To start King quails are by far the best & most popular to start with.
Postby BlackCobra on Today, 01:08
This reply is a bit late but I just wanted to say, Just a few hints with quails, never add a new quail into an established quail setup, there territorial & will kill the new one, I never ever put just a pair in any aviary as the males are too horny & after a while the females head will be bald or worse, so I like to have 2-3 hens at least per cock, when I add new stock I throw all into a new aviary, that way there all in new territory & might be less aggressive, also keep an eye on how many eggs in a nest, I use to have a trio of king quails in all my aviaries, often there was too many eggs in the nest, the hen would pull all the eggs in on one side & push out an egg on the other side, that means that egg might die, then later she bring that egg in & push another one out, over time you could have a lot of dead eggs, I think it was around 9 eggs maximum I would leave under her, I would mark the eggs to know what batch she started with, a duck, quail, chook ect only sit for 18-21 days or what ever hatch time is, anyway, hens often go & collect eggs around the aviary & add them to her clutch, only the original batch will hatch, as once the first eggs hatch they wont go back to the nest, so any more resent eggs will just die, so toss any new eggs that she adds.
I also put tin or mouse wire around the sides of the aviary because baby king quails run right through into other aviaries & can be killed, also put some wire or something in the water dishes so babies don't drown.
I have still lost babies as some cant keep up with mum in a big aviary & just keep getting colder & die, so I put a box in the aviary on the floor with mum in it with the babies for a week or so.
I use to incubate tons of them also, when I was doing more intense breeding, I bred japs, kings, Californians, bobwhites, I had 2-3 incubators going all the time, then my health went down so I sold all I could, & gave my friend the incubators & brooders full of chicks.
I would feed all my baby quails turkey starter as it has higher protein.
I know a lot of this is common sense with the quails, but I did lose quite a few young over the years to different problems, so just trying to help new people.
We should have a hints & Tips section so people can put all there bits of wisdom they have learned over the years.
I just added this after someone said they keep just pairs,
Re: Dead Quail Graphic
Postby finchbreeder on Today, 10:33
Agree with most of BC's advice. But I have always kept pairs of King quail with no problems. An excellent rundown for new keepers BC.
LML
Thanks Finchbreader, I have had lots pair also but I just found as trios theres less wear & tear on the hens, some cocks are just relentless after hens.
