Just need a bit of help after my first Quail hurdle

[Quailies]

Hello Fellow Quail Keepers.

I moved in with my other half on a farm last feb and one of the first things I wanted to do it acquire myself some quails ! I always wanted quails.

I did some research and prepared a very decent 6ft by 2ft by 6ft high cage with a night time cage off the ground (rats are a problem here with the fields near by) and I acquired my first 2 quails back in July, they were given to me by a chicken keeper. I love the way they interact with each other and me ! but when it came down to it I was surprised how little information there is in comparison to other birds. Luckily my partners granny bought me a few quail books to brush up my quail knowledge but I sill would like to have pointers to make sure I'm on the right track.

I hatched off 5 lovely quails in oct to keep my first ones company (and to add some more females into the mix) I know that hatching at that time of the year wasn't the best time of year to start but I wanted to hand rear them and get them as tame as any crazy quail lady can (my partners nickname for me) after much pain and deliberation I have concluded I have 4 males and 2 females (i think 1 Italian male, 2 Chinese males, 1 Chinese female, 1 Japanese female and 1 unknown sex Chinese)

But the problem is I need more females before spring but I dont want to buy more females from a pet store or mass produced farm. (I live in Peterborough) All mine have been carefully loved and looked after but I have found they are not the most popular of birds to keep, where would you advise is the best place to start looking for nice healthy females to introduce to my little bunch of cheepers ?

Many Thanks

 

[Marigold]

Hi Quailies and welcome to the forum it's lovely to hear of another quail keeper, we are a select group.
As you say, finding private breeders isn't easy as quails are not bred in large numbers by many non-commercial people. However I could put you in touch with 2 people, one in Staines and one in Aldershot, who could help. If you also registered on Practical Poultry forum, you would find a section entitled Other Feathered Friends, which is read by a lot of quail people as well.
Doid you come across Practical Quail Keeping by Sarah Barratt in your researches? See
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CF69SJ6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00CF69SJ6&linkCode=as2&tag=poultrykeeperforum-21
Excellent book, the print edition is more expensive but has lots of colour pics, unlike the Kindle edition. Sarah is the person in Aldershot who providd me with my first quails, and this book is really useful when starting out with quails.
It may be difficult to find privately- bred quails at this time of year, because breeders would tend to reduce to breeding stocks in Autumn and replenish with new youngsters in Spring, since quails only take a couple of months from hatch to lay, it's not really worth keeping birds thorough the winter months, when they are so easy to breed and take so little time to mature.
There always seem to be more boys than girls in the hatch - out of 17 chicks, I got 11 boys. In winter when light levels are low, the boys tend to be calmer, but once the days lengthen and they come into breeding plumage, they will start to fight and you will need to separate them. Even worse, they will probably injure the girls with rough mating. They grip the girls heads in what is more of a rape than a mating, and when she objects they hang on and fall sideways, often taking chunks of feathers and skin with them. I got so upset about finding endless bloodbaths that eventually I culled all the boys, and since then my girls have lived happy, peaceful and productive lives.
You may find its tricky to introduce new girls to your group. Quails form a tight flock of known individuals, like chickens only more so, and will bully intruders, especially young ones. Perhaps you could partition the cage with wire mesh, so they could see each other without contact? They take a long time to settle in and integrate, and squabbles may break out even after you think they've made friends. Ideally, each new batch would go into its own separate cage.
Also, if you obtain birds that have been kept in indoor cages, you should probably wait until the whether warms up. Quails are hardy and can stand dry cold, once acclimatised to it, but are susceptible to cold damp conditions, especially if they've always been dry and warm. Mine live outdoors in summer, in a rabbit run on grass, and in winter they go into cages in a summerhouse, with lights on a time switch and a little Ecoglow electric chick warmer in the corner when it's very cold. Some of the pics in Sarahs book are of my set ups. My girls are now nearly two years old and still laying like mad nearly every day, they're extraordinarily productive, given a bit of light in the darker days.
Anyway, good luck in your search and do keep,posting. If you could post some pics, we would love to see them.

 

[Quailies]

Oh yes it is indeed a select group I have signed up to the practical poultry one too but they took longer to accept my application, Thats the website my partners granny told me to go to as shes on there for her show chickens. She tells me if I do get lucky and find someone she could meet them at the Reading show in a few weeks as apparently people from all over the country go there to buy and sell birds.
That would be lovely if you could put me in touch with someone, I knew that this time of year isn't the best to get any now but I wanted plenty of time to get the right ones before it does get to spring.
I have Practical quail keeping - by Sarah and Martin. and keeping quail - fourth edition - Katie Thear I cant believe your pens are featured .

I have a nice home for 2 of the most boisterous males, I know what you mean about the groups now, I had a male and female when I started but the female died as she was a rescue bird and the male I had left I didn't want him to be on his own so I put the ones I hatched in with him when they were still young but now they are mature they seem to be bullying Bob to the back of the cage so I might need to section a bit off for him if it gets worse or move him into a new cage completely (at the moment they just try peck him a little he doesn't seem to be injured in any way when I go in).

Here some some pics in order of taken. the first one is Bobette the one that died, she laid the lovliest white eggs. they nearly glowed they were so pure white ! the pics are below but as some are more than 700 megapixels you will need to click on the link.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa273/L0THL0RIEN/backofcage.jpg

Just hatched - I sat for hours to see the first one hatch

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa273/L0THL0RIEN/DSC_1400.jpg

me and seanetta the first one out

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa273/L0THL0RIEN/meandseanettachick.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa273/L0THL0RIEN/chicksunderhen.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa273/L0THL0RIEN/sarahmichelleheatherseanettaandpip.jpg

even with 2 of us in the cage still loads of room, you can just make out the start of the night time cage for them

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa273/L0THL0RIEN/meandseanetta.jpg




http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa273/L0THL0RIEN/quailies1-1.jpg

 

[Marigold]

Hi Quailies, I'm about to PM you with the contacts you requested. Well done for working out how to post pics on here, but ATM I can't get the pics to load on my iPad mini they're probably too big files, will have to try later when I steam up my laptop. Does your photo program give you an option for reducing file size before posting? Usually Medium does the job. There's some guidance on posting photos in the Pictures of Chickens (subsection of General Chickens) part of the Forum. One of your pics is showing, which has whetted my appetite to see the rest.
Haven't noticed you posting a request on PP quail section- is your registration active yet? Both forums are very quiet at the moment, I think its normal for the time of year. Poultry people seem to hibernate in mid-winter and come out again when they all start to incubate!

 

[Quailies]

Seanetta (



me and seanetta 1 week later



Sarah, michelle, heather and pip



the teen gang



me and older seanetta



michelle and heather (i think heather is male)