The Poultry Keeper

poultry poofs · Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 1:45 pm Post subject:

My quail were never very good at sitting they never seemed interested.Always very hit and miss sit all day one day and clear off the next Laughing

If you have one who is determined I would be inclined to take her and the eggs out and put her in a pen in a shed on her own so that the others dont disturb her.Its much easier to just incubate more replacements.

rich

jackbish · Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 7

oh ok i didn't think it would be very reliable.I have tried incubating and it went very badly all of the eggs hatched but for some unknown reason they all died after a few days.Checked with the man at the sop were i bought the original birds and he said i had done everything wright have u got any ideas of what it could have been?thanks again for the info great help. Very Happy

jack

poultry poofs · Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:00 pm Post subject:

Hi Jack
I've been away and only just found your post apologies for that.I have no pointers as to what went wrong,I am afraid it just does happen no matter how meticulous you are with things.It applies to any birds not just quail.Possibly they got whats called brooder pneumonia its just a very virulent bacterial pneumonia that occasionally occurs and the warm moist conditions are ideal for the bacteria to propagate.Being young birds they can succumb to the pneumonia very quickly and nothing can be done.You have probably been very unlucky at this point.We have lost a whole batch of chicks before too amonst the hundreds we have been successful with so dont dwell on it too much.Unless you have a real desire to breed your own I would just go for incubating some more as replacement layers for the ones you have.The hatching eggs are so cheap and fertility is normally pretty good it doesnt take too long to get the numbers you want even if you have 50% success.The only reason I sold mine was I couldnt sell the eggs fast enough around here to justify keeping them.People can be a bit conservative with their tastes Rolling Eyes

rich

alexa · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 336 Location: wiltshire

just thought id add my thoughts on quail!! i kept them for a couple of years but decided to give up begining of this year! i agree with the comments, they do have a death wish, they fly and generally are completely crazy, however some people do love them and see to have no problems, i hate them with a passion! when i had them it started off well, i hatched loads of chicks in my incubator and i even got a broody quail and let her hatch, she hatched out 3 little babies. but then they just kept flying out when i opened the door and generally being so small to hold.
sorry i dont mean to put u all off them, have some and learn for urself Very Happy

they do however lay well, well mine did i had japs and all the females laid everyday! another plus point is the males arent loud like a cockerel!
okay i think ive finished rambling!!

lex xx

alexa · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 336 Location: wiltshire

heres some pics of a few quail that i used to have!

after saying i didnt like them, this was my fav quail, shes a fawn japanese! she had a slightly twisted beak but coped fine, she was the only really friendly one Very Happy

heres a female normal coloured japanese quail trying not to fall asleep, im sure that colour does have a name, but tis just the standard one that most people have the jap in!! you can tell its female because it has speckles on her chest!

and the male- who has the reddish brown chest

lex x

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7367 Location: isle of lewis

they are lovely lex ,keep wondering myself

jackbish · Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 7

Thanks both that is nice to see different opinions helps me to weigh up the pros and cons.But i think I am definitely one of those people who loves them.I am glad that first unsuccessful incubation was probably bad luck then, thought i might have done something wrong. If you think I might have better luck this time i will certainly try again.Hoping to get some hens soon as well just wondered if they could be kept with the quail and if they can are there any particular breeds,thought probably not but might as well check.
Looking forward to your reply.
jak Very Happy

poultry poofs · Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:48 pm Post subject:

Maybe some people will have different experiences but all our chickens hated the quail and the quail were scared of the other birds.They were bantams too as the Large Fowl were no where near the quail.Bantams are a bit more feisty than large fowl but personally I wouldnt recommend mixing them.The quail might not be happy and then wouldnt lay at all.
Its a bit like trying to mix pheasants with chickens-there are exceptions but generally they dont mix well.

rich

jackbish · Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 7

yeah OK that's what i thought just checking.Thanks for your help.
Forgot to say last time do you have quail?
jak

adamntitch · Joined: 30 Nov 2007 Posts: 53 Location: edinburgh

ok thought ad add to this av got lots of quails manyly japs and cpqs never had any problems with hatching and rearing alexa that hen you say is fawn was just a lighter coloured female normal not fawn i keep many colours including black golden normal tux silver and range and one has any questions p.m me av also got hatching eggs for sale all year round for any one interested last hatch was a 80% hatch rate and av eggs hatching as i speak 13 out of 14 fertile

pekinman · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:11 pm Post subject: pair of jap quail

hi looking for advice as to why our hen is not laying yet. they are 4 months plus we bought them as a pair but all markings are the same one of them calls out the other is timid.coul it be the food or may be the move to new home as we have had them 3 weeks.obviously seeking any advice to make sure they get whats right for them they are so sweet so any one help us. many thanks michelle.

pekinman · Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:33 am Post subject: wanted quail hens (south wales)

hi we have been looking for jap quail hens, without much success, been on local breeders but nothing any body know of somebody selling some advice always apreciated. many thanks michelle. Shocked

shear_legend9 · Joined: 13 Aug 2008 Posts: 18

Hi all,

First post on the site and found it as i've just bought some quail for the first time and i'm wondering a few things about them and thought you might be able to help me!

First off i've got one Japanese hen (had 4 but 3 were killed overnight by some chickens I have which are now separate) and 4 Italian hens and 1 Italian cock. Just wondered whether they are like dogs in which they can cross breed (i.e. will the italian cock fertilise the japanese hens?).

Secondly I wondered how likely it is that the hens will become broody? I've heard they almost always abandon the eggs? If they will abandon it does anybody know where I can pick up an effective, cheap incubator (i.e. in a student, part time job budget of about £60).

Erm...that's about it for now I think, thanks in advance,

Nathan

pekinman · Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:29 am Post subject:

Hi don't know it all but hope this helps Wink

i would definately keep them separated from your hens if they attacked once will likely to do it again. Quail are awful broodies (in my experience) they laid eggs and then tend to completely ignored them... if your budget is around £60 it's likely that you would end up with a manual incubator. They are pretty easy to use once you get the temperatures right. Check out ebay or local free ads as they are always up for sale....Never actually tried to cross japs with italians but would of thought you could...but dont take my word for it... the hen/cock ratio is about right for your italians 4/5 hens to one cock...but you will probably need a few more jap hens if you end up getting a jap cockbird as 1 to 1 ratio he would probably end up hurting her... have some contact names if you want to try and get hold of more jap hens.

hope this helps

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1185 Location: Cornwall

I kept nigh on 1,000 commercial quail with some japanese mixed in for meat and eggs.

They are the most horrible little birds I've ever come across, they jump up and damage their heads, they peck the heads til they kill it, and I found them the most flighty, nervous and cannabilistic of all breeds.

I did keep them intensively, they were in wire cages about 2ft sqaure and about 25 to a cage so had plenty of room to run around, but still ate each other, even though they had food adlib.

They hatched easy, always had 100% hatch rate.

I wouldnt want one if someone gave one to me now. I dislike them with a vengeance mainly because of their vicious attacks on each other.

You can't keep males together as the carnage is even worse then. I kept my breeders seperate (2 hens to one cock for high fertility) and then sexed the chicks and kept females and males seperate, males for meat, hens for eggs. They still attack each other though.. nasty little birds.