Hatching quail ? Anyone

Thump68 · Post by **Thump68** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:13 pm

Well here in pa can't find any quail an wanna start with a small bird with my new 12 week old gsp. Was thinking about ordering some courtrix quail eggs getting a incubators hatching some. Building a brooder an a big enough outside pen with some wood an mess. The first go I figured a lot with die so how many should I order. Just wondering if anyone has any experience doing this. Or am I going at this the wrong way should I just got catch some pigeons an introduce her to them first ? Thanks.

GansWIgwp · Post by **GansWIgwp** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 8:50 pm

I am also doing this process for the first time. I am a rookie myself but have done quite a bit of research. I have 100 bobwhite quail eggs coming from eBay in the next day or two. I will be putting the eggs in my hovabator incubator. Once they are hatched I will raise them in a brooder until they get their feathers and then move them to my recall house which is going to be based on a phantom quail kennel design which can hold approx 50 birds. I figure since quail develop so fast that any birds over 50 I will either just have a full day of running dogs or a possible slaughter if they are not flight ready. I also have somebody who wants some birds from me. I am hoping I have the problem of too many birds. The reason I am going with bobwhites is because they are stronger flyers than coturnix. I figure if these quail don't workout I will try some pigeons next or pheasant or both.

birddog1968 · Post by **birddog1968** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 11:25 pm

What county u in ?

GansWIgwp · Post by **GansWIgwp** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 5:42 am

I am pretty much in the same boat as you and am going to be receiving my 100 bobwhite quail eggs (bought off eBay) in the next day or two. I will be placing them in my hovabator incubator with egg turner I bought off eBay. I went with bobwhite because they are supposed to be better flyers. Once the birds have their feathers I will move them from the brooder to a phantom quail kennel type Johnny house. This house can hold 50 birds. I am assuming I won't be able to hatch that many for my first go around but I would like to have as high of success rate as possible. Any amount over 50 or 60 I will butcher. I'd keep 60 assuming i would lose quite a few early on either not recalling or something.

If I decide I don't like quail I am going to try pheasants or pigeons after. I only want quail over pigeons because they seem cooler and you can actually eat them. Pigeons might be easier though. I am not sure

Thump68 · Post by **Thump68** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 3:33 pm

Birddog1968 I'm in bucks country pa.
An GANS yeh I was thinking the same way you we're same incubator brooder an pen after. Let me know how it works outs plz as I would like to get it goin ASAp. This new gsp I got already I can tell by chasing the feather on a string around has some killer senses to hunt. Gotta get some birds in front her soon. Btw how much did the eggs cost ur off ebay? Might have to try them out. Thanks

RoostersMom · Post by **RoostersMom** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 3:54 pm

Quail are great for retrieving and putting in a dogs' mouth. They are harder and messier to raise than homing pigeons though. And homers fly way better than quail - one of the cardinal mistakes in training a young dog is letting the dog catch birds. Homers fly hard and dogs *usually* can't catch them. Quail are notorious for not flying hard and not flying far, so sometimes dogs can chase them down and snatch them up.

I can't speak for everyone on here, but I think most on here will agree that homers are better for young dogs if you're wanting to have steady dogs in the end and you want to reduce the chances of your dog jumping in while on point (trying to catch the bird because it has learned that it can). Homers are also re-usable, quail frequently die during training sessions. Quail are great when you've gotten to the point that your dog is steady and will hold his birds well.

gundogguy · Post by **gundogguy** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 12:41 pm

RoostersMom wrote:Quail are great for retrieving and putting in a dogs' mouth. They are harder and messier to raise than homing pigeons though. And homers fly way better than quail - one of the cardinal mistakes in training a young dog is letting the dog catch birds. Homers fly hard and dogs *usually* can't catch them. Quail are notorious for not flying hard and not flying far, so sometimes dogs can chase them down and snatch them up.

I can't speak for everyone on here, but I think most on here will agree that homers are better for young dogs if you're wanting to have steady dogs in the end and you want to reduce the chances of your dog jumping in while on point (trying to catch the bird because it has learned that it can). Homers are also re-usable, quail frequently die during training sessions. Quail are great when you've gotten to the point that your dog is steady and will hold his birds well.

IMHO, Personally I would not give anyone 0.15 cents for a pen reared bob white quail. Pigeons all they way until wild bird time! Build your dogs manners then turn 'em loose on the real deal!

polmaise · Post by **polmaise** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 1:30 pm

gundogguy wrote: Pigeons all they way until wild bird time! Build your dogs manners then turn 'em loose on the real deal!

Have to agree! Especially with 'Flushers' ...and the whiter the better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3mR6Em ... e=youtu.be

GansWIgwp · Post by **GansWIgwp** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 6:01 pm

Man all this negativity towards quail is really making me second guess my decision to raise quail instead of pigeons. Obviously it has been done before. Maybe I'll just use all these birds up right away and go straight to pigeons.

Thump68 · Post by **Thump68** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:02 pm

Was thinking the same thing let me know how ur first batch of quail come out GANS. Would still like to give that a try. And I'm prob gonna go pigeon catching this weekend at some local spots at night get some for a training session to just have her find them an fly ! Thanks. For all the input guys.

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