[ANHBUC]

The three Rosetta quail turned out to be male which makes 4 out of 6 male.     The two females are already laying (started at 5 weeks old).   

As I don't need so many males they have been dispatched and prepared for eating.  They are small and fiddly to gut so I decided to spatchcock them which was much easier.  That is four down and a further batch of nineteen (less a few for breeding) in a few weeks when they start crowing and fighting.

On the bright side our local Leisure Farm which is open to the public bought three youngsters and some hatching eggs yesterday.  They had tried hatching 12 eggs bought off someone on eBay and only one hatched so I gave them an extra dozen when I delivered the quail.

[splash101]

They look very tasty.

I've had an horrendous time just lately with my quails. I dont know if its the warm weather but even the females are turning on each other.
I only keep them in small groups and each group has a large aviary each with only 1 male or no male in each group.
Also one of the young males crowing at 4.30am has not helped. Probably wouldnt normally notice it but with having the windows open at night 
The final straw was when one of our fledglings decided to leave the nest too early, landed on the floor and was quickly gobbled up by the quails  My husband was devastated about the chick but never said anything.
So, after having them for a number of years, i have decided to not keep them for a while.  I've managed to sell the ones i had left. Hopefully then if we have any other fledglings that decide to take the leap of faith early, they will have a fighting chance.

[ANHBUC]

That is awful splash. 

They are little feathered velociraptors and trying to get the balance right is really hard.  I have one male with five females (there were more but they are starting to die of old age), and they are in a 2m x 2m walk in run.  They do seem really happy and tend to skirt around the outside more than anything.  I have the food and water in the middle to avoid them soiling it too much.

My young quail I have are two 6 week old girls in a 5ft long rabbit hutch (they did share with a male but he is in the picture above now).   

The nineteen 3 week old chicks are in a wire mesh brooder which is about 4ft long.  I don't want to split them up until I have more idea which are male and female.  The Rosetta coloured ones are really difficult to tell until they start to crow.

They are really territorial so I am waiting to split them in to male and female for housing.  I did this with 3 of the last batch and it worked well for 3 weeks until yesterday when one was attacked and had a cut on its head.  They are the other 3 in the picture.    

I can understand you not wanting to keep them for a while, I keep thinking I might not keep them.  We do like the eggs but don't need as many as they lay, but I don't think I would want to part with my little male Miracolo (even though he does attack my feet sometimes!)   

[splash101]

The good thing with them is that you dont have to wait long to sex them.

The females were just as viscous as the males. I've Never had that problem before.
The groups were only 4 or 5 in each aviary.

[ANHBUC]

I think the warmer weather has made them friskier than normal so that could be the problem.  If you get some more I would recommend at least 5 females to one male.  It keeps him really busy and out of mischief!     I also have a broken plant pot, a little plastic shelter, a wooden box and a large bin with their shavings in.  This gives them plenty of places to back in to or run around and get out of his way.   

[Mum2mj]

Hi, could you please tell me how you dispatch your quail? Thankyou

[Debbieta]

Hi,
Just to add with our quail, I have pink garden shoes which they're not bothered about, but if any of us appear with a pink/orange/red shirt they go absolutely mad, so we quickly back away.  This has only been for the last 6-8 weeks, so don't know what has happened there!!!!
Regards,
Debbie

[Debbieta]

Hi,
My daughter uses a very sharp (kept to one side for purpose only!), holds the quail firmly and extends the neck on a flat wooden surface within a bin bag and then very decisively removes their head, holding the body then into the bag to minimise mess!
Good luck,
Debbie

[ANHBUC]

I have a wall mounted dispatcher but have also broken neck by hand or on a hard edge of a worktop as you can with chicks as they are not much bigger.

My young quail were going bonkers tonight, I think it is down to the weather.  We should have had rain but just missed out on it so the atmospheric pressure is really high.  I will have to see if any are injured in the morning.

We had the quail wrapped in streaky bacon and roasted tonight, they were delicious.