This was super helpful. Just starting on quail after having ducks which are a breeze in the winter. Easiest animals to care for in the cold. But it sounds like quail are right up there too!
I dont think very many people realize that Quail's internal body temperature is around 108. They are very toasty little birds. Even the chicks when they get to 2-3 weeks, you can pick them up and they feel like those little hand-warming pods. Loud, screaming hand-warming pods. They run hot. I've seen a few people who live in places like Alaska and Montana, where they get literally like -40 and below, raising them just fine. I will say that so far I've had two shipments of eggs in my quail journey I started last year; the first one was Southwest Game Birds, and then later on after I got use to those, a MyShire Farms batch. It was kind of a mixed bag for both; the SWGB were overall more nervous and anxious, but the actual physical quality of the birds was substantial; they all had beautiful, thick coats of feathers and were all rather large (the smallest was 11oz, and the largest was an 18oz Hen who I needed two hands to pick up, but who for some bizarre reason will absolutely not lay eggs). MSF had better temperaments, with several of them actually self-domesticating to the point they will come to the front of the cage to greet me, I can actually pet and even pick them up with little issue despite not treating them any differently from the others (which helped when one hurt her leg and she let me do stuff while nursing her back), but they were all overall somewhat smaller, though not by much, and their coats didn't seem _quite_ as uniform and thick. I'm going with the clan-breeding method going forward, and I'm going to try hard to mix the two together to get a nice, well-behaved group of big, juicy thickums. The SWGB batch produced some good Roosters who are not only fairly large, but very gentle with the hens, and quite handsome to boot; one has an extremely dark face that I am seeing quite regularly pop up in his offspring so I am hoping I can keep that going, though admittedly I am not too concerned about their looks as long as they are plump, healthy and taste good.
Good to hear about your experiences with both breeders! Yeah, my SWGB whites are good size birds, but some are a little nervous as well. Never bought from MyShire but may have to do an order just to check them out. Thanks for sharing your experience
I’m new to your channel and ordered my first batch of quails and ordered 8 week old from Gopher Ridge that will be shipped next week. The customer service is awesome ‼️Thanks for sharing their information ‼️
That’s awesome to hear!!! I’ve chatted with HP Murray a couple times and he is such a nice guy who loves his customers! So accommodating and will chat with you about anything😉 Wishing you the best with your birds! Let me know if you have any other questions I don’t answer in the videos. Always happy to talk quail! Best of luck!
Hello Nick Frost its me again. Those Quilts are so adorable very cute. You are a lucky guy to had this birds, I used to had pets myself but where I live they are Foxes and Coyotes and those wild animals eat my pets that I had. Today I have Chickens Rosters and hens, but they are not mine my brother left them here where I live and I take care of them. They are secure so no fox or coyote will eat them. To me those Quilt you had are very defensive to a predator. Those birds don't have anything to defend themselves. I hope you keep it in a safe place. Anyways I enjoy this video and I like birds to, all kinds of animals. Its to late to say this but Merry Christmas and happy New Year. I wish that all the things you want you will accomplish this year. And most of all you have a good health taking care of yourself. I say it in a nice way, I am a good person it reflects what I say to people. Desanfurtunaty I don't have friends, but maybe one day I will had one. Well it seems your busy, because you don't post much content. But I like you channel. I will see you again Nick Frost.
Yeah I wish you the best! Myshire is a good size breeder and they have been doing this a long time! I have heard they have excellent hatch rates! Good luck!
Thanks for sharing. I have my first batch of quails hatching in a couple of days , i am new to them. I will have them under a brooder at first 90 degrees and gradually lower the temp every day My question is ; at what week would i be able to put them in the barn , I live in Canada and my barn is well insulated, almost never freeze Thanks
Hey there!! Thanks for watching. Living in NH has similar winters to Canada and in my experience once the birds are about 4-5 weeks old they can go outside. Basically you’re waiting for them to be fully feathered out. If they get cold they’ll huddle together. I’ve had 4-5 week old quail in temps where night gets into the teens and they are fine. As long as there are a few of them together and they are out of the elements (like in your barn) they’ll be just fine at that age. Good luck and enjoy raising them
One more thing that has worked for me. First week of life I keep the quail under a 250 watt heat bulb (red), week two I drop to 125 watt. Week 3 off heat entirely and week 4 or 5 out they go. Just make sure they’re kept inside when you do that method and they’ll be fine. Makes it a little easier and have done that with hundreds of birds never had a problem. Anyway, just a tip to take or leave.
How do you select a farm to buy birds from? There are so many and prices are really high or very low. How do you know you are getting what you paid for instead of mix ?
Great question!!! I choose based on my own experiences and also the experiences i read about people having with certain farms. I look at various reviews and can even contact the farm and talk to them. From my experience, I stay away from any eggs on eBay or Etsy. I have narrowed down who I deal with to about 3-4 farms i am familiar with and know their quality. Gopher Ridge, Thieving Otter, Southwest Game birds, Bryant’s Roost, Kansas City Quail, AJ farms. That’s the beat recommended breeders I can give you. I have had great luck with all of them I dealt with and the ones I haven’t I’ve heard great things. Just remember shipped eggs are always a gamble, and so much depends on your incubator! Buy a good incubator! Borotto, Brinsea, hatching time. Are all great incubators to give your eggs the best chance. Hope this helps!
I’ve never personally ordered from either so I can’t really comment on either. I’ve always lived by the rule “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” and with the good luck I’ve had with Thieving Otter, SW Game birds, and Gopher Ridge, I’ve kinda just stuck with them. I will probably try Myshire and Mcmurray at some point in the future just to get an idea of them though.
Hatching them out I am the only “mother” they ever know. I play around with them when I feed and water, plus trying to not over crowd seems to help a lot too. Other than that just getting good stock. Thieving otter and Gopher Ridge, and SW Game birds. Has a lot to do with it.
So I run less birds SF than most. I like to keep a bird per SF or even sometimes 2 per SF. Some people will tell you to keep up to 3-4 birds per SF. That seems a bit much to me. I like to let them have some quality of life and enjoy their space. I’m not knocking those who keep more. Honestly if I was shipping hatching eggs and had a bigger operation I would keep more birds per SF but a small backyard operation like I have I can afford to give them a little more comfort.
