Quail!

Corturnix Quail have been aded to the menagerie of animals.

I'd been thinking about getting some quail for a couple of months. Their eggs are supposed to be delicious and they don't have cholesterol.

I found someone that was giving her quail away, she was moving and couldn't keep them. She really didn't know anything about them.  She thought they were all females.  She was also giving them the wrong kind of food. She told me she hasn't gotten an egg since October, this could be why she didn't get any eggs. (Hmm maybe they are boys is what i'm thinking) the coop alone was worth the hour trip there. Did I mention they were free :)  Quail will mot lay eggs if their diet doesn't have enough protein in it. They will also not lay eggs durring winter without artificial light. 14 hours of light is needed to create an egg.

They make this cute noise kind of like a cricket. So they cheerped on and off on the car ride home. Then a much louder call was made, I knew there was a boy in the mix. He's not very loud and will not disturb the neighbors. Just sounds like a wild bird.

I tried to check them out when we got home but it was too dark to get a good look at all of them.  I could tell by the markings that 1 is a male, 1 kept hidding in the corner so I couldn't get a good look. The "Tuxedo" colored one will require further "inspection"  you can flip them over and check it's vent to tell it's gender.

I'm going to give them some time to adjust before I add artificial light to encourage egg laying, so I won't have any eggs for a bit :(