We get cold winters in Minnesota. The temperature can drop to double digits below zero. My three quail coveys did just fine last year. They were in ground pens, with coops and covered runs, and I may have snuck panel heaters into their coops for the below-zero days (Shh!). Quail are hearty, and require only good ventilation and protection from the wind to get through winter. That, and numbers, so they can “covey up.” They snuggle together in choice spots of bedding.
I’ll be going into the upcoming winter with twelve coveys of quail, and they’re in a shed, in hutches. Most of them are in decently-sized groups. A level or two could use a couple of more hens.
Princess is my racist quail. I have tried putting her in each pen, and if any of the other quail are Rosetta’s, she attacks. Male or female makes no difference. It’s instantaneous and persistent. She became a pet to me when she was inside, healing from having a toe pecked off (had to have been mistaken for a boon worm). I won’t cull her.
Some cats are called, “Princess Picky Pants.” I have Princess Pecky Pants, in the same pen as Princess. Pecky Pants is just mean. She doesn’t care what color the other birds are. She just wants all of the food and all of the space for herself. For amusement, she used to chase other birds around the pen, and peck at them. Mostly at their feet. She used to be half the size of her siblings, but she finally grew, and so did her attitude. At least those two hens could keep one another in check. After several attempts, I found one rooster with the perfect attitude to be in the same pen as the two mean hens. He’s a sweet rooster, and he was chased around by both of the hens at first. Not for long though, and he has completely calmed the pen down.
Three birds isn’t enough to generate much heat. When spring comes, two hens won’t be enough for the rooster. Another of the levels could also use a hen or two more. I don’t want to try to combine the two coveys, or cull one of the perfectly good roosters. Time to incubate some eggs!
The fans seem to go out quickly on Janoel incubators. The seller of mine was kind enough to refund for that. This time, I’m using a Farm Innovators incubator with quail rails. The countdown feature is nice.
A couple of weeks more, and we’ll se if they hatch. Then we’ll take a break from that until spring, or close to.
