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Author Topic: quail?  (Read 4136 times)

daddymatty82

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • swindon
quail?
« on: January 22, 2011, 04:39:45 pm »
quail? who has them what do you do with them how are they housed what feed hatching is it possible? many questions i need answered if anyone can help please as my dad is looking into getting some as i got an old double rabbit hutch im giving him then he is building a run for them so basicly how would you start with them? cheers matty

bamford6

  • Guest
Re: quail?
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2011, 05:17:15 pm »
you could have my breeding team for £25 pounds inc 4 mexicans all laying and nice coloures they live together there is 38 inc whites pieds cinamons etc very quiet birds im getting 15 pound for 50 eggs everey 3 or 4 days at the mo

little blue

  • Joined Jun 2009
  • Derbyshire
Re: quail?
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2011, 05:20:59 pm »
I have quail.... japanese

I keep them just for eggs & the "novelty" factor.
they are also quite easy to raise for meat as they mature quite quickly.

if you incubate, they hatch approx 18 days & I found the fertility really high from our original 7.
as they are so small, make sure everything is really secure & be aware that they can sometimes be quite "flighty" and determined to escape!
a rabbit hutch is great.
keep it clean, as they can  quickly develop balls of muck round their feet and can damage the claws or toes.

I feed mine layers pellets & corn, cut maize
you can feed them on game bird feed or some companies now make quail feed, but it can be hard to source.
  you could grind up the pellets / chick crumbs etc, but mine have always managed fine.

they are sexually mature at about 5 weeks, yes, 5 weeks so be ready to sex & separate as necessary.
if you have regular coloured japs for example, they are differently coloured.  or "vent" sexing is quite easy as his is domed outwards & produces a foam, and hers is more inverted.

hope this helps,
feel free to ask as many questions as you need.  :)
Little Blue

daddymatty82

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • swindon
Re: quail?
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2011, 09:32:37 am »
so  which breed for eggs only? japanese? do you get broodies as you do chooks? do they need a nest or broodie quaters? bamford who can you sell to as we got monthly market but what other vendors could we approach? is there a demand for quail egg?

bamford6

  • Guest
Re: quail?
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2011, 11:21:25 am »
the older people the eggs have so much good ness .i used to have 4 square pens 2/2 7ft/6 frames square  drinker for 3 to 4 days same with the food 30 to 40 in each collect eggs each after noon then every 5 weeks hatch a batch off 50 take the cocks out to 4 to 1 cull the rest metal tray 14 in a tray sell them 23 pound Christmas sunday lunch etc iff done rite there fine i was so fed up when i sold my last lot we sold them in 10s to get the numbers dawn for winter i put 50 eggs for hatching eating they made 10 pounds each  the stock made £7 pounds so i gave the rest away .when we cleaned the pens the kids put all the unwonted eggs in the incubate thats haw we have 38 laying quail naw

princesspiggy

  • Guest
Re: quail?
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2011, 12:23:58 pm »
wev got quails, used to keep them outside, and gradually they all escaped. now we have them in homemade hutches, inside, so when they escape, we can catch them again. they are really nice pets. we incubated them all, ate the boys and get eggs off the girls, never had a broody - even with nesting materials so i think you need to incubate. my toddler loves the eggs and will scoff loads!!
we got our hatching eggs for 7p each as they were cross breeds but will get purebred japs this year. my adults are fed on ground barley with added poultry spice, and the odd sprig of seaweed off beach. the young chicks were on chick crumbs, then growers. we put them on barley or ground layers pellets (we have a small mill) before we eat them to hopefully let any in-feed medication to get out their systems.

little blue

  • Joined Jun 2009
  • Derbyshire
Re: quail?
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2011, 08:09:49 pm »
so  which breed for eggs only? japanese? do you get broodies as you do chooks? do they need a nest or broodie quaters? bamford who can you sell to as we got monthly market but what other vendors could we approach? is there a demand for quail egg?
i'd say Japanese for good sized eggs.
broodies happen, but not very reliably, better to incubate.
  I've never had trouble selling the eggs ... but you've tend to get the same people who want them and customers who just dont!!
Little Blue

 

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