Chicken bald back

[joza2210]

Hello i was talking to my dad recently and he said what do i want for christmas , i answerd i dont know ... My dad rang me the next day and said how about quails ... I said YES .... So i have a few questions :

I have this mini run with a small house attached ( abit like a eglu with run but wooded ) can i keep my quails in this , It is placed on grass at the moment but is grass ok for quails ? Also i was thinking of getting about 3 - 5 so should i get 2 girls and a boy or ... ? Ideas and help needed .... Thanks Ever so much

Josh

[Guest]

the housing sounds fine but quails will fly directly upwards if startled so you'll need to pad the roof of the run with foam or bubble wrap or something to stop them breaking their necks when they hit the roof.

 

you don't need a male but if you want a male then a ratio of about 4 girls to one male is usual. Any less and the girls will get too much attention from the male.

 

I'd recommend you try and get hold of a copy of Katie Thear's book about quail

 

you can read a sample chapter here http://www.blpbooks.co.uk/broad_leys_books/keeping_quail.php

[Lewis]

Agree with Justine, the run may need to be covered, we didn't pad ours and only ever had a problem with one male and a bleeding head, he was ok ... better to prevent it though.

 

Yep, ratio of 1:3 or 4, male:female. I friend of mine has 2 males and they crow constantly a bit like a competition, again mine were fine and quiet, so it depends with different birds

[bronze]

mine never banged their heads

I would say though dont keep them on grass

keep them on something nothing can dig up through

[Lesley]

I agree with all the above - and was going to add about keeping them on grass......rats just see quail as take-aways

 

A small walk in run with double doors to prevent escapees and a rat proof floor is the best combination, but not the cheapest. Our walk in aviary was about £140 but I can't remember where it was from now.