Meet my new...Jumbo Coturnix Quail

Again, here I am with something new to me. No surprise, birds again. I guess I have a bird brain. πŸ˜†

We paid for 15, were handed 20 (white & regular colored), along with 2 doz. free eggs to hatch. I guess that means that I hatch my own birds' eggs later...and I hope all of these eggs fit in my tiny incubator. They go in tomorrow morning.

I pick up 36 chicken eggs tomorrow morning and set them in the evening.

Here are the week old little quail, just hanging out on the huge heat mat. There is one little one that hasn't grown much, the lady said. He is a little yellow dot, as cute as a button. He is hiding under the others further back.

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Comments

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @LaurieLovesLearning Congratulations on your new babies! And the ones to come!

    Very cute. They look like they have big feet for such little birds.

    I don't know much about quail. How big are domestic quail in comparison with the wild California Quail, Callipepla californica? They are quite prolific in Southern BC where they were introduced as a game bird. Does Jumbo in the name of these little guys mean that they are larger than usual? If so, how much bigger?

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Fantastic! Enjoy.

    It will be fun to hatch those eggs out

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    @Denise Grant Thanks! My daughter said these are HERS to hatch out. I dare not argue that one. Haha It should be fun. It doesn't sound too different than hatching chicken eggs, just less time. I can live with that!

    @torey There are over 130 quail species in the world.

    Jumbo are a bit larger than the standard coturnix. They should yield 10 oz. of edible meat from what I've read. It sounds like they are possibly 2-3 oz. larger than non-jumbo coturnix.

    The little ones remind me of a cross between guinea keets & chicks. The little guys are the size that my serama chicks should have been. The feet are cute.

    The coturnix is a type of old world quail, known by a few names, one being Japanese quail. The California quail is a new world quail. They have different traits from each other, and within these two types, there can be even more variation in behavior, size, etc.

    Ebird has a good little bit on japanese quail, including sounds, but I am unable to properly load the link here.

    I looked for a comparison chart across a few more common types, but was unable to find one, so I hope these articles will do.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning quails hatch out quite nicely. I plan to hatch out in a month or so when its a bit nicer out and less chaotic around here. Have fun!

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning More fun creatures! Also, now you will have more work. I am infatuated with the Gambel's Quail that visit my yard. I never get tired of watching their activities.

    My problem with most of the creatures on your homestead would be that I am not mentally strong enough to harvest them. I apologize to plants when I kill them.

    There is a reason that my husband is the hunter in the family.

    Thanks for sharing all of your beasties with us.

  • flowerpower *
    flowerpower * Posts: 258 ✭✭✭

    @shllnzl Yes, Quail strike me as pets too. Early Vegetarian Returning From the Hunt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/449234131557293878/

  • karenjanicki
    karenjanicki Posts: 996 ✭✭✭✭

    That sounds fun! Pretty little things too.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    They are cute! Our little 1/2 thumb sized yellow one wasn't doing well yesterday. I expected that it wouldn't make it as the seller said that it hadn't grown (it was free). Those chicks that exhibit this usually putter around until they peeter out, and it is usually within one week that they die. We may have a second today, but that is kind of expected as well. The dog will enjoy it as well.

    It is interesting, looking at quail in history, that certain types in certain parts of the world were are are currently kept as pets. These are generally the prettier types, often smaller, and often have even less meat.

  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,465 admin

    @LaurieLovesLearning I would love to have some. They are so cute! This and last year it would have been possible as we did not travel. But we do want to travel and that keeps me away from having more birds and animals at home. But I have bees. And herbs.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    It would depend on how long you would plan on travelling. In a few videos that I watched, people had them gravity fed out of a pail, through small PVC piping, down to some cup shaped waterers. This reduces the little work they take and keeps the water clean.

    As far as a long lasting supply of food, you would have to do more research.

    We had put our feed in a regular small white & red chick feeder. Some would scratch the ground in front, but peck the food inside the feeder. It certainly reduces the mess that would be made with an open feeder. It keeps the poop out too.

    As far as bedding, we have a depth of 2" of hemp bedding on their floor.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I can set my quail up for 7 days for food and water. Same for my chickens.

    I am working on finding someone who will work with my animals more when I am gone. The person I had last summer just barely kept them safe.

    @jolanta.wittib It is hard to travel and have animals but I really need my beasts. They keep me grounded and laughing. There are several good articles on how to leave for 7 or 10 days and keep you furry or feathered beasts fed. I like to have my chickens out more so I am working on a safe small run just in case who ever I have checking on the animals can't or won't let them out.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning

    Will your quail be in or outdoors?

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    @Denise Grant Indoors in the basement for now. We plan to move some out into the uninsulated garage eventually.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2021

    @LaurieLovesLearning I have done my quail both indoors and out, but always move them in in the winter. They just lay better. My quail like it better when other birds are around. They are fascinated with my silkies.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    @Denise Grant I find that fascinating. I wonder why they are drawn to other birds? I wonder if it could be part of a natural symbiotic (does that word fit here) safety instinct?

  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,465 admin

    @Denise Grant ai do not give up My wish to have more anomalus. Once we get older, we might decide to stay at home and then I will have a cat, a dog, chicken, may be rabbits...

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2021

    @LaurieLovesLearning I don't know why they like other birds around but I plan to watch them and see if I can figure out why or if they have a bird preference. I know they lay better with other birds around and they lay eggs amazing to begin with

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    @Denise Grant I am looking forward to your conclusion.

    I still do have my 3 teen/young adult serama cockerels. Does it matter if the other birds are hens or roosters?

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning i do not know. Thta is something else I will have to notice

  • JennyT Upstate South Carolina
    JennyT Upstate South Carolina Posts: 1,273 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning Sooo cute! I'll have to show my kids the picture. They are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to get more beasties when we find our new place we're still looking. 😊

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin
    edited April 2021

    @JennyT We really enjoy them. They are very quiet at this point. I think they are very happy.

    They run out to eat & scratch & drink and run very quickly back to the heat mat. They have been starting to try out their wings too. It is pretty fun to watch all of their antics.

    A few times, someone has seen one looking kind of dead on the mat. Oh no, they think...then it suddenly pops up and runs away. πŸ˜†

    Oh how you would enjoy these as well as other animals. So far, I would recommend them. They are easy keepers and really inexpensive to try.

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    Aw, cute babies.

  • JennyT Upstate South Carolina
    JennyT Upstate South Carolina Posts: 1,273 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The kids loved the picture of the babies. 😍😍😍 (I was asked to put this many.) πŸ˜„

    I have thought about getting quail at some point, so I'll keep these specific ones in mind, thank you.😊

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    @JennyT πŸ˜„ That made me chuckle this morning. Thank you.

  • Cornelius
    Cornelius Posts: 872 ✭✭✭✭

    They are adorable. I can't wait to get my own!

  • JennyT Upstate South Carolina
    JennyT Upstate South Carolina Posts: 1,273 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning I was wondering what will these will look like when they are full grown.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin
    edited April 2021

    @JennyT

    https://ebird.org/species/japqua

    A YouTube video showing the gender differences is below. Ours will look like the ones he has. We have both the regular color and white (the yellow chicks).


    Differences between wild & domestic quail:


  • SuperC
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    Hey all, thanks for sharing your bird stories, i do not have any birds/quail. Sure is nice hearing the reality of how others manage raising quail indoors and outdoors, and bringing them indoors at certain times of the year. @LaurieLovesLearning has the yellow one improved, or.....?

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    @SuperC Thanks for asking. Sometimes I neglect to update & need reminders, so this is a good reminder to do so. ;)

    Sadly, the tiny yellow one died and so did one tiny brown one. We ended up feeding both to the dog as we don't want them to go to waste. It was a fast death and not like if they went to the cats, which might just play with them first.

    There was a third somewhat smaller one than the rest that is now running around with the rest of them & doing very well.

    So far so good!

  • SuperC
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    Amazing, how a third of life dies, naturally. And how life gets recycled. Thanks @LaurieLovesLearning for the update. I’m sure the stronger ones are growing well.