I'm Back

[rouen]

In case anyone was wondering what happened to us. I had a couple of big batches of chicks hatch, one brood is still taking up quite a bit of time but they're getting big fast. Hopefully I'll have more time to visit the forums now.
7 chickens and 27 quail in total for the last brood.

 

[tigerlily46514]

ADORABLE chickies there! How are the dogs liking those chickies? hee hee!

GLAD TO SEE YOU BACK!! Congrats on the new 'family' there!!

 

[rouen]

Thanks Tigerlily.
The dogs love chicks. Dasy adores babies of all kinds. They're getting to the point now that they can handle being away from their heat lamps, so Dasy's getting more visit time.
Dingo's a little more aloof with them, I swear he's part ACD cause he circles them like he wants to herd them.

 

[tigerlily46514]

oh, i'm fascinated, trying to picture it all. Post photos?? I'd love to see this!!

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Cute!!
I'm curious, what in the world do you do with quail? Lol!
Love the new avatar, lol! So curious.

 

[rouen]

TX, quail have many of the same uses as chickens but on a much smaller scale. Coturnix quail eggs are popular in sushi. Their small size makes them ideal for small urban yards or apartments, the roosters do crow but it's easily mistaken for a song bird. Hens lay nearly every day and will lay without a rooster. Incubation is 17-18 days and they mature in 5-8 weeks. Some people also use them to train hunting dogs, but releasing them is illegal here. Coturnix are the most domesticated species of quail, many color varieties have been developed and they typically will not incubate their eggs.

 

[Dogster]

I literally said this: OHHHH!!!! SOOO CUTE!!!!! And I mean it. :dogsmile:. What are you going to do with ALL those chicks????

 

[rouen]

If you must know... Some will be sold, some will be kept as pets and future breeders and some will be loved and cared for and thanked before going to quail heaven . Nothing will be wasted though, things we wont consume will go to the dogs. I'll be keeping the female chickens and will be trying to re-home any boys that pop up before they start crowing. So far it looks like there might be two boys.
One of the two bantam chickens, this was last weeks photo.

They've grown a lot since this video, the quail are almost completely feathered.

 

[Dogster]

I love the video!!!! They got really interested in the camera towards the end.... Shivon was sitting and cocking her head when I was watching the video, she's never heard THAT soud before....LOL!!!

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Wow, I had no idea. Around here, I would venture to say that 98+% of the quail population is wild, with the other 2% being used to train hunting dogs. Interesting about the other uses of quail. Thanks!