Eating and drinking has slowed down?

IN the past couple of days my birds have slowed down considerably in their drinking and eating and I'm trying to figure out why.  There are a few things that have all happened in the past few days that may have contributed to this:

1. Changed feed to Dumor (ran out of regular feed on Sunday and my regular supplier was closed).
2. Started using apple cider vinegar in the water.
3. Birds have started mating and laying eggs.
4.  Have had some serious warming in temperatures.

While it seems to me the food and apple cider vinegar could be the main culprits, I'm not sure.  They were still eating normally when I started the vinegar additive, but everything slowed down when I started giving them the Dumor feed.  I've changed feeds before and never had this happen, but I guess the feed could be bad?

Write me if you have any ideas!

Blessings,

Wally

Using Apple Cider with the Mother in Quail Water

I've started using apple cider with the mother in my quails water now.  I use it from new hatch and am keeping them on it for life now.  They seem to like it and from what I've read, it is very beneficial for them.

I've also ordered some diatomaceous earth for my chickens and I'm going to include that in my quail feed as well.

Not expecting miraculous changes, as I don't have any specific problems, but these items have been highly recommended by many in the poultry business for a long time.

1st quail egg at almost 6 weeks of age

My jumbo brown coturnix are doing very well.  I found my first two eggs today which means they should all be laying within about two weeks.  I'll be hatching some around week 8 to check the fertility rate and I will post my results!

On the video, I say they are 5 weeks, but they will actually 6 weeks old tomorrow.

New cage rack with water trough holder

I've improved on the cage rack design so that it now has a water trough holder.  it is easy to access this holder for filling as well as for cleaning,  I was struggling with coming up with a new design and running out of time so took an old standard and just updated it a little.  Hope you enjoy it!

Blessings,

Wally

New Quail feeder is the real deal

I've been using this feeder for over a week now and it has proven to be the best feeder I've ever made.  Waste is absolutely minimal and there is access for about 7 birds at a time.  I can make the next one longer to allow for twice as many birds but I just want to let you all know that it is working great!  I'm going to do a video when I make the next one so you can see what is involved.

Just a note.  I'll be designing my watering system for my homemade quail racks in the next couple of weeks as it is almost time to separate my birds from the meat pen to the breeder cages.  Stay tuned!

Blessings,

Wally

Follow Up Video on New Quail Feeder

This video will make it easier to see the new quail feeder and I also do a shot on the birds eating out of the trough with the 1/2 x 1" wire mesh insert to reduce feed loss.  Happy viewing!

New Feeder Design

One of the problems with starting over, is reinventing the wheel.  Every time I stop raising quail and then start again, I tend to go through a process whereby I look for a solution to everything that didn't work out to my liking the previous time.  This round of quail raising has been no different.  I tend to invent things as I need them.  This time the feeder was the center of attention.

Wasting feed is a favorite past-time of quail.  If you aren't fighting them, you will have substantial waste on the floor and that equates to dollars! The most important hint I have ever received on raising quail came from an associate in Maine that runs CM Gamebird Farm.  He told me to place a piece of 1/2 x 1" cage wire in the trough the length of the trough.  It sits on top of the feed and has the feed is eaten it rides down with the feed - always sitting on top.  It gives the quail a 1/2 x 1" slot on any space in the mesh which is plenty for them to eat from but not enough for them to shake their heads in and spread the feed all over the floor.  I can't tell you how much money I've saved in feed by doing this.  The man at CM Gamebird Farms saved me a bundle.

Well, the issue this time is not enough feeder space.  I should've made my grow out pen with 3 slots for gutter feeders, but I didn't.  I only put one 36" trough in and it turns out that it wasn't enough.  I ended up putting 2 of the quail chick feeders from GQF in the cages - which work great when the birds are up to two weeks old - but after that, the older birds stick their heads in the tough area and waste feed.  I'm broke so seeing feed on the floor drives me crazy.

I went into invention mode again.  I needed to solve two problems.  One - I wanted to have a greater quantity of feed available at all times and I needed to have a feeder that would also hold my 1/2 x 1" screen in it.  So I went to work and here's what I came up with:

It's not a great picture, but you can see the bottom area and if you enlarge it, you can see the 1/2 x 1" screen sitting at the bottom.  This feeder is made out of 1x12 and 1/2 plywood.  The plywood is inside, mounted at an angle to keep the feed moving toward the trough (I'll do a video on it as I am going to build one more.).  The wire around the feed area is 1x2 that I cut out of the top of the cage to make room for the feeder.  I happened to perfectly as a border to keep the quail from walking in the feed.  The slots are big enough for the birds to feed and the border keeps them off the trough.  After 2 days in action, it is working GREAT.

Like I said, I will be putting a video together showing how I made it and what materials are needed.  I usually don't get it right the first time, but praise God, it happened this time!

Blessings,

Wally

Quail moved into the quail room - video!

I have moved my 3 week old Jumbo Brown Coturnix Quail out of my basement brooder set up and into what I affectionately call the quail barn!  I built a grow out box that is 9' x 30" x 12" high.  I an outside feeder with wire protector to keep the feed from getting lost by the birds shaking their heads and have increased the waterer capacity to gallons.  There are currently 79 birds in this box and at 5-6 weeks I will start selecting my breeders from the group and putting them in my breeder cages.  There will be more videos as I move forward.  Thanks for stopping by!

Starting a video series on raising Jumbo Brown Coturnix Quail - coming soon

I've been giving some thought lately to how I can help those who want to know more about raising quail, especially the Jumbo Brown Coturnix Quail, and I realized that I need to offer some instructional video as well as how-to material, and I intend to start providing that very soon.  Tune in for more good info on raising quail - coming soon!

Blessings,

Wally