The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: shearling on September 05, 2011, 03:32:13 pm
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I bought a new house for the quail. Put the four in whilst I cleaned their old house and watched to see how they got on. then got distracted came back two dead, one having a chance and the other ok. Anyone got female quail for sale in somerset to keep lone girl company?
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Do you know why thet were dead?....Ive just hatched my second lot of Quail eggs....The first time 5 hatched, made it to adulthood then met a pinemarten!!!...my lone boy left was bought two new girls and the second lot of eggs is their ofspring. The first 48 hours of the 10 that hatched's lives were fine, then one keeled over spasaming and died...a couple of hours later a second one did the same thing. Last night I lost a third and this eve a fourth. The rest seem fine (then so did the others before they went) I am thinking its a virus....? does anyone have any sugestions about the chances of the rest? Or I will have to fill the incubator again to get enough birds to "fill" the plates at the anticipated christmas feast.
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Im down to 5 now any ideas???? Im not doing anything different tan I did last time.
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Last 5 still doing well 24hours+....fingers crossed
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I'd quite like to get quail - I'll wait till you've got it sussed though. ;D
Do the eggs taste different to hens eggs?
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No Rosemary eggs taste the same, although there is a local (to us) quail egg seller who markets them as a health food and signs people up for a three months supply (weekly delivery!) I think the problem WAS a virus of sorts it seems to have burned itself out the last five...yes still 5...are all doing well, shouting a lot but growing.
They are MUCH more fighty than hens and dont go to bed at night so need vermin proof housing. My first lot fed a pinemarten that yanked/bit throgh normal chicken wire The new box/run has stiff wire on it....seems OK so far.
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Well, on Friday we ate our first ever quail eggs. (Not our own, they were 'luck eggs' with the Castlemilk Moorit sheep!)
I had a poached one, he a fried - I must say, I found the taste very different to a hens egg. Much more intense and, well, different - like the difference between pheasant and chicken, I thought.
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I kind of fancy geting some. Add it to the list ;D
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My quail experience is all bad. They attacked each other, the males almost took the heads off the females. Hannibal Lectar eat your heart out. (HAHAHAHA!!) The noise was appalling, we only got 2 eggs. Then a weasel or stoat (ok, what's the difference? Once is weasily recognised, the other is stoatily different.) broke into the ark and killed the flipping lot.
No idea where I went wrong, but I'm not going there again.
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Sorry to hear your sad story, DC.
Then a weasel or stoat (ok, what's the difference? Once is weasily recognised, the other is stoatily different.)
:D
The weeeeeeeeeeeeesel is weeeeee (tiny) and the stoat is known as ermine in its winter coat, so that's how I remember it's the one with the black tip to its tail - that's what makes the black spots on the Lords' ermine robes.