How to Care for Quail Chicks

Fully-grown quails are small birds alone, but as quail chicks, they're tiny! This means that they can easily escape from their enclosure, get hurt by dangerous objects, and get injured by other birds/animals. But do not panic, you can avoid all this trouble if you follow the steps in this simple article.

EditSteps

EditPreparing the Brooder

1. Set up a brooder for the quail chicks. A brooder is a small space to raise your quail chicks and can generally be anything (e.g. a cardboard box) as long as it is safe, warm and sanitary.
   
   • The brooder should be kept in a safe and warm place that is away from predators. In your home is the best place to keep your chicks but you can also keep them in a shed or a garage as a last resort.
2. Provide a heat-lamp for the chicks and keep the temperature at . Lower the temperature by 5 degrees every week until it is at room temperature.
   
   • Cold chicks will pile on top of each over and fluff up whilst hot chicks will pant. You will also see the chicks trying to get away from the heat source if they are hot and trying to keep under the middle of the heat source if they are too cold.
3. Add bedding to the brooder. Wood shavings are good bedding for your chicks but you can also use paper towels or newspaper, however, they are not as absorbent as wood shavings and newspaper is ‘slippery’.
   
4. Purchase a feeder and a water bowl. Choose a small feeder/water bowl and make sure that the chicks have easy access to them.
   

EditCaring for Incubated Chicks

1. Keep your chicks in a brooder. Once the chicks are dry it’s important to raise them in a brooder for the first four to six weeks of their lives to ensure that they are safe, warm and are being kept healthy.
   
2. Feed your chicks a special chick starter diet. Chick starter provides more protein than a quail's average feed and should be given to your chicks for six to eight weeks to keep them healthy.
   
3. Provide plenty of fresh water for your chicks. Fill the water bowl daily and make sure that it isn’t too deep for your chicks as they can fall in and drown. A common trick is to put pebbles/stones is the water bowl to make it shallower.
   
   • Remember to clean the water bowl once a week to prevent diseases and the water from getting dirty.
4. Clean the brooder daily. Depending on the amount of chicks you have and how old they are, it’s important to clean the brooder often as the waste can cause serious disease to your chicks.
   

EditCaring for Hatched Chicks

1. Keep the hen with her chicks. The mother hen will keep the chicks warm, feed them and keep them safe. If you are going to separate the chicks it is best done when they are fully grown and can thrive on their own.
   
2. Isolate the chicks and the mother hen. Keep them in a brooder or a small cage. This is important if the hen and her chicks are housed with other quail or aviary birds (finches, budgies, etc.) as they will attack or peck at the chicks causing them serious injuries and possible death.
   
   • Suitable housing includes rabbit hutches, rodent cages, aquariums, pet carriers, etc.
3. Make sure your hen and chicks cannot escape from the housing. Measure the space between the wiring, see if there are any gaps about and check that the housing is ‘’’secure’’’.
   
   • A suitable place to keep your quail is indoors or in a shed/garage. As long as the area is warm, safe and free of drafts it is suitable for your quail chicks.
4. Add bedding to the brooder/cage. Some suitable types of bedding are wood shavings, sand, hay, straw or newspaper shreddings.
5. Make sure your chicks are safe from any pets. The main threat to quail are dogs and cats. Smaller pets such as hamsters, mice or fish are no harm to quail so they can be kept in the same room as your quail but other pets should be kept away.
   
6. Consider adding a heat lamp to the housing. Though the hen will keep her chicks warm naturally, if it is a really cold day or if winter is approaching consider giving them a heat lamp as the hen can get cold as well.
   
7. Provide your chicks and hen with chick starter soon after hatching. Chick starter provides more protein than normal quail feed and should be given if you want to raise your chicks into healthy quails.
   
   • If you cannot purchase chick starter, use your normal quail feed and grind it down so that it is edible for the chicks. If the feed is too big the chicks will not eat no matter how much the hen tries to make them.
8. Provide a constant supply of fresh water. Choose a shallow bowl for the chicks and make sure they can easily access it. Adding pebbles to a deep bowl can prevent the chicks from drowning if they do fall in.
   
   • You should clean the bowl at least once a week to prevent the water from getting dirt. If your chicks have a more messy bedding such as wood shavings or sand, clean the bowl more often than usual.

EditCaring for Two Week Old Chicks

1. Give your chicks more space as they grow. Once your chicks are older they will need more space. Consider moving your chicks to a bigger brooder/cage.
   
2. Provide a tub of sand for your chicks. They will soon begin dust bathing which quail love very much. Dust bathing also prevents mites, lice and other nasty parasites.
   
3. Give your chicks some treats. Quail love vegetables, fruit and table scraps. Give them various items and see what they like and dislike. Good treats to give your chicks are:
   
   • Vegetables such as cucumber, salad leaves, broccoli, etc.
   • Fruit such as strawberries, tomato, melon, apple, pear, etc.
   • Scraps such as pasta, boiled egg, rice, cereal, bread, etc.
   • Live creatures such as mealworms, woodlice, millipedes, small spiders, etc.
4. Let your chicks outside after a couple of weeks. Put the chicks and the hen in an outdoor cage and then watch them dig for bugs, dust bathe in dirt/sand and explore the new environment. Be cautious and make sure they cannot get out. To be sure, watch them for a minute or two to see how they adapt to their surroundings.
   
   • If you're not watching them, put a tarpaulin on top of the cage so no birds will attack/scare them. Make sure to weight down the blanket with something heavy (bricks) so the wind won't blow it away.
5. As they age into adulthood, continue taking taking good care of them. How to Care for Quail covers quail care beyond the chick stage.
   

EditTips

• Brooders are normally available in farm supply stores but if you cannot purchase one you can build a brooder yourself. Brooders are basically small boxes to house baby quail for the first weeks of their lives.
• Don’t worry about space for chicks as they don’t need as much space as older quail.
• Throw some clippings from the garden in your quails cage, they love eating greenery.
• Consider taming your chicks. This is best done at an early age and is important if you interact with your quail a lot.
• As the chicks grow older, add a small amount of normal quail food in their bowl with chick starter food. Do this by the age of 3-4 weeks. When they are older than 8 weeks, consider experimenting with different mixtures of food.

EditWarnings

• Bring the chicks inside before sunset if you have let them outside. If you don’t they could possibly freeze overnight.
• Never keep the chick’s brooder outside. The brooder should be somewhere safe, warm and free of drafts such as indoors or in a small shed.
• After six weeks of age, male quails should be separated as they will fight and possibly kill each other.

EditThings You'll Need

• Quail chicks
• Chick starter
• Quail/bird feed
• Brooder
• Cage
• Heat lamp
• Feeder
• Water bowl
• Bedding
• Tub
• Sand
• Outdoor pen
• Tarpaulin
• Bricks

EditRelated wikiHows

• Raise Quail
• Care for Quail
• Feed Quail
• Determine Sex of a Quail

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