Baby Quail

The baby quail are now almost a month old.  They have at least doubled in size, which still means they are barely the size of a baby chick.  However, their wings are huge and their legs are long.  They run super fast and fly like a powered rocket.

We started with 57 babies (chicks or cheepers).  13 died within the first day.  I know this sounds harsh and it is definitely higher than our normal mortality rate with chicks, geese and turkeys, but we have never raised quail before and as usual, many die when it takes over two days to come to us, in a box, with no food or water.  They also are very tiny, so I feel perhaps they are slightly more fragile in travel than the other poultry we've raised.

I counted yesterday when Thomas discovered one on the top of their cage, the outside top.  We then chased it throughout the garage and under the ramp in our garage and between pieces of vertically staked plywood.  There are now I believe, 39.  So apparently, we have lost 5 to flying out the window or into the garage and out the garage door when we open it for the day and we just didn't notice.  Lesson learned, quail need a screen on top, not chicken wire or the small gauge stuff we have been using.

Today I got carefully got one out to show the neighbors.  I thought I had a good hold on it.  Turns out, I did not.  It flew out of my hands and all the way across the garage into one of Thomas' tool boxes in one feel swoop.  It is astounding how something SO SO small can fly so incredibly high and well.

We are learning a lot.