Quail

[roitelet]

Something new for the Roost!

I bought 11 Quail in the market the other day all from the same cage. Put them in a double Rabbit Clapier (Hutch) and thought they would be OK. The next day one was covered with blood and had obviously been attacked by another. The same thing happened for the next two days. So I now have 8 still in the double clapier and 3 in individual boxes.

I am assuming that the 3 that are isolated are all males with one male left in with the females.

Does anyone know how I can tell the difference between the sexes? Also has anyone any experiance of keeping them, ie how long from egg to pot, feeding etc?

I am planning to keep 1 male and 3 females for breeding the rest are for the pot, Yummy

[Bramble-Poultry]

ok - i assume that you have japanese coturnix quail. small little brown fellas. the males will fight - sometimes to the death as you have found out.

the males when you look at them have a clear breast, usually a fawn colour, sometimes deepening to khaki in some but it will not have any spots. The hens will have the same chest but with spotting over them. Think "ladies have necklaces" and you wont go far wrong.

Males, when in condition and ready to breed will leave little balls of "foam" over the bottom of the run. This lets you know that he is sexually active.

The hens usually start laying around the same time as chickens between 20 and 25 weeks. They are rubbish mothers so if you want to rear chicks you will have to incubate them. Quail dont care where they lay eggs and will just drop them where they stand so make sure that the run is kept clean as possible as otherwise the eggs could end up laying in poo and all sorts!

feeding is easy - they will do very well on chick crumb and you can liven this up with some greens such as dandelion and cabbage, but be carefull of some lettuces like uceberg or romaine as they can become stringy when eaten and choke the quail. They are also partly insectivorous, so they love meal worms etc too.

1 male could conceivably cover upto 6 hens, so if you did want to keep them for the pot, then by having this number you could rear quite a few "eaters" and have a few eggs left over for your consumption too

Regarding table weights, in all fairness they should be about right at 16 weeks, but use you own intuition. pick them up and feel the breast meat. if it feels enough, that the time to do it!

You dress out quail in much the same way as hens, they are just a bit more fiddley, infact some just pluck the breast and remove those, leaving the rest as there isnt much on them. I suppose you could give the rest to the dog - ours love raw chicken so i suppose it would be the same with quail and they would make short work of the carcass for you too.

Ours love crunching through a carcass and it will clean their teeth at the same time!

hope that helps but if you need anything else, let me know. I dont have quail at the moment but i have had Japanese and Chinese off and on for over 15 years so if i can help you i do know some others that i can ask that might have the answer!

[Hilary B]

I would describe the colouring difference as the males being more clearly marked, whereas the females are sort of... blurred in comparison.
Occasionally a buch of females will assault the male who is supposed to be mating them, ask Corax, she kept them for several months years back.

[Bramble-Poultry]

Please see pictures below for visual difference in the sexes of quail

the first picture on the left (the one with spots) is the female as said before and teh one on the right is the male

hope this helps

Mike

[Hilary B]

Please see pictures below for visual difference in the sexes of quail

the first picture on the left (the one with spots) is the female as said before and teh one on the right is the male

hope this helps

Mike

Yeah, the eye markings are more sharply defined on the boy, plus the russet on the breast (and many of them have russet 'cheeks' as well).

[Nickerly]

I was looking into keeping quail for a while and read that if you give them mealworms the boys will gift them to the girls, but the girls will just eat them!

[Bramble-Poultry]

Nickerly - thats the story of life aint it??

[CoraxAurata]

Girls will also attack the boys and each other if they've a mind to though the trio I have now get on well (touch wood). I believe that space and keeping them amused are key factors.....

[roitelet]

Thanks very much all, the information was very helpful. Now have 4 isolated as the stroppy b*******r was having a go at those I think are girls. Anyway with the photos I may be able to identify which are which. Don't know what race they are out here Quail are Quail

I was going to try and re-introduce the first male that was attacked and see what happens.

[roitelet]

just a quick update. 3 eggs yesterday and 2 of the cocks are 'crowing' All peaceful now I have removed the cocks.

[Bramble-Poultry]

well done. peace reins on high!

you need at least another 9 eggs to make a fried egg sarnie

[marie66]

Hi I'm new here (1st post!) and looking for some quail info!
I have a pet ark which is the triangle type with the house and a 5 foot run attached would this be big enough for 4 or 5 quail?

I've not bought them yet as I want to get things right first!
Any thoughts appreciated thanks,
marie x

[Bramble-Poultry]

Yes should be fine no probs on space, mesh the bottom to stop rats - they love to nip in and get quail! Height is always an issue with quail as when startled they will jump straight up so they will "crack" their heads which may result in a broken neck but unless you have a 6ft high aviary this is a risk in all runs.

[Bramble-Poultry]

by the way - forgot to say hi and welcome to the vine!

[marie66]

Thanks!
marie x