Raising Quail Articles

Be Sure To Purchase Your Quail From a Reputable Breeder.

2008-05-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

When raising quail be sure to know the reputation of the breeder you are purchasing from. I received an email from a nice gentleman who had just purchased 50 bobwhite quail. He was losing 3 quail per day. These quail were just over a year old and he had great hopes of building his flock from these quail.

He asked me if I could help him figure out why they were dying. He only had the quail for about 2 weeks. The first thing that came to mind was he had purchased diseased quail. I did however want to know the type of environment that he had setup for his quail. After finding out exactly what type of setup he had and how he was raising the quail. I found nothing that I thought was wrong, of course with quail you never know. I advised the gentleman to send some of the dead quail to a lab. This is the only true way to find out exactly why your quail are dying.

He then started to do a little research on his own and retraced his steps. When doing so, he found that the person he purchased from was losing quail at the same rate and so were the other people that purchased from this flock.

This is why it is extremely important to know the reputation of the breeder you are purchasing from. Don't be afraid to ask questions or ask for papers on the quail. A good breeder keeps records. Always try to buy your quail from a NPIP certified breeder.

Yes there is a lot of knowledge needed when raising quail and keeping them healthy and alive. But you need good healthy quail from a strong bloodline to even begin. So whether it be eggs, chicks or adult quail you are purchasing. Don't just buy because it is a good price, know the reputation of the breeder you are purchasing from. Remember you want to be raising quail, not burying or burning them.

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To find out more about Raising Quail visit:
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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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Overcrowding Kills, when Raising Quail.

2008-04-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Overcrowding can result in death, when you raise quail. Remember that quail are wild by nature, even if you incubated and hatched the eggs yourself, this fact cannot be changed.

You will never be able to give your quail the amount of space they would have in the wild but you need to provide enough room to make them comfortable. This can create higher costs for you up front, but will help create better results in your quail raising venture in the end.

What amount of space is required for raising quail? This is what I consider a good starting point. Allow 1 square foot for 3 chicks until they reach 1 week of age. After your quail are one week of age, then give each quail 1 square foot.

Overcrowding can cause many different problems when raising quail. Your management of this situation will help in avoiding many of these problems and help keep your quail alive.

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To find out more about Raising Quail visit:
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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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What about Raising Giant Quail?

2008-03-31T16:58:00.000-07:00

I have received several emails in the last week about raising the giant variety of quail. Although I am not exactly sure how these quail have evolved, they are of the bob white specie of quail.

There are the Georgia giant, Wisconsin jumbo and the Indiana giant. I believe the Georgia giant is the bigger of these 3. The Georgia giant quail can reach a weight of 16 ounces at maturity. They can be strong fliers, if properly conditioned, productive layers and good for a meat quail.

These quail can be easily raised in the captive environment. They are relatively disease resistant and are raised the same as the regular bob white.

The Georgia giants are about 3 times as big as the Northern bob white at maturity. So if you are considering a larger variety of quail to raise. You may want to consider the Georgia giant.

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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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Raising Quail and your Breeder Situation.

2008-03-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

In some areas the male and female quail are starting to pair up. This can be a very rough time on people new to raising quail. The males and in some cases even females will start becoming very aggressive. This aggression can result in injury or even death to some of your quail.

You will need to monitor your quail very closely and figure out the best way to separate your breeders to prevent the aggression from destroying your quail raising experience. You will need to figure out what style of breeding setup will best suit your situation.

When raising quail during the breeding season, will you have to separate your breeders into pairs in breeder cages? This helps in determining your best producers, but requires more space. You could also try 1 male to 2 females, also in a breeder pen. This can help save on some space and still let you determine which quail are your best producers.

Then there is the most widely used colony method. Raising your quail in an area that allows plenty of space, has a slant to the floor from back to front which will allow for easy collection of the quail eggs and requires less room than the other methods. When using this method you will have to consider the correct ratio of male to females and watch for fighting.

Which ever method works best for your quail breeding situation. Remember to get your breeders on the proper layer diet at least 2 weeks before you expect to start seeing eggs.

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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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Egg Time for Raising Quail.

2008-03-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

If your are planning on raising quail this year and do not yet have your own layers. You need to be ordering your quail eggs now.

I suggest buying from a reputable breeder as close to where you live as possible. I also suggest buying from a NPIP certified breeder. This way you have the best chance of getting quality quail eggs from quality stock.

You don't want to start your raising quail season off with inbred or diseased eggs. Do the research and be picky about who you purchase your quail eggs from. Start your quail raising experience off on the right foot. Don't just but from anyone and end up with a zero percent hatch rate.

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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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Management for upcoming quail breeding season.

2008-02-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

When preparing for the upcoming quail breeding season, not only should your incubators and brooding equipment be checked for proper working order. It also should be cleaned and disinfected before every use. This ritual should become a common part of your management procedure.

Even if you are upgrading your quail raising hobby or business and purchasing new equipment. This should also be cleaned and disinfected before the first use and before each additional use.

Brooding areas cleaned and disinfected, breeding cages cleaned and disinfected and don't forget the grow out pens. Do this as close to time needed for use by your quail as possible. Follow directions of disinfectant used and allow time for drying.

Always keep in mind, that the best way to deal with disease when raising quail, is prevention.

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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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Raising quail season is coming our way.

2008-02-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

The quail raising season is approaching quickly in some parts of the world. Are you getting prepared?

Is this going to be the season you take the first step to a great adventure? Or is this the season that you go from raising quail as a hobby to trying to make money from quail raising.

This is the time to start making your plans, getting the knowledge you will need and setting the goals you would like to achieve in the upcoming quail breeding season.

If you plan on having a larger flock of quail this season. How much more room will be needed? Is your existing incubator and brooding setup in good working order and will it accommodate the plans you have for the season.

If this is going to be your first season, you will need the knowledge required to purchase the right incubator and how to operate it properly for hatching quail eggs. If you can't get the eggs to hatch, you don't have to worry about any other aspect of raising quail.

When raising quail, we all know how important knowledge is. But preparation, planning and goals are also important.

Are you getting ready?

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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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Raising just a small number of quail for release.

2008-01-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

I recently received an email from a school teacher who started a project of raising three quail in his classroom for the students. I assumed that he started this project from incubating the quail eggs.

If done properly, I think this is a nice little project for children. They will learn the wonder of the gift of life and the responsibility required to maintain it. They will also be able to see the results of their responsibility as the quail chicks grow and their needs change.

The question the teacher asked me was, when the quail matured could they just be released? He also mentioned that they only had the three quail.

This being said, the obvious answer is no. First of all, you never want to raise quail for release without a flight conditioning pen. Quail being released without six weeks of flight conditioning, have zero chance of survival. Secondly, when raising only three quail there is not enough to form a covey. Again zero chance of survival.

So my advice to the teacher was to see if one of the children in the class would see if his or her parent's may let them bring the quail home to raise.

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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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All about hatching quail

2008-01-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

QUESTION: I got some quail questions for you. I have experienced hatching before, with guinea fowl, pheasants & chickens. Recently I ordered some bobwhite quail eggs. When they arrived they were very dry to the touch and I started spritzing immediately. Now during hatch I would find 2 or 3 daily cracking and oozing what looked like dried blood.(I have herd about rotten eggs before but nothing described like this.) I could smell a musky smell (not rotten musky) when they would crack, long before I saw the problem. I would remove these eggs once I noticed the crack. But this happened up to day of hatch..out of 120 eggs I ended up with a hatch of approx. 50. Now that is not the only problem I ran into.

Many eggs would pip and then not hatch. Now I've run into this and know there is no real explanation..but what I did start seeing was a lot of pipping of the shell, all the way around, yet not one hole in the membrane! I am aware of two membrane in an egg. The one around the chick holding fluids in, and the one attached to the egg, which is much thicker. Now I did help a few out of the membrane when it was taking too long. There were eggs that I could pull the whole chick in membrane (after pip) out of the shell. it would still look like the egg shape, but all membrane and wiggling chick. I would help some out of the membrane, but not all ends well so I don't like to do that! Now I was running into another problem as well. Towards the end they would pip and then the membrane were drying suffocating the chick within. You would look at the newly pipped and 10 minutes later they were dead and the membrane had shrunk.

Now peoples first reaction is humidity, that was not a problem during incubation it was normal and during hatch I did increase it by adding an additional sponge soaked in warm water. When I had 6 or more chicks hatch I would trade sponge with new one and spritz..liberally. (little giant Styrofoam bator, fan).

I had to remove the chicks, waiting for six at least, because the other shells were so brittle they would crack other eggs while running about! I have experienced many things but this was the weirdest and lowest hatch I ever had and I have hatched many hundreds of chicks in my short 4 yr experience (I started small, you know how the hobby grows)!

Do you have a clue why this would happen. The membrane separating from egg like that or shrinking up so quickly. Would it be connected to the cracked oozing eggs? Was there a disease ,or could the hens they came from be new to laying somehow causing a problem???? I am just curious as to why this happened. As I said temp and humidity were steady and fine whole time, never did I let it dry out nor did I let the heat waver! What could have caused such a problem? Now I am also running into a loss of at least a chick a day. I have a brower brooder with a mesh flooring in there, heat is good, food and water are freely available, they seem fine and happy and yet daily I'm finding a dead chick. Is this normal after hatch it's been a week now and from 50 I'm down to 35ish. If it was the feed I would think I would find more then one dead daily, and they drink plenty of water....?????? I know shipped eggs don't give you perfect hatches but the problems don't seem to strike me as a shipping problem?? I'm stumped, is any of this normal???

ANSWER: You are having more than your share of problems with this hatch.

It sounds to me that the eggs got cracked during shipment and bacteria got into the eggs and killed the embryo.

I am grabbed with the question of humidity. You said the humidity was normal just what is normal to you? The humidity for Bobwhites should be around 83-4 degrees wet-bulb and the dry thermometer should read close to 99. 3/4 degrees. The dryness is definitely a sign that the humidity was too low. You simply dried out the eggs during incubation. The membranes you described seem to indicate this. What humidity did you have during incubation?

It could be a problem of heat. If you have the heat too high the eggs tend to dry out. Check your thermometers with a medical thermometer to be sure it is calibrated correctly. The problem with hatching indicate the chicks did not have enough moisture and the inside membrane dried out abnormally.

The dying of the chicks is another story. I do not know why this is happening. You will get a few dead chicks now and then for no apparent reason. Having the number die that you describe is not normal. Again, check to see that the heat for the chicks is OK and that they are eating and drinking. I would put Solu-Tracin in the water.
Don't give up! You are learning by doing. Game bird breeders never make mistakes if they learn to never do the same thing again.

About the author:

Leland B. Hayes, Ph.D.
P.O. Box 1682,
Valley Center, CA 92082
(760) 749-6829 FAX (760) 742-1173

Is Your Quail Flock Outgrowing the 50lb Feed Bags?

2007-11-04T16:59:00.000-08:00

When raising quail and getting all the proper knowledge needed for incubating, brooding, grow out and picking the right breeders. You will find that your flock can grow quite rapidly.

Your quail feeding needs will make the 50 lb bags of food no longer economical. You will have to start thinking of buying quail feed by the ton. So how will you store tons of food for your quail.

Obviously you are going to need a feed storage bin for your quail raising farm. These can be easily purchased brand new in different shapes, sizes and made from different materials. They also can be a little on the expensive side.

You could also think of building your own. Here is a link to a pdf from a web site that provides plans on how to construct a feed storage bin for your raising quail farm: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mwps_dis/mwps_web/plans/73217.pdf

If you are handy or know someone who is good with tools, these plans could save you a lot of money. But if you can afford to purchase a feed storage bin, I would obviously recommend doing so. If you can't afford to purchase one or don't want to invest that type of money in your quail raising farm. Then check out that link and the plans for building your own feed storage bin.

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To find out more about Raising Quail visit:
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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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Temperature change and losing quail when raising.

2007-10-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

I have received several emails lately from people that have lost up to 80% of their 8 week old quail. They did not tell me what specie of quail they were raising, just the fact that they lost so many quail.

First of all when raising quail, at 8 weeks old, if you are brooding correctly, these quail are just coming out of a controlled environment of a temperature of 70 degrees. The quail are still immature, unless they are Coturnix quail and becoming acclimated to a temperature of 40 to 50 degrees should be a gradual process.

You should provide some means of heat and protection from the elements. The heat can be reduced gradually as the quail mature and their natural instincts begin to kick in. But when raising quail they still need cover to covey in. They should be able to escape the brisk winds of winter. You need to provide them a place to escape.

When I was young and out walking the fields, rabbit hunting. Quail would be found in very thick and heavy grass cover. This is not just their way of hiding from predators. It is also their way of protecting themselves from the elements.

They are not like dogs or cats that their fur just gets thicker. The quail are feathered animals that need cover and each other for warmth. When raising quail in captivity, you obviously have to provide the protection, their instinct will tell them to find it. But you have to provide it.

Remember that other than Coturnix or Button Quail most species of quail do not reach maturity until 16 weeks of age or so.

About the Author:
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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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How Important is Quail Raising Knowledge?

2007-10-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

I think there are entirely to many people that are starting to get into raising quail, thinking that it is just like raising chickens or any other domestic type animal. This is just not the case. Raising quail is not like anything you have ever raised in your life.

When raising quail and having any success at it, there are many variables that have to come together in order to succeed at this hobby or business. Without any knowledge at all of these variables, your quail will die and that is the hard truth.

There is absolutely no room for trial and error when it comes to raising quail. I have tried that and now know of many other people who have done the same. I receive many emails from people who have a zero hatch rate, chicks are dying and cannibalism.

These are all from people that don't want to buy and read books to learn a little about raising quail first. The knowledge that could be gained from the experience of others can help prevent most of these problems from ever happening. Or at least give them a quick solution to a problem that starts.

Will the knowledge you gain from reading books written by experienced quail breeders prevent all your quail from dying? No! Will that knowledge about raising quail prevent a lot of your quail from dying needlessly? Definitely Yes!

I have received an email from one person in a complete frantic state. Telling me his quail were dying by the hands full. During the process of emailing him back many times trying to figure out what was going on. He purchased and downloaded my ebook. Being able to receive the book immediately, worked out great for him. The next email I received from this person was thanking me for saving his quail.

I have had one person email me for incubating tips. They had just went through a 0% hatch rate. I gave them a few tips and a month or so later, they were emailing me pictures of their newly hatched quail. They had went from 0% to a 90% hatch rate. Then they had a disease problem and then it was a cannibalism problem. These problems for the most part are avoidable, with proper knowledge.

My whole point to this article is. Sure I want you to buy my book. But whether it be mine or someone else's or both. Get the knowledge, have an idea of what raising quail requires, before your quail start dying. Once they start, it could really snowball and you could lose your whole flock.

Raising quail is a choice you have made. Make the right choice and learn “how to raise quail” so you can enjoy it.

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Sexing Coturnix or Japanese Quail.

2007-10-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

When raising Coturnix quail sexing can be done in several different ways. For most normal colored Coturnix quail. This can be done by their colors. The male Coturnix will have rusty brown colored feathers on the upper throat and lower breast area. The female's color is somewhat similar to that of the male quail but the feathers are long and pointed in the throat and upper breast area. They are lighter and more of a cinnamon color. The female quail also has a little black in the tan breast feathers.

Another way of differentiating between the sexes when raising these quail is that the female will weigh a little more than the male. The weight difference may be a little as a half of an ounce. But there is a difference.

Because of the many color variations of Coturnix quail available for raising. Sometimes it is impossible to sex these quail by color. So vent sexing may be necessary. This type of sexing can be done very accurately when raising the Cotunix quail, if done properly.

When using this method, the male of the specie has a small bulb like area located in its vent section. This is called the cloacal gland. When the male Coturnix quail reaches sexual maturity, this gland will secrete a foamy looking substance. The female of this quail specie does not have this gland, you will not find this bulb like gland in their vent area.

When raising these quail and wanting to sex at a young age, you may be able to see this gland with some type of magnification device. You may want to be careful putting your face in the vent area.

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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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Chicks Dying When Raising Quail

2007-10-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

When raising quail and your chicks are dying after they are hatched, doesn't necessary mean you are doing something wrong. If you purchased the eggs from another quail farmer, they could have been doomed before you even purchased them.

Sometimes when raising quail, the quail chicks dying can be traced back to their source. The breeder quail that produced the quail eggs. There are a few variables that need to come together for the breeding quail to produce high quality quail eggs.

These variables are often overlooked by new quail breeders and ignored by experienced quail farmers.
These are some of the factors that can cause your quail chicks to die because of the breeding stock:

1. Inbreeding. Which is more likely to happen on smaller quail farms but can happen no matter how big the quail farm.

2. Improper diet. When picking your breeding stock, they should be started on a layer or breeder diet 2 weeks before they are expected to start laying eggs. Then kept on this diet throughout the laying season. This type of diet contains all the required nutrients needed for high quality production.

3. Disease. Even though the breeder quail may not show any signs of disease, they could still be carriers. If so, the disease could be passed on to the highly susceptible eggs.

These factors should also be consider when raising your own breeder quail. But if you do purchase eggs. I highly recommend purchasing from a breeder that participates in the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP).

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Copyright © Gary Ortlieb
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Raising Quail for Consumption.

2007-10-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

When raising quail for consumption purposes only, the process is a little different than raising for eggs or flight. It is probably best to decide when your quail are still chicks, just what you are raising any particular quail for. This way when you take the quail chicks off of their starter feed, you can get them on the correct diet immediately.

You will raise your quail chicks as you normally would. Putting the chicks on a starter feed as soon as they are moved to your brooder. Once your quail chicks reach the age of 6 to 8 weeks old if raising for meat, you will then want to put them on a finisher diet. Then keep your meat quail on this diet until slaughter.

Another thing you should do when raising quail for meat is to only allow them 8 hours of light per day. This will help cut down on the quails activity and thus allow them to become a little more plump before slaughter. As you know or you should know, that quail have no fat. This is the reason when cooking quail, most people will wrap them in bacon.

These tips are also a good way to raise your meat quail to sell to restaurants.

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Quail Breeding Season Winding Down

2007-09-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

As the daylight hours grow shorter here in the United States. The egg laying and quail breeding season starts to slow down and eventually stop. Even if you are a quail farmer that is raising quail to lay all year long, using artificial means. Your layers and breeder quail need a break, the laying season does take its toll on them. They need time to rejuvenate and get their strength back up to start again.

I feel that it is a good idea to let them stop naturally. Once they have stopped, take them off of their breeder or layer diet that they should be on. Put them back on the developer diet and give them around a 3 month rejuvenation period if using artificial means. This will give you much better results and keep your quail healthier. Then the last 2 weeks of the quail's 3 month break, you can get them started back on the quail breeder feed. This would probably be around January or so.

If you are raising quail to just let everything happen naturally. Then once the quail have stopped laying, just put them back on their developer feed and perform good management procedures. Then put your breeder or layer quail back on the layer diet 2 weeks before the season starts again. The middle of March or early April.

This is also a good time to reflect on your quail breeding season. If you are raising quail as a business or trying to head into that direction. You will definitely not want to be wasting your money on the quail that did not meet your expectations during the breeding season.

If you are not raising quail for meat purposes, then the quail you keep and feed over the winter are overhead. Remember if your quail are not laying eggs to make you money, then they are costing you money. I know this can be a hard decision, but if you are raising quail to make money. Then it may be a good idea to just keep your best breeders over the winter months. Feed is expensive, this will help you cut down on that overhead. Just make sure depending on the type of winter's you have, that you keep enough quail so they can form their covey to keep warm.

In other parts of the world however, your quail breeding season is just starting. So I wish all of you a very healthy and productive quail raising season.

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Ulcerated Enteritis When Raising Quail.

2007-09-13T17:05:00.000-07:00

Quail disease, Ulcerated or Ulcerative Enteritis affects Bobwhite, California, Mountain and Gambel’s quail, Sharptail and Ruffed grouse, Chukar and European partridge, Wild turkey, and of course domestic poultry. If you are in the game bird business (or hobby) you have either a chronic, periodic, or infrequent outbreak, or a consistent fear of Enteritis. This one disease of quail nearly makes a preventative level of antibiotic in feed a necessity. News articles about antibiotic bans in livestock heap an additional layer of stress on the al-ready stressed bird grower.

Take heart! Your tax money is working for the game bird industry (and Hobbyists) at the Agricultural Research Service Laboratory in College Station, Texas. A valiant effort at decreasing food borne illness will give the game bird industry a much needed product. Expensive antibiotics will be replaced with a reasonably priced, chemically non-controversial alternative that probably works better. All we have to do is wait for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve it for use.

Chlorate is so inexpensive that it is used to bleach paper during manufacture. Chlorate is the control for Enteritis long sought. This is how it works. Disease organisms that grow without oxygen cause terrible disease problems. Most intestinal bacteria that do not cause problems but maintain good intestinal health need oxygen to thrive. During periods of disease the bacteria in the intestines become imbalanced with the bad bacteria overwhelming good bacteria. Clostridium colinum is the disease agent of Enteritis. Clostridia can thrive in conditions without oxygen. They can be anaerobic. When these bacteria grow without oxygen they use other chemical to get their oxygen. They usually use nitrogen compounds to do this, but if chlorate is available they will convert chlorate to chlorite. Here is the best part; chlorite is poisonous to these bad bacteria – so they make their own poison and die. The good bacteria only use oxygen so they are not killed, maintaining a healthy balance in the intestines. Good-by Enteritis!

Now you may ask, “How expensive this stuff will be?” It is much cheaper than antibiotics. Also, the chlorate method was developed to prevent Salmonella poisoning in food. So it is very likely to be approved by the FDA. In this case more than one problem is solved, research is good. You never know what will be discovered!

(The above article is from: Wildlife Harvest, Vol. 37 NO. 6, June 2006 and was written by Lee Cartwright.)

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Making a Movable Pen for Raising Quail.

2007-09-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

When raising quail in ground pens, this can create many disease problems. Especially when living in a damp or wet environment. The droppings from the quail build up on the ground over time and with wet or damp conditions, this allows bacteria and/or parasites to enter. Once this happens, it will start entering you quail's system which will cause disease outbreaks.

Some breeders may get lucky and be able to avoid this problem for awhile. I have actually heard breeders bragging about never having this problem. If they keep raising their quail on the same ground, under these conditions, it will catch up with them.

The only possible way to raise quail in ground pens without moving them about every 3 to 4 months. Would be to live in almost arid conditions. The sun acts as a natural disinfectant and in dry conditions would keep the bacteria and parasites down to a minimum or not allow them to be a factor at all.

So what would be the answer to this potential huge problem:

1.) Would be to have several pens. Start out with your raising your quail in just one of these pens. Then after the breeding season, if not sooner. Move them to your other pen. I say after the breeding season, because when your quail are still breeding. Moving them during this period will probably cause stress on your quail and could create a pause in their breeding, unless you have your breeders in separate breeding pens . Then you would need to plow or turn the ground over (very deeply) in the pen that has been used. Doing this will put all of the droppings underground and the sun will disinfect the ground.

2.) The other solution would be to have a movable pen. This would save on the cost of having separate pens. It also may not cause as much stress when moving. You would still have to tend to the ground of the previous location, but it would be a lot easier to get to.

I just came across a web site that explains how to construct a movable pen. You may have to make some modifications to these plans for raising quail. But I think it is pretty unique.
Here is the link to the web site: http://www.utm.edu/departments/cece/idea/mopens.shtml

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Brooding Problems When Raising Quail.

2007-08-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

Chick's dying during the Brooding Process of Raising Quail is not necessarily your fault or caused by you doing anything wrong. If the eggs that the chicks came from were purchased quail eggs. There could have been a problem with the breeder's that produced these eggs.

The Breeder Quail may not be sick themselves but are carrying a disease. If they are carrying a disease this could be passed along to the chicks. It could cause them either not to hatch at all, or have very short lives. There is absolutely nothing you can do about this.

Another problem the Breeder Quail could have is not receiving the proper nutrition. This also will cause problems with the chicks. This is why your breeder's should be put on a breeder quail diet starting at least several weeks before breeding season. They should be kept on this diet through out the quail breeding season.

Then there are problems that you may be able to prevent. The quail chicks also need to be properly fed. I personally like to use a medicated quail starter food. This will help in preventing Coccidiosis, this disease will usually attack your chicks at the age of 2 weeks to 6 weeks of age. The medicated food is made to help prevent this.

Coccidiosis is found more in chicks being brooded on the ground or litter. You can help prevent this disease by maintaining a clean pen. Usually the cause of this disease is from the chicks eating droppings off of the floor. As you well know that is about all they do, so you have to do the best you can to keep their area clean.

Picking is always a potential problem when raising quail. During the brooding stage chicks are very prone to picking, toes, nose, back and tail feathers. This picking can and will result in death, if not controlled.

There are various solutions to this problem. One solution is using colored lights, blue is highly suggested although red will also work. The general thought on this, is just give them enough light to find their food and water. Another possible solution is to give them something to pick on other than each other. You could put in a small, leafy tightly bale of hay, this will sometimes help. A member of the forum at: http://howtoraisequail.com/hp_phpbb3/index.php posted a very unique solution for this problem. It was posted by “wotisname” in the Raising Quail section under Bloody Vents. If none of these solve this problem there is always the last resort of beak trimming.

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Raising Quail, Incubation Tips Part 2 "Setting the Eggs"

2007-07-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

Things to Keep in Mind before and during Incubating Quail Eggs.

Now that you have mastered the operation of your incubator and it is ready for your quail eggs. You first need to have your eggs ready to incubate. If you ordered your eggs and had them shipped to your door. The first thing you will need to do is open and check them, if there are any cracked or broken eggs just throw them away. The next step is to just let them sit for at least 8 hours at room temperature to give them a chance to settle.

If they are eggs from your flock and you had them in storage. You should let them sit until they reach room temperature (70 degrees to 75 degrees F). Once you have completed which ever procedure fits your situation, you will then be ready to set the eggs in the incubator.

If you are using an incubator without an automatic turner, you may want to take a pencil and put an “x” on one side and an “o” directly on the opposite side. After completing this, then lay the quail eggs in the incubator in their natural position. On their side, with the small end of the egg being tilted slightly down. Have the “x” side facing up, for turning purposes.

If you have an automatic turner you will not have to worry about this but if not, you will have to turn them manually. You will get a lot of varying opinions about how often to turn the eggs. Some will say twice a day, others will say every 4 hours and you will also hear 4 to 5 times per day. You will be the only one who can determine which best fits your situation. I personally prefer the 4 times a day.

This is where your pencil markings come in handy. You started with the “x” side up, so when you turn the egg, it will have the “o” side up. Just repeat this process on each turning.

You can start candling your eggs after about the 7th day. By doing this you will be able to check for embryo development. If you find eggs that are showing no development at this point, you may as well through them away.

Once you have reached about the midway point to hatch out and you have candled you eggs and have seen embryo development. You know that lives are starting to form in your eggs. Once the quail chicks start to form and become living animals, they are obviously going to start generating some of their own heat. You should have a thermometer placed directly on top of the eggs that you have been monitoring anyway. So at this point you should notice the temperature starting to rise in the incubator. This rise will mean that you will need to adjust the temperature on your incubator. You should have to adjust the temperature down on the incubator to maintain the proper incubation temperature.

Now we have come to the last 3 days before pip. Stop turning the eggs at this point and up the humidity to 80% (this is extremely important, it helps prevent the chicks from sticking to the shell). If you are using an automatic turner, remove the turner and candle the eggs. Get rid of cracked eggs and chicks that seem to have not formed properly in the shell. Make sure you have placed the lid on the incubator during this process as to not loose heat. Before placing the eggs back in the incubator, something should be place on the floor of the incubator, such as cheese cloth, shredded paper or even the material that is used in kitchen drawers or cabinets. This is done to help the chicks have secure footing after they hatch. As you know chicks come out of the shell very wet and you want to do anything you can to prevent them from slipping. The slipping could cause “straddle leg” this usually means culling of the chick.

If you are using a cabinet type incubator, you need to level and lock the egg trays to prevent turning or move the chicks to the hatching tray. Do this following the same procedures as mentioned when removing the automatic turner from the table top incubator.

Once they have hatched, they should be left in the incubator or hatcher for 24 hours or until dry. Moving them to the brooder while wet could cause them to get a chill. This could become a big problem.

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Raising Quail, Incubation Tips..

2007-07-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

When incubating Quail eggs, picking the proper location for your incubator is very important. Finding an area that maintains a temperature of somewhere between 70°F to 80°F would be the best. When I say maintains, I don't mean fluctuates between those temperatures. It should pretty well be able to hold a temperature of say 72°F or 75°F for example. If you place your incubator in a room that has drastic temperature drops or hikes. This will also happen in your incubator, which can have huge effects on your hatch rate.

The room should be well ventilated but yet not drafty. Your incubator should be leveled and away from direct sunlight. Remember an incubator is designed to bring the room temperature to the desired incubating temperature. This is why placement of the incubator is so important. You have to provide the right conditions for your incubator to function the way it is supposed to.

Once you have found the perfect spot for your incubator to be able to maintain the proper incubating temperature and ventilation. It is time to work with the humidity. In most cases the desired humidity is 60%. For some species of quail it is some what less. But in all cases it is usually better to have a little less than 60% than more.

Incubators usually will come with at least one or two trays for water. The amount of moisture in an incubator is determined by the surface of the water being exposed to air. Incubators such as hova-bators, instruct you to fill one of the trays with water until the last 2 to 3 days and then fill the second. What you have to realize is that these instructions are starting points. Where you have placed your incubator is going to determine what is actually going to work for you.

If you have placed the incubator in a room that has high humidity, even filling just one tray could be to much. As I mentioned, to much is never good. You will need a reliable tool to be able to read the humidity. If you are getting to much from one tray, you may have to go with a smaller tray or cover part of the tray with aluminum foil and secure it with tape.

All of these things need to be done before you even purchase eggs. Test and get to know your incubator, so you will be prepared to make proper adjustments without hesitation. This will help increase your hatch rate dramatically. You should also have several reliable thermometers and tools to read humidity.

Note: All of this testing and learning your incubator is done without eggs in it. After the eggs are set, it is very likely that you will have to make some adjustments. If you have gone through all of the testing and read the incubator manual. It should not be any problem for you, at this point to make these adjustments.

Now when your eggs arrive and you have them properly prepared for setting. Your incubator has been running for a minimum of half a day, the settings are where they are supposed to be and you are almost ready to start the incubation process.

Special Note: The next article will be on properly setting the eggs.

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Raising Quail Diets

2007-06-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

When raising Quail feed the Quail chicks a "starter" diet soon after hatching. The starter diet has the highest level of protein a bird receives during its lifetime. After the Quail chicks are six or eight weeks old, feed meat-type birds a "finisher" diet, and feed flight birds and those saved for egg production a "developer" diet. Remember, birds saved for egg production are fed developer diets, not finisher diets.

It is important to provide the correct diet to your Quail if you want the desired results. Feed your meat Quail a non medicated diet during the last week to assure no drug residues remain in the tissues of the Quail. Examples of FDA approved antibiotics for Quail diets are bacitracin and penicillin. Including bacitracin in diets of all game birds is recommended to maintain healthy, productive Quail.

Deviation from the recommended diets alters the levels of all nutrients and can create undesired problems. Always consult with a poultry nutritionist or your county agent before making dietary changes. Poor quality ingredients may be tolerated in diets of some types of farm animals but not quail. In most cases, chicken diets can be fed to growing bobwhite Quail that are raised for slaughter.

It is important to provide the correct diet to the birds if desired result are to be attained. Feed flight birds and immature breeders the developer diet until you sell them or until they are about20 weeks old. Bacitracin (50-200 grams per ton) or penicillin (20-50 grams per ton) is permitted in game bird diets preventatives against ulcerative enteritis (quail disease). Including bacitracin in diets of all game birds is recommended to maintain healthy,productive birds.

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More on Raising Bob White Quail.

2007-06-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

Bobwhite Quail are generally seen in the wild in the Midwest and Southern United States as well as parts of Mexico. Bobwhite quail are small, chunky birds and usually travel on foot and stay in a limited area. Bobwhite quail are primarily seed eaters, although they do eat some insects. The bobwhites probably have the largest number of calls with at least 19 distinct calls.

Breeding of Northern Bobwhites is now a profitable business. Bobwhite Quail, noted for its flavorful fat free meat, has become a high-end alternative to chicken for many connoisseurs.

Most successful quail farmers typically raise breeders with the intent to market the resultant quail chicks at one day of age to grow out producers, or they specialize in the grow out of day-old chicks until approximately 17 weeks of age to sell as flight-ready birds to game preserve owners.

Bobwhite Quail chicks are tiny- about the size of bumblebees. Bobwhite quail, especially the young chicks, are sensitive to poor feed quality. Never feed moldy food because some molds produce micro toxins that can cause serious health problems or poor growth. There is a multitude of diseases that affect quail raised in captivity that can be prevented with proper management. Coccidiosis normally attacks birds at the age of 2-6 weeks and birds that are on litter or ground environment. Wet litter and buildup of droppings around waterer's and feeders is a common source of overwhelming infections.

Nipple waterer's significantly reduce the occurrence of wet litter and are simpler to clean than trough waterer's. Prevention must start with good management practices (eg, avoiding the introduction of new birds into existing flocks). Often, because of their individual attention to management, smaller quail breeding farms surpass achievements of larger quail breeders. Due to different conditions and different management on each quail farm, what works well for one quail breeder does not necessarily work well for another. Never attempt to substitute drugs for good management.

Two of the more basic production facilities used for raising Bobwhite quail are referred to as flight pens and quail barns. Breeders are typically housed in one of three ways: in large community floor pens with 1 square foot of floor space per bird, in smaller communal cages designed for 10 to 20 birds each, or caged as pairs or trios. With small quail breeding farms it is often advisable to introduce unrelated breeder stock at least every third year to prevent inbreeding problems.

Bobwhite quail are definitely a declining species that is not debatable.

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Raising Chinese Painted Quail.

2007-06-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Chinese Painted Quail (excalfactoria chinensis) is about 4-5 inches in height, much smaller than other members of the quail family such as Japanese and Harlequin quail. Chinese painted quail don't need very many fancy foods, and are very cheap to feed. Japanese and Chinese Painted Quail are ideal aviary inhabitants. There are various mutations of Painted Quail but in the normal form males have a brown back with dark streaks and highlights. Because their feet are not made for perching, Chinese Painted Quail will usually need an aviary with a solid bottom. Although there are many species known as "Button Quail", the Chinese Painted Quail is the most commonly kept and is often used synonymously when referring to captive Button Quail.

The basic diet for Chinese Painted Quail is a mixture of mixed millets and chick crumbs, at the ratio of 50/50 in a dish or hopper, which will prevent them from emptying the contents on to the aviary floor. When raising these small quail chicks be sure to provide watering devices either filled with marbles or very clean stones to prevent drowning. Chinese Painted Quail much like the Coturnix mature very quickly. They also start laying eggs at a very early age 6 to 8 weeks and are very easy to care for.

Painted Quail can be successfully maintained in bare aviaries or flight cages, you will usually get best breeding results by housing them in a planted aviary with access to the ground. Chinese Painted Quail will lay one egg per day if they have 12 or more hours of sunlight; usually from mid-February to the beginning of November. A lot of breeders feel it is best to house a trio of Painted Quail in colony breeding flights pens. Chinese Painted Quail lay a average clutch of 6-12 eggs but in most cases will lay them where ever they happen to be standing at the time.

The most efficient way to hatch Chinese Painted Quail is by artificial incubation, using an incubator.
Other breeders will tell you it it best to wait till the hens go broody and set to hatch them. So I would say you will have to determine what best fits your situation.

The Chinese Painted quail is probably the most widely kept of the ornamental aviary breeds. Chinese Painted Quail are peaceful towards all other bird species.

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Raising Quail to Sell.

2007-05-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

If you are getting into raising quail to sell, you will have to come up with a good marketing plan. You can have the best managed, cleanest farm and best quality Quail on the planet. Guess what? That all means absolutely nothing if you are the only person who knows. This is the reason you need a good solid marketing plan in place.

In any type of business you need a budget for marketing. Usually when starting a raising Quail business, your marketing budget will be very limited. So your marketing will probably require some leg work and phone calls. If your budget allows hiring professionals, that would obviously be the best way to go. You want your ads to always look professional.

You can advertise in newspapers, game bird magazines and if you or someone in your family has any computer skills. You can create a quality looking ad and print some ads out on quality stock and post them around your local area stores. Just remember the more people that know about you, the better your chances are of selling.

I think that if you can advertise in game bird magazines you probably would have a better chance of selling. People that subscribe to these type of magazines are more likely to be potential customers. They are already interested in game birds or they wouldn't have a subscription. This is what you are looking for when marketing your Quail.

These are the things you have to keep in mind when trying to sell your Quail. This is a very narrow market, but it is growing all the time. You need to find the best and most likely places that your potential customers are. Once you figure this out, then you present them with a great product. Then you have a win, win situation.

Give your marketing plan a lot of thought and do research to find the best way and the best places to advertise your Quail. You could have an unlimited budget for marketing, but if you spent it in a way that you are advertising where there is no interest. You will be wasting every cent.

Be smart, think and make your Quail raising venture a profitable one.

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