Tripled in size at one week old!

[Jaye]

Well, the more permanent tractor grow out pen for the little boogers (quail babies) isn't finished yet, and they had truly outgrown their first brooder by Saturday, so we cobbled together brooder #2 out of the biggest cage we had and they moved in on Sunday morning. Here is a short video of their reaction to the new place.

VID_20190721_144617.mp4

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[Killerbunny]

Cuties! They really have grown!

[Jaye]

This little whozit was complaining about the lack of service. Their water had run out since the last time I checked on it about an hour earlier.

VID_20190721_144700.mp4

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[Jaye]

Well, they're just over three and a half weeks old today. They're eating machines, and enjoying their space in their new tractor. Next weekend we will be attempting to integrate the big girls (and Silverman) in with the "babies". Should be interesting. I've been told that it's best to integrate at around 4 weeks, before any of them are even thinking about reaching maturity. Apparently they are not viewed as a threat by the mature members of the existing flock then. Here's hoping. If all goes well, the main quail quarters will be cleaned out ready to house those that make themselves known as males at about 6-8 weeks old.

the new quail enclosure

a few of the babies in one of their shelters

[kenya]

They grow so fast , before I knew it mine were laying eggs. I had trouble when I tried putting mine together but you have a bigger area so hopefully you will be fine plus yours I think are younger.

[Killerbunny]

That's a lovely setup @Jaye

[Jaye]

Thanks, @Killerbunny . It's not done yet, and there will be further modifications for the winter, but it seems to work very well as is, so far.
@kenya, do you remember how old yours were when you integrated them? I'm not sure how it will go with ours, because we'll be adding the mature flock to the enclosure where the babies are at home. I think I'll add another stool from Dollarama (the one in there is being used as a quail clubhouse ) and will add a bunch more cedar boughs as well. Hopefully, that will help. Worse comes to worst, we will string some plastic garden mesh as a divider for a few days until they get used to each other.

[Kbr42]

Looks like you have a good plan @Jaye. I've had a dog fence in between flocks in my coop. It has worked well to integrate 2 flocks of different ages and sizes. Let us know how it works out for you. BTW, I spent a lot of time in with both flocks making sure it works well!

[kenya]

Sorry Jaye I don't remember how old they were.

[Jaye]

No worries, @kenya . Did they get sorted out fairly quickly and without too much bloodshed?
@Kbr42 , we do have a dog fence that we have used for chickens, but the wire spacing is too large for quails - they go right through it. :-|
I will be spending a bit of time observing their behaviour after I integrate them: I'll be sitting in there on my Dollarama plastic stool with my morning coffee, watching all the activity.
It's great to have an enclosure that has enough room be able to be in there with them.