Jump to content
rufusrooster

Quail questions ?

Recommended Posts

I have finally got sorted with some quail. got finished early yesterday and drove to Storrs poultry and picked up 8 quail, 7 hens and 1 cock, lovely little things and when i got home there was already 2 eggs in the box :shock:

 

last thing Graham said was "dont forget they can fly" guess what hapenned when i tried to let them out the box into the run ? yep 1 flew straight up and out, well after chasing it into next doors garden, bach into our garden,then into the garden opposite and back again into our garden, inbetween gardens she spent a lot of time hiding under hedges and behind fences, thought we would never get her back, finally teased her from under the hedge back into our garden again and she flew into the shed, trapped and caught finally :dance:

 

my run is approx 14 square feet, seperated inthe middle with a pop hole for cleaning purposes, they have a small hutch inside the chicken run, didnt expect them to use this at all, at least not until winter but 2 or 3 have already been in,

there is a strip of lawn at the front for them, the rest is a hard base with hemp on the floor, a seed tray with bird/sand grit in, and 2 old wicker hanging baskets that i have cut am entrance into with conifer twigs over,

at the moment i am feeding them chick crumb,

 

so here come the questions..

 

what greens can i give them and do they need chopping up ?

what else can i put in the run for them ? they seem to just sit about all day,

how many eggs a day can i expect ?

 

P4291558.jpg

 

P4291559.jpg

 

P4291557.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm new to quails too so might not be much help!! :D

 

Mine are eating layers pellets.

 

I have been giving mine cucumber, cabbage etc. Pretty much the same as I feed the chickens. I haven't chopped it up and they are eating it just fine.

 

Mine are quite active, always dustbathing, eating, playing and scratching about. They do seem to like a kip in the afternoon though. All laying about with their little legs stretched out. lol

 

I stuffed a parrot treat ball with dandelions and other bits from the garden yesterday and they seemed to enjoy pulling the leaves out but didn't really eat much of it-more just threw it all over the run!! :roll:

 

As for eggs-they seem to be regular little layers. We have 2 out of 6 laying and we're getting 2 eggs each day so far.

I have heard that it is not unheard of for them to lay 2 eggs in one day sometimes but I have no idea how common that is.

Also, my second one to start laying makes a high pitched little squeal after she has laid.

When I first heard it I wondered what the heck was wrong so rushed in and found a weeny little warm egg :D

 

I am really enjoying them :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i will try them on some greens over the weekend,

not the best of starts :( as i said in original post, 2 eggs in box when i got them home wed evening, 6 eggs thursday, got up friday morning to find one dead and only 2 eggs friday :( somewaht worried about one of the hens, 5 other hens and the cock seem fine though, they are 12 weeks old so should all be laying, hopefully there just a bit stressed with the move and will settle down over the weekend.

 

they seem to be using the hutch so i might take the 2 wicker baskets out, and if i can make the run more waterproof i will have one half sand & grit, the other half hempcore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...