quail help please (steve)

[banty]

hi
i am currently in the middle of building myself well not myself but my 2 little babies an avaery and i have a few questions that i would like answered
how do you introduce new quail to the avery ?
will they accept new companions or fight ect....?
my avery is 3ft wide by 8ft long and 6ft high , how many quail can i keep in there ?

do quail like perches ect...?
i have a quail house that i bought last year so asume they will like this in the avery
im so pleased with my new babies they are so cute and i will try and post some pics on here for you
thanks so much for your help
banty

[Steve]

Hi Banty,
Firstly the baby quail need to be at least 4 weeks old and hardened off to our climate before putting them in the aviary, in an ideal situation it would be to have a small shed shed say 6' x 4' attached to the aviary (flight) with a bob hole cut into the side of the shed so the quails can go in the shed at night to shelter.
japanese quails dont roost like the chooks at night cos they are a ground bird so no need for perches.
An aviary your size would accomodate i would say about a dozen.
Introducing quail to the aviary if its empty you have no problem, if you have other quail in there i would introduce them in the morning all the books all the people say at dusk i introduce mine in the morning cos you then can watch how they are going to get on with the other quail and you have got time to do something about it cos you have the daylight on your side and this method works for me, one word of warning if you have got 2 cocks amongst the hens they will fight and sometimes they will fight to the death so seperate the cocks.
The quail house you have got yes put that in the aviary cos the hens should go in there and lay their eggs.
Going back to the avairy if you are using fine steel netting and it has to be fine cos if not you will loose your quail like ive said before quails are great escapees, the roof needs to have like a cushion/damper for if they are spooked they fly straight up (They are a game bird) and jeesh do they fly up fast. well if you have ever seen scaffold around a building they use that green nylon netting try and get hold of that and attach it to the roof of the flight underneath the wire netting it acts like a cushion and its stops injuries to the birds at the worst breaking their necks.
I hope this as spread a little light on your questiions, have fun with these little darlings and you will i can assure you lol ;D
Cheers Steve

[banty]

hi steve
thank you so much just another question if the 2 chicks i have are both cocks will i have to rehome one or will they be ok together as they are brought up together
banty

[Steve]

Hi Banty,
You dont have to rehome them if you have got room just seperate them from each other a bit of wire netting in between them will do, its allright to keep them together without any quail hens but as soon as you introduce quail hens thats when the trouble will start.
I hope this helps.
cheers Steve

[banty]

ok thank you steve

[Quailmad]

Hi Banty,
How Are Those Baby Quails Coming On, Good I Hope ;D.
Cheers
Quailmad (Steve)

[banty]

hi steve only one survived out of my 1st hatch not sure what i did wrong but i have hatched 6 more and they are doing great so far
thank you for all your help
banty aka helen