Japanese (Coturnix) Quail

[sallu00]

Thanks Guys for your experienced advise on Quail breeding. I just cannot keep buying them for $15 per half a dozen. As soon as I fininh my chicken pen and put some layers, I'll start on Quails (That is if I can find some!!). Any advancement (news) in your breeders and pics will be so helpful.

Laurie are you in Sydney?

Gary, hurry up with your Quail manual!

Salman.

[Laurie]

Hi, Salman.

If you look at the right of the messages, you will see 'Location' I'm in Leopold, which is just outside of Geelong, Victoria.

Cheers.
Laurie.

[sallu00]

Hi Gary,

I went today to just investigate with my kids for some egg laying hens and to my surprise we saw Japanese 11 quails in a small cage. I bought all of them and now I have them and quickly need to make their new home! Gary you raise them in small deep litter pens, did you make them yourself? Where can you get them? Do you have a diagram?

I was planning to use treated logs as base and use chicken wire or something to make a pen in my backyard on top of the grass and just cover it with a gal sheet. Any suggestions for improvements. I'll have to keep them in open. I know an aviary cost a lot.

I'll post some pics soon of these quails.

Salman.

[GaryD]

Hi Salman,

Yes, we did make our own quail breeder and rearing pens.

We use a product called Qublelok (or Kube-Lock) for fabricating the frames for our pens (and many other things). Basically, the Qubelok system consists of 25.4mm square aluminium tube and a series of seven nylon connectors.

If you'd like to know more about Qubelok, take a look here.

I don't have a diagram of our pens but I have attached some photos.

Photo 1 - the Quail Palace....comprises 2 small pens in two tiers.
Photo 2 - 1m x 1m pen
Photo 3 - 450mm x 900mm pen
Photo 4 - detail showing attachment of welded wire cage sides.
Photo 5 - Qubelok tube and connectors.

All of our pens are deep litter......we use shredded office paper for the pens - keeps everything very dry and can be used as worm feed when we change it for fresh material.


Gary

[sallu00]

HI Gary,

Very neat and tidy looking Quail pens in the pics. Thanks for your photos and the link. I know exactly where Capral are located. I will visit them and if they are not too expensive I'll get a sqm. Gary, the wire mesh and the metal lining you just got it from the hardware or a pet shop and just used your own tools to do the magic? or do they come pre-cut to fit the aluminium frame?

I couldn't wait and have won an auction on Ebay for an aviary.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=005

Also am interested to build a chicken tractor:-
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=006

See pics of the crowded quails. I think the odd one is a Bob White.

[nick]

had a look at the picture and despite the bluriness, don;t think there ar e any bobwhites in there, just different color mutations and male and female. You probably already know this but there are about seven differen tcolor variations in the jap quail. If there are bob's and you get them to breed you should "accidently release some to watch them fly, they go off like a fire cracker.

Had one escape when I had them and they cleared my second story house by a large margin and were gone before I knew what happened,
Cheers Nick

[GaryD]

Hi Salman,

I buy the trim (the strip of aluminium that holds the mesh onto the Qubelok frame) from a metal fabrication workshop. I get them to cut 1.2mm sheet into 12mm strips. The mesh is available by the roll and some fodder stores and similar places will sell it by the metre. I endeavour to design cages to the size of the mesh so that I can minimise cutting.

The tools that I use to assemble these (and other Qubelok) structures include:

• A cut off saw.....I use a mitre saw with a very fine blade. You can use a hacksaw but a cut off saw will do a faster and tidier job.
• Sidecutting pliers.....to cut the mesh.
• Drill.....to make the holes for the pop rivets that will fix the trim strip in place.
• Pop Rivetter.....you could use an electric screwdriver and self-drilling screws.
• A rubber mallet....to knock the Qubelok frame together.

Up here, we pay about $20 per 6.5 metre length for the square tube.
The connectors vary in price from about $1.30 to $2.00 each.

Congratulations on your purchase of an incubator. It looks like it will be perfect for backyard food production.

I agree with Nick......your Bobwhite is more likely to be a Jap Quail of a different colour.

Gary

[sallu00]

Hi Gary,

Thanks heaps for your advise and comments. I went to Capral and bought some Qubelok and will do something this weekend. Also went to the wholesaler and bought 20kg of turkey starter for the quails and 20kg of mash for the layer hens (haven't bought them yet). I finally made the chicken house and have just cut a tyre, turned it insideout and painted, put some hay and some plastic eggs, ready for the hens to lay eggs. The chicken house is around 3m long x 2m high x 1m wide. I plan to put around 6 hens.

Nick, sorry for the blurry photos, I'll take some clear pics and post it for you to have a look. The odd one is certainly different, the beak is round and the feathers around the neck are black, I think it is a Bobwhite.

Salman.

[GaryD]

Hi Salman,

It looks like you are putting together an ideal little backyard food production system......quail, chickens, fish, vegetables.

I look forward to seeing a clearer photo, too. I wondered if the different looking quail might not be a cross-bred. While I can't remember hearing about a Japanese/Bobwhite quail cross, I am aware that quail and chickens have been crossed.

Keep up the good work.

Gary

[nick]

salman,
My apologies, had a closer look tonight and even with the blurry photo there is almost certainly a bob white in the left hand side of the first photo. You can tell because it is a dark bird with white on the sides of its head,

Gary they have crossed the bobs and jap quail in the US but not in aus as yet, also they have the problem that the Jap is a 14-16 day incubation while the Bob is a 21 day incubation like the chicken.

Apologies again, but now you wil have to find a hen or two for your male bob, they have white eggs where as the Japs have mottled eggs, very clearly different,

Sorry again Nick