Introducing new quail

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molliedogspabottom

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Hi all,
I have 12 quail, 10 females and 2 males which I keep in a five star luxury shed with attatched outside run,complete with turf ( husband says he`s moving in ,the quail get more attention than he does).

I have just purchased another 16 females, they have been in quarantine for two weeks and are presently in the shed with a wooden framed mesh divide between the two lots of birds.

Both groups have been treated with baytril and baycox,the big question is when do I remove the meshed divide?.

I know they can be vicious little beasties (I`m sure I have seen one or two getting ready for the battle, sharpening their beaks on the cuttle fish ha! ha! ).

Will it be a blood bath, or is there anything I could try to help the situation?.

Hope someone offer advice ?.

Kind regards Heather
 
Hi heather

I find with my various types of quails that i keep i divide them up with a partition like you have done for quite a while then when things look pretty settled in each group which can take some time. I try introducing them a few at a time over into one run If things don't go that good then i re-divide them up again back to what they were. I have found that some quail just don't seem to get on so i normally end up housing what i can get to mix & the others i either keep separately or try putting them into smaller groups in other pens. one thing that does help is hiding places ? If you put pieces of wood etc. into the main run & make lots of hiding places if the new comers don't mix then they can hide it out & hopefully in time they will get on better with the other quail as time goes on. Another thing you can try if you have trouble is i have found if you put the quails into a brand new enclosure at the same time the shock of being put into new accommodation can take there mind off fighting and they sort of getting used to the new place with the new birds in the group You can try changing there original run about so they don't sort of recognize the place sometimes this can work as well.

John
 
Hi John

thanks for the advice, there is lots to try so hopefully I will eventually be successful.

At the moment they chatter away through the chicken wire divide,I have put their feeders back to back either side of the mesh and so far there has not been any trouble , they walk up and down the lenth of the divide looking into the others half of the shed ( probably thinking wait untill we get in there girls you won`t know what has hit you,ha!ha!).

I am away this weekend so I will try on monday I think just popping a couple over the divide and standing guard to see what happens is a good idea.

I already have a little hut made out of a cardboard box in the run and the older birds usually lay their eggs inside so maybe another hide in the back corner would be good.

I will let you know what happens

Kind regards Heather
 
Hi

just thought I would let you all know that the introduction of new to old quail went well, no problems at all.

I think that because they could see each other through the netting they just became use to seeing each other

and when the netting came down they just mingled together.

I have not seen the males entertaining the new girls yet, maybe they are abit overwhelmed, 26 to 2 or maybe

just shy he! he!.

regards Heather
 
could you add pics of quail hut,

i just like seing different styles of houses
 
Hi, Cookie,

I am afraid that I am not that good on the computer, I don`t know how to do pics. I will see if hubby can oblige,meanwhile I will tell you a bit about it.
It started as a 10 x 6ft. garden shed with one window, hubby ( who is a saint by the way) built an internal wall of 2x2 and twill weld mesh, with a door in so that I could enter the actual pen without the girls escaping through the main door,this works extremely well , the wall was placed 2ft 6" in from the outer door .

He then cut the outer door in half to make a stable type door, this means that I can leave the top half open to let plenty of air through,I was told that quail needed to be kept warm and so when winter came the window leaked and the shed seemed too cold.
First we removed the window and filled it in ,then we fitted a vent to the back wall to allow air movement.

I read on this site that rats can get under the shed and come up through the floor to get at the birds so a major refurb needed to happen.

Twill weld mesh was laid on the floor and then some plywood, we had access to lots of kingspan and so the saint (hubby) completely lined out the shed, from and including floor to ceiling, the floor and walls were then lined out with 6mm plywood.
Having discovered the shed leaked quite early on we ( yes I helped with this job) covered the complete shed with .roofing felt.

Now you know why hubby calls it quail hotel .

Having given the quail trays of sand to dust in which they thoroughly enjoyed ,I started to may noises about an out side run and how nice it would be for the girls.

Hubby, to whom I will be forever in his debt then added an outside run down one side of the hotel,it is solid from the ground up to 18" to reduce draughts and then made using 2x2 and twill weld mesh, it has a solid roof so that the run keeps fairly dry. the base is lined out with the same mesh and 6" of sand placed on top.

Then of course the girls needed a pop hole to get in and out

The girls started to fly into the sides when spooked so I put green garden netting around the outside so that they could`nt see straight through, this worked well.

However the run now has sliding polycarbonate walls this allows the girls to go out in winter and they are protected from the very harsh wet weather, they love it. There are branches in the run for cover.

I have since discovered that they are quite hardy little birds but they like good ventilation .

Having said all that I will try to get some pics. for you, thanks for asking about my quail hotel ( shed)

regards Heather
 
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