We culled 5 of our quails today. One of them wasn't perking along very well anyway and the others had picked at him. Another one was picked at as well. So, those two needed to be dispatched. The other three were smaller males. We plan to keep the largest males for breeding, which will occur probably around March.
The quail hens aren't laying much right now, even though we are keeping a light on them at night. Like chickens, quails need at least 14 hours of light per day to continue laying. The next thing will be to add drop lights next to the cages with incandescent bulbs in them to produce some warmth. We'll add one to the chicken house, too.
We already wrapped the cages with clear plastic. No, not so much as to smother the birds but enough to keep out the cold wind and rain. They don't do well if they get wet and chilled. Hypothermia can really take its toll on quails.
We fried the culled quails like chicken and had them for supper. We had enough leftover to share with some friends, too.
There's something very basic and satisfying about raising your own livestock and using it for food on the table.
