[QuirkyQuail]

Firstly, I would like to begin this post by saying 'thank you' to the members of the 'Allotment and Vegetable Gardening' forum who take the time, energy, and effort to read this post, and, indeed, leave a reply.

However, I have joined the forum as I have recently been in contact with an individual who breeds, and raises Coturnix/ Japanese Quail, and I am interested in adopting a few to keep purely as pets.

Therefore, I have been researching the species, and have found adequate answers for the majority of my questions, and queries. However, I have read a few articles that have mentioned that the birds need vaccinations (What vaccinations, and how often etc, has not specified), and I would appreciate any advice in reagards to ectoparasite, and endoparasite control also?!

Thank you.

QuirkyQuail

[Kate and her Ducks]

I'm not actually aware of anyone who vaccinates their quail, I certainly don't but I don't vaccinate my ducks either. Generally vaccinations are sold in 1000s of doses so it is generally big breeders rather than hobby keepers who do this.

I worm at the same time as all the others as they all eat the same food. Other than that I have never really had a problem with parasites with the quail. Never seen a red mite or louse!

[splash101]

If you are only having a few as pets then vacination is not required, if would be far too expensive to vacinate a small number of birds.
If you were quail farming and your livelihood depending on it then you would vacinate.

Quails have a relatively short lifespan so good hygiene and housing conditions are a better preventative of diseases and illnesses.

Like all birds, they can get mites and lice etc so in the dustbath i use Diatom powder because i have a supply in for the chickens . You can also use louse / mite powder or spray which is readily available. Handling them regularly and giving them a good check is beneficial

I worm mine with flubenvet only because i worm my chickens and i do them all at the same time as they eat the same food. If i only kept a few quail, im not sure i would worm them unless there was an evident problem. I think you could probably find something to worm them with from your pet shop for caged / aviary birds / parrots etc which would probably be more cost effective for you than using flubenvet

Im not an expert but what i do works for me, other people will have other methods that work for them.

If you are interested in getting some,  speak to the person who was breeding them and ask what they do regarding vacinations.

Dont have too many males as it will probably result in a bloodbath. They are quite brutal. You dont need males if you only want eggs for eating and not to hatch any chicks. If you have too many males to female ratio the females probably wont lay well.

They can and will fly (more vertically rather than over a distance)

 

[QuirkyQuail]

Thank you for your replies!

I did wonder whether these articles were referring to quail kept for commercial use - These articles were rather vague when mentioning vaccinations, and I am not entirely convinced that these articles were produced by quail savvy individuals/ from the knowledge, and experience of the authors etc. . . However, I understand that even quail kept for commercial use are not routinely, if ever, vaccinated, unlike other poultry, and game bird?! Therefore, out of one's own interest, I would still be interested to know if there are vaccinations available for quail, and, if so, what for?!

In regards to parasites, I understand that products containing fenbendazole, e.g. Flubenvet, Solubenol, Panacur, are the favoured products. However, I understand that there is not one product that affects all internal/ external parasites?!

I have asked the breeder what they do in regards to vaccinations, and parasite control, and, from what I understand, the breeder does not vaccinate their birds, and will only treat their birds for parasites when necessary! However, the breeder will add Diatom Powder to the bird's dustbaths!

Again, thank you for your replies!

QuirkyQuail

[Casey76]

Flubenvet is the only formulation of fenbendazole which is licenced for poultry, though to be honest I don't think I've ever heard of anyone worming their quail; though it is easy enough to administer.

For external parasite control, you will need to talk to a vet.  For poultry, an off-licence use of fipronil is normally sanctioned by vets (with signed waiver etc), but fipronil is toxic to game birds.