Keeping

Keeping & Breeding Tips

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Keeping & Breeding Tips

The following information will, we hope, help and guide you should you be considering keeping or breeding quail.

Housing
Our birds are all kept in large airy aviaries with a generous floor covering of wood-shavings so that they can dust bath. Anyone wishing to keep quail where space is more limited can keep just a few in a rabbit hutch with a run attached. We are often asked if it is possible to Free Range quail. They are completely hardy but do not like damp conditions so they must have access to indoor accommodation. Unfortunately they need to be kept completely enclosed with a roof or netting above as they are adept flyers with 'Harrier Jump Jet' vertical take off from a very early age.

Feeding
If you are keeping your birds to provide you with meat and/or eggs then they must be fed on a compound Layers formula with absolutely no additives whatsoever. Several companies now produce a laying quail feed although it is not readily available in small quantities. Poultry layers mash is an acceptable substitute. If you are keeping them as a pet they will become very tame if you offer them an occasional titbit like mealworms.

Breeding
Coturnix are not known for hatching their own eggs although several people have said that they have had some success with birds bought from us last year. Mostly they just deposit their eggs wherever they decide to have a siesta. We do provide nest boxes for our birds but only a few actually use them for that purpose. We find they like to snuggle up tightly together in the boxes with a tendency to crack the eggs that have been laid there. A few inches of wood-shavings helps alleviate this problem but remember to dig deeply when colleting the eggs.

If you wish to hatch the eggs in an incubator you can collect for up to 10 days before setting, however the longer you keep them the less fertile they become. Make sure you set enough eggs at one time as they chicks do better if they have company. Chinese Painted and Japanese take 16-17 days to hatch at a temperature of 37.5. They do not like high humidity and we run our own incubators dry. Most hatch failures result from to much moisture during the setting period.

Turn them for 13 days then leave them still to hatch. When dry, I usually leave them for about 18 hours, put them in a brooder at the same temperature as the incubator with a rough floor covering so that their legs stay straight. I use corrugated paper. They are completely independent from the outset. Feed them crushed chick crumbs and provide a shallow dish of water with marbles or small pebbles so that they cannot get wet. Gradually reduce the heat as they grow. Remember in 7 weeks they will be breeding themselves. Treat fancy breeds of quail in exactly the same way, leaving the eggs unturned for the last 3 days. Gambels, Californian and Bob White all take 23 days. These are much slower growing and take several months to mature.