Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE => Topic started by: Eric Bosworth on May 26, 2017, 08:36:04 am
-
I have read quite a few posts on quail and most discuss eggs and meat. They don't mention raising them to release for hunting or dog training. Does anybody have suggestions for building a fly pen? I got 30 bobwhite chicks yesterday I would like to try raising some to breed and I did see a post about raising quail for meat and getting an incubator. My main reason for getting the birds is for Gunner. He has been pointing the brooder.
-
Eric,
I not sure if you really need a fly pen.
I once saw a hatching unit that was designed so that you put the chicks (I think it was for hatched chicks) and food in it out in a field and then released the quail at the right age. I will try to find it. If that works, it would seem that you do not need a fly way for the quail.
Jim
-
Here is the system I was talking about. You would want to release them at 5 weeks old.
https://www.gamebirdfarm.net/products.php?cat=57
Jim
-
I'm not sure if your goal is continual release for hunting or to establish a wild breeding population in your area, but habitat is key for long term survival. We attempted getting a population going at our hunting club with the rig that sawdstmakr recommended. We had plenty of birds as long as we kept raising and releasing but they never established a wild breeding population. In the end we decided that the habitat wasn't good enough for them (some fields but mostly bottom land and swamp). Keep this in mind as you start your project.
-
Here is the system I was talking about. You would want to release them at 5 weeks old.
https://www.gamebirdfarm.net/products.php?cat=57
Jim
That looks awesome... I wish I had $2300 to spend on it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
-
I'm not sure if your goal is continual release for hunting or to establish a wild breeding population in your area, but habitat is key for long term survival. We attempted getting a population going at our hunting club with the rig that sawdstmakr recommended. We had plenty of birds as long as we kept raising and releasing but they never established a wild breeding population. In the end we decided that the habitat wasn't good enough for them (some fields but mostly bottom land and swamp). Keep this in mind as you start your project.
If I could get them to survive sure I would love to get a wild population. I don't think I have the habitat. I do have some fields... My neighbor has more fields... I have a lot more swamps and woods. The state land that borders mine is all thick forest and some swamps in the forest. I don't go over there because it is so thick I get disoriented and lost. I did shoot my first turkey over there when I was a kid though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
-
Eric,
What did you end up doing with the quail.
I've been considering the same lately.
-
Eric,
What did you end up doing with the quail.
I've been considering the same lately.
I raised and released them... I have a pen that has pvc conduit arches holding up the netting. It works pretty good but it would be better if it was bigger. They are not the best fliers. I think 10 X 30 world be better.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
-
I've got an incubator and a upland/lowland/woods/open field environment. Just don't know how to raise them. Are they like chickens as far as raising them? How well do they adapt to the wild? I'm interested in establishing a colony. How much money did you put into it?
-
I never raised chickens so I can't compare them. I will say this... It is imperative that they are on something that the crap will fall through. I have 1/4" hardware cloth under them. I used a 500 gallon stock tank for a brooder an lost about 10% the first year. I was cleaning regularly. A friend of mine borrowed it and put 2 2X4s with hardware cloth on the bottom and had better results. I have a couple hundred dollars into it but I used lumber that was cut with a portable sawmill on my land and I already had the stock tank.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk