Housing quail
Quail do not require a lot of space, some sources say 1 square foot per bird, though I would advise a little more space than this if they are going to be primarily housed in a cage set up their whole life. If quail are in a cage, you become the primary care taker and it is your responsibility to ensure the quail have their nutritional needs being met and that their quality of life is high.
Since caged quail cannot scavenge to supplement their diet on their own and distractions (such as, bug chasing, dirt scratching, etc.) are less frequent in a confined environment, providing distractions and toys to reduce behavioral issues is a good practice. Include toys or opportunities outside the enclosure (dust baths are a good activity). Giving small treats frequently or interacting with your quail will help reduce boredom and make the quail more socialized and easier to handle if you need to treat them for an illness, take them to the vet or move them to different enclosures. TREATS are fun to give to your quail. Quail love most vegetable and fruit table scraps, and these are good to help vary their diet. It also reduces your household waste because whatever the dog doesn't want the quail will [like apple cores/centers, bits of lettuce that stuck to the cutting board while you were preparing a salad for diner, frozen peas (thaw them before offering them to the quail)]. Additionally, growing your own meal worms is another way to provide your quail with another source of protein (I sell starter batches of meal worms over in the FINS section of this webpage under live fish food). Your quail will learn to come running when its treat time and become accustomed to your presence. |
quail DIET
A COMPLETE FEED in crumble size is a must for raising quail in enclosures. This ensures that the quail have access to a variety of nutrients and vitamins that they need to stay healthy. Game bird starters with high protein (24% or higher) are good options. If you cannot find a local crumble that is high enough in protein, you may purchase whichever higher protein starter or layer crumble your local store sells and supplement the feed with a protein source. Some people have successfully used crushed koi pellets (adds omegas to their diet easily this way), soybean meal (feed mills and co-ops often have this in 50lb bags for ~15 bucks) or other sources of high protein to get the feed mixture closer to the 24% benchmark. Do some research online, there are many people that have had to get creative with customizing feed for their quail. If you skimp on the protein the birds will take longer to grow to size and their egg production will halt or be much reduced.
CALCIUM is an absolute must for laying quail hens. They need closer to 2% in their diet, which is higher than most pre-mixed poultry diets provide. You can boost the calcium in their diets by saving the eggshells as you use the eggs in the kitchen (see egg shell processing section on this webpage below). You can also grow ramshorn or pond snails and give these tastey treats to the quail (these are sold over in the "fins side" of this webpage). You might also try garden snails if you have an infestation of those. If the quails aren't interested in eating live escargot, you can dry the snails and grind them up and do with them as you would the eggshells in the kitchen. Also, provide a cuttlebone against their enclosure, so the quail can access calcium whenever and however much they want (ideas for mounting cuttlebones are shown below at well). |
Egg laying woes
For quails to lay throughout the year, you need to ensure that you are providing them with a few things:
1) They need a source of light (12 hours a day minimum) to keep their laying going. This means providing supplemental light in the winter to keep production going. 2) Their diet needs are high protein and high calcium. Refer to the (diet tricks for quail) column for ideas on making sure you are meeting the protein and calcium benchmarks to keep egg production high. 3) Stress and sudden changes to the environment will reduce egg production. For example, ensure that predators aren't harassing your quail at night. Ensure that the quail environment remains consistent. Relocating your quail can cause a brief drop in egg production as they re-learn and adapt to the new scenery. (Bear in mind that some quail mind being relocated and others could care less, you won't know until you experiment with moving your flock). 4) Insufficient hydration can also cause egg production to immediately halt. Check that your watering devices are working and providing water. 5) Extreme temperatures and extreme temperature fluctuations can also reduce or briefly halt egg laying. |
Quail Hygiene:
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Egg SHell Processing
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Cuttlebone cage mounting ideas
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First, get a container to save your eggshells in and put this near the sink to remind you to save them. Collect those eggshells as you use them. When the container is full, its time to pull those eggshells out and rinse them in a strainer.
I press down lightly on the eggshells as they are rinsing. This will compact them and make them less cumbersome to grind or put in the microwave later. I also designate a strainer to be a permanent egg holding/straining/drying fixture. (Just my 10 cents, but yard sales and thrift stores have plenty of strainers and coffee grinders that are affordably priced, making designated eggshell equipment less costly than it otherwise would be. Save money and time by not having to sterilize these items after they come in contact with eggshells, and be healthy.)
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If you raise quail, the crushed oyster shell that is offered in the chicken/poultry aisle at the local Co-op just won't do as it is too large for the quail. I know that oyster shell can be ground, but I went through two thrift store food processors, made a mess of the kitchen and just thought there had to be a better way to spend my time then trying to get oyster shell into something usable for my quail. The best natural alternative that I have found are cuttlebones. Cuttle bones come from the cuttlefish (pronounced cuddle fish). [Wiki has a good article on the cuttlefish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish) and photos for those that are interested].
Cuttle bones are ready to give to your birds just as they are, and they provide the calcium and an assortment of trace minerals that are necessary for bird health. In the wild, birds would be able to locate and ingest trace minerals from dirt/grit and the more varied diet they are able to forage. Providing a cuttle bone helps improve the variety of nutrients for captive birds. The cuttle bone is also a great toy and hygiene tool. Your birds will peck and claw at it, brushing their teeth, or rather, trimming their beaks and having fun while doing it.
Cage mounting ideas
I found that quail can go through cuttlebones at quick pace and these zip tie or wire wrap side mounts are too weak. The cuttle bone breaks and gets wasted.
I suggest using a side mount basket (shown first series of photos) or plastic rabbit haybin (shown last series of photos). Many cuttle bones come with metal clips to fasten the bones to the side of an cage.
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After rinsing the eggshells with water, you have to dry them. I tend to find a vent in the house that isn't used, but anyplace with good ventilation would suffice.
Leave the eggshells to dry and forget about them for a week or until your sink container has become full again. This reminds me that its time to take 5 minutes and swap/process a batch of egg shells through. Locate a microwave safe bowl to put the dry eggshells in. I tend to prefer glass, but to each their own.
Microwave the dried eggshells next. I do this to ensure that I have killed bacteria (like salmonella) and am not introducing unwanted bacteria to my hens again. It also ensures that the shells are completely dry before they head into the coffee grinder. You don't want a soupy, egg shell mash - you want a fine, sandy powder.
Egg shells getting loaded into the Egg-inator.
I know it's hard to see, but there is a little cloud of dust coming up. The coffee grinder does an excellent job pulverizing the egg shells.
Here's what the egg shells look like after the dust has settled.
You don't get very much volume, but this calcium is free and is in an easy form to mix back in with a crumble/pellet feed or place in a drop down calcium type feeder station.
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SIDE MOUNTED WIRE BASKET
This basket was a thrift store find, but any side mount, metal basket with screws to hang it on a wall would suffice.
I used the crowbar side of a hammer to bend the wire screw hole brackets slightly so that the bin would hang on the cage. Use sturdy wire cutters to remove an area on the bin to allow the birds to stick their heads through your enclosure and access the cuttlebone (see photos below).
Re-purposed rabbit cage hay bin
This is a Lixit brand hay dispenser, though there are many to choose from at any pet store or online retailer. This one happened to come with a small animal carrier I picked up at a thrift store, so I'm using what is free on hand. =)
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As a side note, I have searched high and low for a DIY calcium block recipe that does not use plaster of paris (PoP). I only add this comment, because PoP is the main thickening/hardening agent in most of the DIY calcium block recipes that I have seen online. However, the PoP gets mixed reviews with respect to its impact on bird health. I have yet to find a good, healthy, DIY recipe for a calcium block. Rest assured that when I find one, I will test it and post it.