Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Preparing to Raise Quail
• Part 2 of 3: Buying and Breeding Birds from Eggs
• Part 3 of 3: Raising quail
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Quail is a small bird that lives in the wild, but it is also raised at home. Unlike raising chickens, most municipal ordinances do not restrict or prohibit the raising of quails.They are small, quiet and unpretentious birds, laying about 5-6 eggs per week. They need to be grown in a sanitary environment with sufficient light, water and feed.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Preparing to Raise Quail

1. 1 Consider the advantages and disadvantages of raising quail. Although they are small and unpretentious birds, you will need time to care for them. It is necessary to feed them, add water to the drinkers, clean the cage, observe them daily, and collect the eggs.
2. 2 Find a place for a birdcage in your yard or veranda. Clear space for the straw at the bottom of the cage. The straw will make it easier to clean the droppings out of the cage.
3. 3 Buy an oblong, narrow cage and hang it over the canopy of your home, garage, or veranda. Choose a well-lit area protected from strong winds. Most quail cages are made of wire mesh, as quails need shelter with sufficient airflow.
   • They need to be protected from predators, including pets, and the room should be quiet and peaceful.
4. 4 Hang bulbs around the cage. This will increase egg production during the fall and winter months. Birds need 15 hours of daylight to produce eggs, but when the light is too bright, they suffer from lack of sleep.
5. 5 Decide if you want to buy a mature bird or hatch quail from the eggs. A mature bird will cost you $ 5, while 50 eggs will cost you $ 20.
6. 6 Decide how many birds you need depending on the amount of eggs you eat. Calculate the weekly consumption of chicken eggs. One chicken egg is equivalent to five quail eggs.
   • Do not forget to have one female (hatching or breeding pair) for each chicken egg consumed.
   • Quail eggs can be eaten like chicken eggs; but you need more birds to get the equivalent number of eggs.

Part 2 of 3: Buying and Breeding Birds from Eggs

1. 1 Go to Craiglist or check the ads in your local newspaper. It is best to go to your local livestock farm or urban farming community and buy birds that are accustomed to the local climate.
2. 2 Check eBay ads for quail eggs. They will be sent to you by mail; but with such a purchase, it is likely that the birds will be less tolerant of the local climate than quails bought directly in your region.
3. 3 Try looking for birds at your local ranch or farm and pet shops. If quails are not received there every spring along with chickens and guinea fowls, they will be ordered specially for you.
4. 4 Buy at least two females for each male, but keep the males separately. The numerical superiority of females will provide you with a large number of eggs from each flock. At the same time, only one male should be planted in each cage; if you plant two or more, the dominant male will try to kill the others in order to become the only male among the females.
5. 5 Try to find popular types of quails such as Chinese painted quail, scale quail, California quail, and Virginia quail. For a start, it is recommended to have Chinese painted quails.
6. 6 Buy an incubator from a pet store or farm supply store if you want to get your quails out of their eggs to get started. You can also order an incubator online in advance. It must be equipped with an egg-turning device.
7. 7 Maintain humidity at 45-50% during the incubation period and 65-70% on the 23rd day of hatching. Store a humidifier and dehumidifier near the incubator to adjust humidity. This will prevent excessive moisture loss from the eggs.
8. 8 Set the incubator temperature to 40 ° C. It is very important that the temperature is kept at the same level. At this temperature, a chick will hatch from an egg of a Chinese painted quail in 16-18 days, while other species will need 22-25 days.
9. 9 Only use the egg turning tool three days after setting. The egg tray should be rotated 30 degrees in each direction every day, so the embryos will not stick to the shell.

Part 3 of 3: Raising quail

1. 1 Keep quails in a confined space after hatching. Gradually lower the temperature from 40 ° C to room temperature, decreasing it by three degrees daily. In a cold room, chicks will crawl on top of each other to keep warm, and in a too warm room, they will languish from the heat.
2. 2 Keep 100 chicks in two-thirds of the space for the first ten days. Then give them more room to grow.
3. 3 Feed the quail special chick food for the first 6-8 weeks. The special food for chicks contains all the necessary nutrients, but as they grow up, the quails no longer need such a diet.
4. 4 Make sure each bird has 1m of cage space.
5. 5 Give your quails clean drinking water. Clean the drinking bowls and fill them with water every day.
   • Make sure the drinker is safe enough so that chicks do not drown in it, but can easily drink water from it. Most poultry farmers place pebbles at the bottom of the drinker to prevent the quails from drowning.
6. 6 Change the straw in the cages daily. You can add some compost. Quail droppings contain a large amount of ammonium, so the cages need to be cleaned regularly.
7. 7 Wash the cage as soon as it gets dirty. Wash the cage once a week to avoid illness.
8. 8 Start feeding the quails with layer mix at 5-6 weeks. Specialty feed for laying hens is available at most pet food stores. Ask if the feed is suitable for laying hens before purchasing. If you are raising quail for meat, use finisher feed instead of layer feed.
9. 9 Give the quails ground oyster shells and grain. Grain facilitates the digestion of food, and oyster shells saturate the body of quails with calcium, which is necessary for bearing healthy, strong eggs.
10. 10 Keep birds separate from other animals starting at week 6. Females will start to rush, and will run poorly if there are other animals nearby or the room is too noisy.
11. 11 Fresh greens, seeds and small insects can be added to quail food.

Tips

• If you are new to quail farming, check with other people. Raising quail is tricky at first, so ask other people to share their experiences with raising these birds. You can consult with people who grow quails in your area, or ask questions in various forums.

Warnings

• Do not feed the chicks with medicated food, as this can cause them to die.

What do you need

• Quail eggs
• Breeding pairs of quails
• Incubator
• Humidifier
• Air Dryer
• Heat source
• Thermometer
• Small box for chicks
• Mesh cage
• Straw
• Water
• Water / bottle source
• Feed for laying hens
• Seeds
• Greens
• Insects
• Light bulbs
• Cell Cleaner Disinfectant