never know.
I've re-doubled my interest in this thread with the idea of using rabbits for the same purpose.
HoneyBadger
09-17-2015, 22:10
I've re-doubled my interest in this thread with the idea of using rabbits for the same purpose.
For laying eggs? Good luck. [ROFL1]
There are two issues with rabbits. First they don't lay eggs. Second, I have a wife and daughter. Rabbits are too cute.
HoneyBadger
09-17-2015, 22:40
There are two issues with rabbits. First they don't lay eggs. Second, I have a wife and daughter. Rabbits are too cute.
[facepalm]
Should've seen that coming...
GilpinGuy
09-17-2015, 22:44
I have a wife and daughter. Rabbits are too cute.
Haha! When I first brought the birds home my 10yo stepson asked me what we should name the birds. I told him, "Don't name them bud. We're gonna end up eating them". He just said, "Ohhhhhh, OK. Do they taste good?" Kids are funny as hell.
Very cute!
If/when you get hens laying a crazy amount, you might try and sell them to local fancy restaurants. Quail eggs are quite a delicacy for many dishes.
Um, he lives in Gilpin County, there aren't any "fancy" restaurants. [Coffee]
I would buy some of the eggs and/or quail. Mmmmm
GilpinGuy
09-17-2015, 23:22
Um, he lives in Gilpin County, there aren't any "fancy" restaurants. [Coffee]
C'mon man. Last Shot rocks.[LOL]
C'mon man. Last Shot rocks.[LOL]
Like I said...
Stage Stop might be an option. Heather loves that kind of stuff.
I've re-doubled my interest in this thread with the idea of using rabbits for the same purpose.
I was thinking the same thing when I started reading this thread.
GilpinGuy
09-23-2015, 19:28
First egg! I was watching the birds after making a new feeder to reduce waste. This bird lays down, sticks it's legs out straight and starts breathing really heavy. I think, "Awesome. They have some disease already."
Then the bird jumps up and there's an egg sitting there. So cool!
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Pervert!
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Pervert!
Yeah... You aren't producing quail porn are you?
GilpinGuy
09-23-2015, 21:23
Yeah, bird birthing porn is so hot. [LOL]
Yeah, bird birthing porn is so hot. [LOL]
You know what is better than Quail Porn? Bacon Wrapped Quail Porn.
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BWQP = NSFW
GilpinGuy
09-23-2015, 22:43
I can't wait to post my own BWQP. That looks awesome!
GilpinGuy
10-01-2015, 02:22
It's been a week since I got my first egg. Here's what I got in the past week, plus four more that I had for breakfast this morning (quail eggs, bacon and cheese on a bagel. Yummy):
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I was getting 1 egg a day for a few days, then 2 a day, then 3. Today I got 4. I have 17 hens so I expect to eventually get about 15 eggs a day. The other girls just need to catch up. When a hen lays it's first egg it's pretty small, but they get bigger. My first egg was only 7 grams, them 8, then 9. Now the biggest are at about 12 grams, which is about right.
It's been fun watching these birds. They are either mature now or very close. They have begun mating, wich is interesting. The males strut up behind a female, grab it's neck feathers, then do it's thing. Sometimes the feather go flying. The suggested ratio is at least 3 females per male to avoid battles between the males. I have 4 females per male so I should be good. If I need to graduate a male to the freezer due to misbehaving, I will.
The males are smaller than the females and the females are getting FAT:
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I started to throw some straw in the cages. The birds freaking love it. They toss it around like confetti and sit in it when chilling out. What's awesome is that almost all of it eventually gets sifted through the floor into the poop pans. It just gets composted with everything else. I was concerned that it would turn into a giant mess but it's not at all.
They also love dust baths. I give them a tray of sand every day. They immediately dive in and start splashing it all over the place. This is supposed to keep insects like mites and such away. The sand also ends up in the poo tray and goes to compost. Again, no hassle.
From what I've read, quail need at least 14 hours a day of light to make eggs. So I rigged up a bunch of LED Christmas lights on a timer for those hours that supplemental light is needed. Cheap and easy. This wasn't my idea - I read it on the quail forum at backyardchickens.com (http://www.backyardchickens.com/f/48/quail) somewhere. Also, quail are super cold-hardy. So not much extra heating is necessary. Just enough to keep the eggs and their water from freezing. I'm still working on ideas for that.
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The eggs have a pretty tough membrane, so it's handy to have these cutters around. I got 3 cutters for $10 on eBay. They're basically like cigar cutters. Cut the fat end of the egg so the yolk can come out:
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All in all I've found that these guys are pretty damn easy to take care of so far. I spend more time just watching them than I do actually taking care of them. Anyway, that's what happening.
GilpinGuy
10-30-2015, 00:57
Well, I've had these birds for almost 2 months now. We are getting 14-16 eggs a day. Awesome. Soon I will start hatching for more birds. That will be so cool. The eggs are about 15 grams. The chicks come out of those eggs - they are gonna be so small. Amazing
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As someone posted, bumblefoot is a concern. I have 1 bird with it now and I'm treating it. I am also brainstorming for a better cage/bedding arrangement.
All in all, if 1 bird out of 20 gets it, I could just graduate it to the freezer. After all, these are not pets. They're food. But I certainly don't want to subject them to any unnecessary pain if it can be avoided. I love these birds.
Great-Kazoo
10-30-2015, 03:47
Be careful. You get enough of them, they might love you one day.
In a bizarre incident, a gilpen county man was found smothered to death, when his cage full of quail mysteriously over turned. Investigators speculate all the birds suddenly moved to one side after being surprised by the owner, opening their cage.
ChunkyMonkey
10-30-2015, 08:47
Sell me some eggs.. Those are real good in porridge and lomein.. Damn I really need to go to federal to pick up some
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GilpinGuy
12-04-2015, 03:19
I got my incubator today. An IncuView. Supposed to be one of the better ones out there. I plan on putting 50 eggs in there on Saturday. They should hatch in 17 to 18 days. If I'm lucky, maybe 30 or 40 will hatch. If I get ANY to hatch on my first try I'll be happy.
Of those that hatch, the hens will be grown out and turn into egg laying machines. The males will be grown out and frozen.
I built a brooder for the new chicks this week and also started tinkering with an automated watering system. Changing out and cleaning the waterers is the biggest time sink, so it will be nice to automate that.
As for the birds that got bumblefoot, I treated them and they are either cured or looking really good. Not one bird lost yet, miraculously. I have been more meticulous with cleaning the cages and plan on using heavier guage wire for the new cages, which should be easier on the bird's feet.
ChunkyMonkey, I'll let you know if I come down that way. [Flower]
GilpinGuy
12-18-2015, 00:50
I should have some chicks hatching next Tuesday or Wednesday. Right before Christmas. The kids are gonna get a kick out of that.
Today I built a simple watering system. Just a 5 gallon pail sitting above the cage with 1/2" PVC running to watering cups in the cages. This will save me a ton of time cleaning the watering cans and running them back and forth to the shed. My guess is that I'll need to fill the pail once a week, but we'll see. I'll fill the pail with a watering can in the winter and just use the garden hose in the summer. I left the vertical stub so I can tap into it for cages that I'll build beneath the existing cages.
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The next project is either an automatic feeder or just a big ass feeder that I only have to fill once or twice a week. I'm feeding twice a day right now. The key is to build one that reduces the amount of feed they waste. The birds like to toss the feed everywhere. I have a few designs that claim to reduce the waste a lot. I hope so.
Oh yeah, I lost one bird the other day. I was checking out one of the birds that I was still treating for bumblefoot and she basically dropped dead in my wife's hands. My wife has handled the birds many times so she didn't squeeze it too hard or anything. All the sudden she just went limp. Weird, but I read that these birds will do shit like that sometimes. It took me about 3 minutes to dress her out and get her in the freezer.
Stupid question, but how does the head pressure from having 5 gallons above all the outlets not just let all the water drain out at once?
As for a feeder, I've seen a couple cool designs made out of PVC that are basically the same idea as your watering system.
Here are the designs I've been looking to recreate when I get back into this. Most of these are all so simple I feel dumb for not thinking of them myself. Looks like something like these might work for you since you have extra room up above the cage.
http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/e/e9/900x900px-LL-e9cec21b_IMG_2384.jpeg
http://www.avianaquamiser.com/20121106chickentrough.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7SaDatZhUAw/UaEzHNF9e-I/AAAAAAAAALI/KRoPEzfBZL8/s1600/BY+Feeder+close+up.jpg
This one has a flag that lets you know when the level is low.
http://prepforshtf.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Chicken_Feed_Indicator.jpg
This shield must be to keep other birds from crapping in the feed.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/00/a5/ff/00a5ffad8abb4a0bc7cc4f24b9269e34.jpg
http://thishappyhomestead.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/PVC-Pipe-Chicken-feeder.jpg
GilpinGuy
12-18-2015, 10:07
The cups have little valves that the birds have to trigger to let the water out into the cups. They bump their beaks on the trigger when they go for the last bit of water at the bottom of the cup and that releases more water. Gravity is the perfect pressure for these waterers. Too much pressure and the birds won't be able to trigger the valve. It'll be too tight.
I've see most of those pics of feeders myself. I may try something just like one of those.
GilpinGuy
12-21-2015, 22:18
First chick just hatched!
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So cool!
First chick just hatched!
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So cool!
Ahhh, how cute.
When is the harvest? [Dinner][Muaha]
thedave1164
12-22-2015, 18:02
Sweet, let us know how many hatch
GilpinGuy
12-24-2015, 18:59
Well, the hatch didn't go so well. Out of 50 eggs I had 9 hatch and 6 died shortly thereafter. While tragic, I have 3 awesome little birds doing great.
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I know what went wrong here. While in a panic during the hatch, I got on the quail forum of backyardchickens.com (http://backyardchickens.com) and frantically asked for advice on why my chicks were dying. Many incubators come with a built in thermometer and hygrometer. The overwhelming advice I got was that the built in thermos and hygros on incubators are trash and to never rely on them. A secondary is necessary to ensure proper temp and humidity, which is critical for a successful hatch.
I noticed that I couldn't get my incubator quite up to the proper humidity during "lockdown", which is the last 3 days before they are supposed to hatch. The humidity is supposed to be bumped up for those last 3 days. I simply couldn't get it up high enough, according to the shitty hygrometer. In fact, I suspect that the humidity was WAY too high. The chicks were hatching and basically drowning in the super humid air. The temperature was probably way off too.
Typically, you would let newly hatched chicks stay in the incubator for up to a day to dry off. The quail forum folks advised me to immediately remove any chicks from the incubator and get them under a heat lamp in the brooder. 3 out of 4 of those chicks survived so that was good advice. These 3 survivors are gonna be bad ass birds after all they went through!
Of course I'm not giving up. This was a great learning experience and hey, it was my first time. I ordered a quality thermo/hygro that should arrive next week. We get 15 eggs a day on average, so I'm already setting the best aside for the next run. If all goes according to plan I should have a new batch incubating by the end of next week.
Also, the watering system I set up is working awesome. No leaks (yet) and the birds got used to the watering cups quickly. Now I only have to fill the tank about once a week. And there is a lot less of a mess from them splashing water around.
GilpinGuy
01-04-2016, 22:49
Round 2!
I have 47 eggs set in the incubator with a good thermo/hygro this time. It looks like the hygrometer that came with the incubator is WAY the F off, as I suspected. The thermometer is close but it's nice to have a second opinion. Wish me luck on the new hatch. 15 days or so and I hope to have a bunch of babies.
Oh yeah, the 3 that survived the first hatch are kicking ass. They grow so fast it's amazing. They feathered out enough that I moved them from our 2nd bathroom to the main bird house outside. The wife is pleased with this. :)
Thanks for the updates, good luck on next batch.
thedave1164
01-05-2016, 05:46
Hoping for healthy chicks!
GilpinGuy
01-06-2016, 23:20
Thanks for the updates, good luck on next batch.
Sorry if I'm posting too much about this. It's my latest obsession.
If anyone is interested, have a "Quail Tracker" spreadsheet (link below) that shows eggs collected per day, month, etc. and expenses. Expenses are a bit weird right now - I have to clean it up a little. Since I started tracking from mid-October to December 31st, I collected 1100 eggs from 18 hens...in 2.5 months! These birds are friggin amazing.
Quail Tracker 2015
Quail Tracker 2016 (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10x0Ao7CPy2-DVmwhkb5bjcDiw5EC-QKDTif9mLJHvGU/edit?usp=sharing)
(https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WRDMawCM-Qj8AALT-EY0DvLRlx4H8DLbPzVhTQL7L2k/edit?usp=sharing)
Around Christmas I cooked a few birds. Yummy!
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Just remember to share the love.
BTW the eggs kicked ass.
I wasn't being sarcastic at all, I'm genuinely interested in this whole progression. The more info the better.
GilpinGuy
01-07-2016, 01:24
Just remember to share the love.
BTW the eggs kicked ass.
I'll drop more off when I can. We're going to Iowa tomorrow for a funeral, so it'll be a week or so. Save the cartons if you don't mind.
thedave1164
01-07-2016, 05:40
You haven't posted enough about this :)
ACE2GOOD
01-07-2016, 08:41
Agree, I look for updates on this thread daily. Has my brother-in-law and I wanting to try it ourselves. [Beer]
Been keeping up on your progress also. Love it!!
I'll drop more off when I can. We're going to Iowa tomorrow for a funeral, so it'll be a week or so. Save the cartons if you don't mind.
No rush. Cartons saved.
I'm in KY for the same thing. Weather has sucked on this trip.
GilpinGuy
02-15-2016, 03:54
Quick update. I had two milestones this week.
First, I had a decent hatch this time. 12 chicks. Much better than the single digits I got the last two times. I'm figuring it out.
Second, I got the first egg today from the first chicks that I hatched right before Christmas. Pretty cool.
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Awesome! I've just told my daughter that her job over the next month is to learn everything she can about raising chicks so she can teach me when it comes time to get some in March.
GilpinGuy
02-16-2016, 07:31
It's cool as hell to get kids involved. My kids are very interested in the birds. I couldn't keep my 3yo away from the incubator when they were hatching. She goes in and checks on the chicks all the time and asks me if they're ok. Good stuff.
GilpinGuy
03-29-2016, 02:20
Awesome hatch in progress. 15 chicks with more pipping now.
We also culled 7 male birds today...dinner for tomorrow.
In the last few weeks I completely tore out the cages and rebuilt them for more efficiency. My wife thinks I'm crazy. She's probably right.
I really can't wait for the snow to melt and warmer weather so I can compost the giant pile of poo behind the shed.
GilpinGuy
05-04-2016, 23:14
About 20 birds graduating to freezer camp this week and another hatch coming next week. The "rotation"of new birds replacing old birds is just starting take place, finally.
I was talking about you to the waitress at the Buckhorn Exchange since they have quail on their menu. Maybe you should call them to see if you can supply birds for them.
GilpinGuy
05-07-2016, 03:14
I've had the quail there. Yummy stuff.
I have yet to really dive into the rules and regs for supplying restaurants yet. That would be sweet though. What's interesting is that quail eggs are treated differently by the law than chicken eggs. Maybe the meat is similar.
Nice. Pics of your new setup? Contemplating raising some.
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GilpinGuy
05-07-2016, 17:36
I have a rudimentary blog going that has pics and videos if you're interested:
www.raisingquail.net
Excellent. Looking forward to checking that out. My internet wont let me watch videos at the moment.
GilpinGuy
10-06-2016, 23:11
OK, totally blatant and shameless plug here (approved my the MODs).
I have Amazon affiliate links on the raisingquail.net (http://www.raisingquail.net) blog. I made (gasp!) almost $10 last month. Soon I'll be able to quit my job and buy an island somewhere and retire.
If you'd like to help support the birds and you need something from Amazon, click on any link in the blog to get to Amazon and just buy whatever you want from there. We get a tiny commish and you pay the same that you would have if you just went directly to Amazon anyway. Thanks in advance to anyone who decides to do this. (hint: a bookmark to one of my links would be an easy way to do this :) )
We're trying out some new things on the blog:
I've started posting product reviews (one up so far) as well as a "preparedness topics" category. Some of the reviews will be of "prepper" related products. Others will be cooking stuff, quail stuff, etc.
I'm still plugging away on the book. This is a big project and I'm anal as hell so it's going to take a while. The plan is to offer it to subscribers of the blog for free for a certain amount of time, or maybe to the first 100, or whatever. Then it'll go on to Amazon. Anyway, it'll be fun to see what happens there.
Believe me, I do not have any illusions of making any serious money here. I just like to write and if I can support the birds through Amazon links, that's awesome.
And thanks to those who have sent me kind words and advice about the blog. I can use all the help I can get. [Beer]
I don't know how I missed that you started a blog 5 months ago, but I read a few of the fuel related posts and it looks to be well done. Plus, I learned something. Thanks for the update.
GilpinGuy
10-07-2016, 01:09
Cool! Thanks for checking it out. Criticism is welcome BTW. I'm such a newb at this stuff.
Just spent an hour going thru the blog...neat stuff...what if you really don't want that many eggs? How do you regulate egg production ?
GilpinGuy
10-09-2016, 06:12
If you don't want so many eggs, you can just keep fewer birds. If you have too many birds, some just graduate to freezer camp and eventually to the grill.
It's easy to figure out how many birds to keep. Say you use about a dozen chicken eggs a week. 3 to 4 quail eggs equal one chicken egg, so you'll need to have 36 to 48 quail eggs to meet your needs. Round it off to 40 eggs.
You can assume one egg from each hen per day.
40 eggs / 7 days a week = 5.7 birds So 6 birds would meet your needs.
Unless you want to hatch chicks, roosters are useless. So you would keep 6 hens. And 6 hens would be so easy. A 3' x 2' cage would be just fine.
If anyone is interested in chicks let me know.
Can you free range quail like you would a chicken?
GilpinGuy
10-09-2016, 23:00
Free ranging quail is not recommended for a few reasons. The joke is "You can free range quail....once".
Japanese or coturnix quail are ground dwellers. They do not perch like some other types of quail and they are small. They would be easy pickings for all types of predators. Quail aren't smart enough to "go home to roost" every night like chickens or ducks do when it gets dark either. They'll just stay out in the dark. Even easier pickings for predators. Plus, if you're raising the birds for eggs, you'll have a really tough time finding them.
You could build a "quail tractor" just like a chicken tractor. Many people do this. Or you can build a large aviary. I may go the tractor route if the property we buy in Idaho is suitable for it. The eggs are harder to find in a tractor too, but at least they are somewhat contained.
Not gonna lie....I just googled chicken tractor
GilpinGuy
10-09-2016, 23:38
Pretty cool way to do it. The great thing about quail though is that you can have them in such a small space. If you live in an urban or suburban area, this makes it practical. Here's an excerpt from the book:
Are quail good egg producers?
You can’t do much better than coturnix quail for producing eggs. Each bird lays about an egg per day but you won’t get every single bird to lay an egg every day. I have found that about 80% of my quail will lay an egg each day.
Let’s crunch some numbers here. Say you have 10 laying hens. That’s 8 eggs per day on average, which is 2920 eggs per year, or 243 dozen eggs.
8 eggs per day X 365 days per year = 2920 eggs
2920 eggs / 12 = 243.3 dozen eggs
If 4 quail eggs equals one chicken egg, that’s the equivalent of about 60 dozen chicken eggs. Most families probably go through about a dozen eggs a week, so just 10 quail hens will provide more than enough eggs for the whole year – and they are the freshest eggs you can get.
Another thing to consider is that quail start laying eggs when they are about 6 to 8 weeks old. It takes chickens 5 or 6 MONTHS to start laying. You get 3 or 4 months of eggs being laid with quail over chickens. With the 10 hens, you would have almost a thousand eggs before a chicken laid one! Add up the feed cost for the chickens for those months and you can see why you just get more value from raising quail for eggs over chickens.
And all of this can be done in the corner of a garage.
Uh, this is a super cool conversation. I have been raising quail in my back yard for the past three years. Just finishing eating the last of them though as I am switching over to rabbits now just to try something new. Quail sure were great though and we loved the eggs. I would do it again.
GilpinGuy
10-24-2016, 22:42
Uh, this is a super cool conversation. I have been raising quail in my back yard for the past three years. Just finishing eating the last of them though as I am switching over to rabbits now just to try something new. Quail sure were great though and we loved the eggs. I would do it again.
Cool - welcome to the forum! If you have any info that I've missed or got wrong, please contribute to the discussion.
Cool - welcome to the forum! If you have any info that I've missed or got wrong, please contribute to the discussion.
It looks like you are doing great with it. I wonder what you ended up feeding them. I found it a little more challenging to make my own food for them since they require so much protein. But they fit into the neighborhood better than my chickens did.
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Here is how we did ours, though I like how compact your set-up is. We chased them all into their little barn at night which was kind of high maintenance, but it worked out alright. I made my kids do it when I didn't have time.
So even in that run, they won't go inside at night on their own?
So even in that run, they won't go inside at night on their own?
Nope. They are really stupid. Infact, the first night we did not have the extra layer of small gauge wire on there. They settled down in the corners and went to sleep. In the morning I found that the raccoons had eaten most of them right through the chicken wire, so we had to reinforce, and I also started shutting them in at night. They literally just sat there and let themselves get eaten. The little house worked great for cold weather too. They stayed pretty warm in there.
Haha, amazing they are not extinct!
No kidding! Maybe the wild ones hide in the bushes. They are pretty good at sitting still, but you would think predators would smell them.
GilpinGuy
10-26-2016, 05:15
I wonder what you ended up feeding them. I found it a little more challenging to make my own food for them since they require so much protein. But they fit into the neighborhood better than my chickens did.
I feed them Mannna Pro gamebird/showbird starter. 24% protein. I have just found a source for organic feed closer to home, but I haven't seen a price yet. Most of the organic feed I've seen is rather expensive.
GilpinGuy
10-26-2016, 05:54
Haha, amazing they are not extinct!
The ridiculously fast reproduction rate is one defense. Hatched to mature in about 6 weeks? Amazing, really.
Edit: I originally wrote 90 days for some reason. It's about 6 weeks.
I feed them Mannna Pro gamebird/showbird starter. 24% protein. I have just found a source for organic feed closer to home, but I haven't seen a price yet. Most of the organic feed I've seen is rather expensive.
Agreed on the amazing reproductive time.
I use Manna Pro for my rabbits. It seems high quality. I think I used Ag Land for my quail and it worked well too.
The cost for the organic stuff just blew me away so I started experimenting with little bulk bags of grain from the health food store. My mixture varried, but I put things in there like millet, red lentils, oats, and so forth. I soaked them overnight to soften them.( I added kefir later but that is kinda a long story)They continued laying when I did this, but the babies did not grow as big on this diet. If I did it again, I would probably try sprouting the mixture to get more food out of It. All this is pretty time consuming but I had fun with it.
Also, I have to say, nice job on the watering system. I have been thinking about setting something like that up but haven't got around to it yet. It looks very convenient.
Thanks for sharing your quail story.
Is there any chance that you can rename your blog to Quail of a Tale?
Got a quail of a tale to tell you lads,
a quail of a tale or two
Bout the swquakin chicks, and birds I've loved
on nights like this with the moon above
A quail of a tale and it's all true
I swear by my tattoo
Also, get a quail tattoo.
GilpinGuy
10-26-2016, 19:05
[flamingo] Hmmmmmm. I don't think so....
Where the hell is that from?
Oh boy are you in for a treat! I'll just post the link so it doesn't distract from the thread.
It's from a Disney movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkjTGCrLvAU
GilpinGuy
11-20-2016, 08:32
A big, long overdo, TYVM for those who went through the blog to Amazon after my blatant plug. I know some of you did from the dates of orders. [Beer]
I made a gigantic mistake with the flock last week. I still can't believe I did it. [fail] Here's the text from my post:
Man, this is a tough one to post. But the whole point of this blog is to help folks out who want to raise coturnix quail, and mistakes help us learn. This was a big one and it’s embarrassing. But I can assure you it won’t happen again.
So, about a week ago we were preparing to leave our place for 5 days to visit Jenny’s family to celebrate her birthday and the birth of her new niece. Time was short and I had a lot to do before leaving, including culling a bunch of quail and getting my neighbor squared away so he can watch over the flock when I was gone.
With maybe 4 hours of sleep the night before, I decided it was time to cull some of the older birds, plus most of the young males from the latest hatch, and get the younger birds into their laying cages. This is the standard rotation. I make enough room in the laying cages by culling the older quail and replace them with the younger birds. Routine stuff.
All went well and I got about 20 quail into the freezer. We went on our merry way to Iowa and had a great time. My neighbor took care of the quail just fine – all survived and looked healthy when I got home. It’s always a relief to get home to be sure the flock is ok.
After a few days I noticed that the young quail weren’t laying as well as they should be. In fact they were hardly laying at all. The older birds were laying great as usual. I checked the supplemental lighting (https://raisingquail.net/2016/09/26/winter-lighting-for-your-quail/) timers and they were set correctly. I started thinking that maybe the younger quail were just stressed from being in new cages and having a stranger feed them for a few days…….then it hit me.
I was filling one of the feeders and noticed more than one male in the cage. I normally put 1 rooster and 5-6 hens in each cage. Did I miss-sex one and accidentally put 2 males in this cage?
Unfortunately, no. I accidentally culled the hens and kept all of the roosters from the last hatch. The first words that came out of my mouth cannot be repeated here. What a rookie mistake! I’m still kicking myself. Lack of sleep, in a rush, etc. Still no excuse for this.
At least they are all packaged nicely in the freezer, ready to be grilled, so they weren’t wasted or anything. But man, I cannot believe I did this!
Here is what males and females look like. The rooster is on the left and the hen is on the right.
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Male quail (roosters) have the rust colored chest and little or no speckling. The females (hens) are speckled on their chest and have no rust coloring, or VERY little. With most of the quail I’ve raised this coloring and speckling is pretty darn obvious by the time they start laying (about 6 weeks).
I know what a my next post will be about: Sexing coturnix quail.
Haha, oh man. So do you have enough hens to recover and continue your flock? Do they fight a lot in that situation? What did the final ratio end up as far as male:female?
GilpinGuy
11-20-2016, 23:10
Yeah, I have plenty of hens to replenish the flock. I should have 50 eggs incubating within a few days. The whole thing is just a "What the hell were you thinking?" experience.
I haven't seen any battles so far and they aren't all beat up, so I think they're keeping the peace for now. I found one dead bird the day after I transferred them to the cages but the cause of death wasn't obvious. I've seen birds that got murdered by other birds and it isn't pretty. They can be pretty vicious.
The ratio for the f-ed up cages is 1-2 hens with 5-6 roosters. Exactly the opposite of what I intended. Those poor girls have to be getting pounded. Tomorrow I will combine all of the hens and keep the best looking rooster. The rest of the boys get whacked.
Interesting! Never seen this before. How the hell did I miss this thread for nearly a year and a half?
GilpinGuy
01-03-2017, 03:16
Quick update. After the debacle I posted about, I started a new batch of 50 eggs in the incubator to replenish the flock. 2 days before hatch the incubator failed - it just shut down completely. It's an IncuView (http://amzn.to/2i53NK4) and I really like this incubator a few reasons (my review (https://raisingquail.net/category/incubation/)), so I was disappointed that it crashed 2 weeks after warranty.
I contacted the company (Incubator Warehouse) and they sent me a new power supply even though it was out of warranty. That was the problem. Good on them for being understanding and taking care of me when they really didn't have to.
So, 50 more eggs go in tomorrow. Hatch in 17 or 18 days. It's been weird not having a GIANT surplus of eggs since I unintentionally culled so many hens. It'll be fun to give away eggs again when we get back up to speed.
Bummer! We lost a few batches with power outages one winter. I hope you have a good hatch next time!
GilpinGuy
01-23-2017, 23:31
I have chicks hatching. Here's a couple of videos for anyone that's interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HZc5Dr57-0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJZxgx9Ykd8
I gave your videos ThumbsUp. You have your account monetized right?
When they are born, do you have to dip their beaks in water and food to teach them how to eat and drink like chickens?
GilpinGuy
01-24-2017, 08:36
I don't have it monetized. I figured I'd see if I get any views/followers first. I have almost 200 followers not and a few of videos have thousands of views, so I should probably do that at this point. I was hoping to drive some traffic to the blog, and it does do that, but maybe it's time to monetize the videos too.
When I put them into the brooder I have food and water out for them. The food I just put in a pile on the floor and I drop one or two of the chicks in the pile. They figure that out real fast. For the water, I do dip the beaks of a couple of them in the waterer. Then the rest see what's up and figure that out too.
Thanks for the thumbs up!
You're already missing out on money, get that done. You'll need to start an AdSense account as well.
GilpinGuy
01-24-2017, 16:46
Probably going to dive into this tonight.
GilpinGuy
02-06-2017, 23:08
Check this out. I got a double yolk egg the other day - 2 yolks in one egg. Pretty cool, but man, that hen is a trooper! The egg on top is normal size.
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thedave1164
02-08-2017, 09:54
Oh My!
Great videos.
I love the double yolk egg. It's HUGE!
Subscribing...Such great stuff here. I think my wife and daughter would love to do this with me after we move into our new place later this year. Wife's already said she wants chickens, but maybe quail instead....
GilpinGuy
02-08-2017, 22:34
I'd be glad to help anyone out who wants chicks. Just give me a little time to get them hatched.
GilpinGuy
04-24-2017, 21:43
Here's a time lapse of how quick these birds grow. It still amazes me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nIrje72Egw
I thumbs-upped your video as hard as I could.
;)
GilpinGuy
04-24-2017, 22:07
Haha! Thanks!
Cool video. Pretty amazing.
Here's a time lapse of how quick these birds grow. It still amazes me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nIrje72Egw
Um ok. When do I get edible birds?! <tapping foot> [Coffee] The smoker is waiting.
GilpinGuy
08-23-2017, 03:01
[Mad]I had some critter kill 26 of my birds last night. Probably a bobcat or a fox. Could have been a racoon I suppose but I've never seen one up here. Folks say they have seen them though.
It had to be something small to get past the barriers I have set up for bears and it went through a pretty small opening to get inside. I guess I'll have to tack up some more chicken wire.
I've been doing this for 3 years and never had anything like this happen. It's not the end of the world, just another lesson learned.
The bastard didn't even eat the birds. Just took off the heads and left them.
I still habe about 20 birds and I'll have another hatch in about a week, so more birds to come.
ACE2GOOD
08-23-2017, 07:38
Is there a possibility of it being an owl or hawk of some kind? I have not heard of a Bobcat or fox just eating the heads but I knew a few people that are into falconry and the birds of prey prefer eating the heads on their kills, it is their favorite treat. Just a thought. Good luck on patching it up and getting the bird count up again.
GilpinGuy
08-23-2017, 08:07
I suppose it could have been an owl or hawk. Guess I'll never know.
GilpinGuy
12-22-2017, 05:07
I think I know what killed my birds.
Look at this fat bastard just sitting there, looking in through the glass.
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Then slinking away, all disappointed and shit.
72915
ETA: I'm thinking of trying one of those motion sensor sprinkler deals to repel bears and other threats. Someone posted about them here somewhere and I checked out some videos on YT. Seems pretty effective, but I didn't see any videos of bears getting sprayed. Deer, raccoons and cats ran like hell though. I imagine that a bear would shit himself getting sprayed in the face at 3AM too.
Some cat was using my garden as a litter box a while back. killed a lot of plants. I got video of my neighbor's cat doing it. asked them about it. She light-heartedly said I could spray my garden hose at him and chase him away. People just don't get it.
So I got a trapping license from the city and they got some tickets.
"Ohh but Snuffy is an 'outside cat'." Not when it is destroying my property.
kidicarus13
09-12-2018, 16:33
So I got a trapping license from the city and they got some tickets.
Ingenious
Ingenious
I think though in more rural locations this problem could be solved similarly with a trap sans license and a 55 gallon barrel of water.
GilpinGuy
09-13-2018, 00:55
The cat in the pics I posted was a bobcat, I believe. House cats get "lost" up here pretty quick. I chuckle when I see the signs for lost cats or small dogs by the mailboxes, etc. They aren't lost - they were lunch for something.
I did get the motion activated sprinkler. This thing is awesome. Squirrels and chipmunks get blasted regularly. I haven't gotten anything on the trail cam. I think the sprinkler activates just outside of the camera view. There are some good YT videos out there of this gadget at work.
No bear damage on the garbage box this year so far, which is unusual, so I fully endorse one of these little units. It would work great for a garden to keep deer, etc. away. I need to get another one for my garden. I had awesome cabbage heads and broccoli flowering. Bastard deer ate them to the ground the other night and flattened my lame chicken wire fence.
The thing runs off batteries and I had the same ones in it since the spring.
Anyway, this is the one I got: Orbit 62100 Yard Enforcer Motion Activated Sprinkler with Day and Night Detection Modes (https://amzn.to/2xa1z4X)
Ohh yeah I see the ears now! I am still bitter about neighborhood cats as you can tell. With the hawks and coyotes and all the other dangers here I think having an "outdoor" cat is animal cruelty. And they destroy my property.
Thanks for the lead! I think this will work good for my suburban yard too.
SideShow Bob
09-30-2018, 19:42
Still, it will not be as fun as having your “neighbors” to go claim their cat & pay a fine when they get lax on letting their cat out again.
encorehunter
01-07-2021, 06:49
We picked up six females and two males yesterday to start our little covey. The gentleman who was raising them had an amazing set up and let us go through and get ideas. They are in a dog crate for now, but should be able to get their new pen built today. We have three incubators ready to go.
GilpinGuy
01-07-2021, 14:11
Very cool! Have fun with them!
I'm happy to see this thread still alive. I've got 15 eggs in the incubator on day 17. We ordered them through the mail, and I don't think they made the journey. We candled them on day 7 and we couldn't see a spot, a vein, an embryo, or anything resembling photos we had online. if I don't have chicks by Sunday, I'm going to crack some eggs and see what happened.
Does anyone here have birds for sale or fertile eggs? I'd go for 3F\1M birds or two dozen eggs.
Well, what do you know! Three hatched out yesterday evening and they?re doing well in the brooder this morning.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210129/a6df1d93ce2cadf9af2e7d81d4fd5d8a.jpg
The pup isn?t tall enough to notice them, but Bella is crazy birdy right now.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210129/141d6ecb14956ac4fc8e9ae2fc2085c9.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210129/808f3ff1e0f80327890cb80a2e61a061.jpg
encorehunter
01-29-2021, 07:42
We lost one of ours. She had a prolapse, so I am guessing an egg came out wrong or it was too big. We noticed a bit of blood under the cage and found her. We seperated her, but she didnt make it. None of our eggs have hatched yet, which makes me believe the incubator they were in malfunctioned. It started alarming for low temp and I could not get it to increase. I changed them to a different incubator, but so far no luck.
Bummer that you lost a hen. What day of incubation were you at when the low temp alarm went off?
We have a NurtureRight 360 and it has been rock solid at 99.5. I had two occasions where it ran out of water overnight and the humidity dropped to 5.
I added a cheap digital thermometer inside when I took out the egg turner. The digital thermometer registered 96.5 degrees. I read that 95 degrees can cause disproportionate development, resulting in chick die off. So, now I am second guessing my temp control. I am thinking about bumping the NurtureRight up by 1.5 degrees just to be sure.
Yesterday was day 18. I have 12 eggs unhatched as of this morning. I?m going to let them go until tomorrow afternoon, just in case I can get a couple more late bloomers.
As it is, I had a 20% hatch rate with eggs shipped in January from the east coast. I guess that isn?t too bad, considering.
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