How to Care for Your Quail

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CARE FOR YOUR QUAIL:

ALL ABOUT QUAILS:

- The common quail or European quail is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae.
- Mass: 3.4 oz (adult size)
- Scientific name: Coturnix coturnix (Coturnix is the Latin name for this species.)
- Conservation status: Population decreasing
- Length: approx. 6.9 in. (adult size)
- Did you know: Some species of quails are hunted as game birds, or because of their meat (that is highly prized in some countries) and feathers (that is used for decoration).
- Primary diet: seeds and grains.
- Developmental mode: Precocial (can hatch and almost instantly know how to feed itself)
- Foraging habitat: Terrestrial
- Nest type: Open cup
- Habitat includes: Boreal Forests (Taiga), Deserts and Shrublands, Flooded Grasslands and Savannas

HOW TO BIRTH QUAIL:

- Humidity levels are one of the first issues with incubating your Coturnix quail eggs. Less is more.
- In fact, many people have great success doing a dry incubation with their quail eggs.
- If you choose a humid incubation, aim for 45% humidity for the first 15 days and increase to 65% for the final three days.
- For temperatures, quail eggs incubate at a similar temperature to chicken eggs.
- If you are running a still air model incubator, aim for a temperature of 102ºF and rotate the eggs around the incubator when you turn them.
- In a forced air model incubator, aim for a temperature of 100ºF.
- If you do not have an egg turner (which is a highly recommended investment if you plan to hatch quail eggs with any regularity), eggs need to be manually turned at least three times a day, though five times is better.
- Marking one side of the egg with an X and the other side with O makes it easier to confirm you have turned them all.
- Although you can try to candle as early as day 6, a better method is to let them sit in their turner until day 15 and just let them do their thing.
- On day 15, when you remove them from their turner for hatching, hold them in your hand for a moment or up to your ear. The shells are very thin and often you can hear or feel them moving inside.

HOW TO HATCH QUAIL:

- You will notice that infertile eggs weigh noticeably less than fertile eggs. If you are unsure, just let them stay in for the duration.
- Quail eggs have less risk of exploding than chicken eggs.
- Hatch day is like watching popcorn popping in the microwave. Not much happens and then all of a sudden they all get popping out at once. There is some validity to that, but it is not 100% accurate.
- There are always a few that are early to the party as well as several that are late to arrive. The ones in the middle do seem to go from unpipped to out at a startling rate. You could check in and see no action whatsoever and then an hour later look in to find a dozen running around. Quick little buggers they are.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR QUAIL ALIVE:

- Once everyone is hatched and fluffy, it is time to move on to brooding. Remember to have your brooder set up several hours in advance so it has time to warm before the chicks need to be moved.
- As with any chick, feed and water need to be made available at all times. Water containers need to have marbles or rocks in them for the first week to prevent drowning.
- After the first week, any shallow water container will work. Quail need to be fed a high protein feed to keep up with their rapidly growing bodies.
- You can use a turkey/gamebird starter for the first 4 weeks, which is 28% protein content. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find this starter in mash consistency. It often comes in crumbles, which is too large for quail chicks.
- You can purchase a coffee grinder at a thrift store and use that to grind the crumbles for the first two weeks. After two weeks, the quails seem to be able to handle the size of crumbles.
- Temperature needs for brooding Coturnix quail seem to vary depending on the time of year and where you live. The general consensus is that they should be kept at 95ºF for the first week and lowered by 5º each week.
- Remove the heat at three weeks old (so they are at 65-70ºF) and moved your quail outdoors at four weeks old. They are hardier than people give them credit for.
- Regardless of where you live or what time of year it is, your Coturnix quail will be ready for their new home by 5 weeks. They’ll also be preparing to start laying at that same time.

clicK mE fOR sOmE fUN FuN

HOW TO KEEP YOUR QUAIL HAPPY:

#1. Do not yell at your quail.

#2. Give it lot of love to grow. Your quail will not grow if it does not have lots of love to grow.

PICS OF QUAILS

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Gambel's Quail
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Baby Quail
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Another Baby Quail
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Dancing Quails
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Eggs
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Walking Quails