Quail are tiny and lay tiny eggs, I keep mine in a pen inside a large shed 20ft x 12ft alongside some bantam Silkies they eat virtually nothing, but do need to be kept clean, they just drop the eggs wherever so large hens would break the eggs,
Bantams are just wee versions of large fowl.
Tony

I keep Guinea Fowl, when I get an egg eater I leave a couple of Guinea eggs in the nest box, they are as hard as stones the hens can't break them and get bored. Plastic eggs can be bought quiet cheaply I guess they would work the same.

Tony

sounds all normal to me, you may need to supervise bed time for a few days, just to make sure all are safe it is horrible when they freak, they can do a lot of damage I lost a guinea fowl that flew into the top netting at great speed, it was never right afterwards and died a few days later, slow dec...

Hi Sharon, Like I said Aruacana's are difficult, it can be 30-35 weeks to be sure it's a pullet but that's more of an extreme, I will try to list the points to look for its taken me 3 yrs to spot them all and I still get it wrong My pal has been breeding for 50 yrs and he still gets it wrong. first ...

Wow Clair, Thanks for the heads up and all the best with the chemo, my late wife had melamoma and went through some heavy chemo... Good luck with you new arrivals, I always understood it took a while for ducks to pair up, am I wrong??? I was aware that successful mating is always better with water, ...

I too hope for your sake he is a she, Aruacana cockerels are very very erm vigorous, I keep 4 hens to 1 Cockerell and still have to separate them mid season as the hens end up with no feathers on their backs and necks, I have 3 breeding Aruacana Cockerels at the moment and they really are noisy out ...

wowee, how times change, I have been away from the lane for a few months some of my views took a battering, I have come back to threads like this that would have brought down the wrath of hell a few months ago, I will admit a lot has to do with the way its said, but its great to see the good life ha...

I too would like some Saxony eggs, I have a lovely Saxony Drake but only Cambell ducks he likes them but I would really like to breed some more, too many drakes is not a problem they are huge and make good eating.

Tony

Now I am confused, I have been hatching hens eggs for several years now and my pal has been hatching for around 50 odd years last year I successfully hatched 35 out of 40 call duck eggs all stored until 20 eggs were collected and only 1 duck laying 1 egg most days, so 20+ days, the eggs were kept in...

If you are in any doubt what to do check out Predators,the Pests & Problems with Pets section, try not to be too frightened by it all but I think you will decide a secure run is essential.

Tony

oops I breed Aruacana's they are very difficult to s.ex, they usually take around 28 weeks b4 they lay, even then I have had cockerels show so !!!!!!!!!!!
Tony

pea or bean net is very cheap I use that to cover my duck pen, I had a problem with crows taken the eggs, it didn't stop the crow getting in but it couldn't get back out, an air rifle pellet to the head and no more problems.

Tony

My hens/ ducks were killed by stoats 1 male 1 female, both trapped and killed and the killing stopped over 20 ducks and hens in total, all were bitten around the neck mostly the head was taken, all the information I could get refereed to the head being taken as typical of stoats and weasels, Pine Ma...

I have to say electric fencing is very high on my list, my doubts are down to the fact that I have been told the fence has to be kept clear of all vegetation otherwise it shorts to earth, I have long grass and bushes to cope with keeping them off would be difficult if not impossible.

Tony

Just one thing to remember when using electric fencing, maintenance is high and ongoing, no vegetation must touch the fence, anything including grass will cause a short to earth rendering the fence inoperative, that aside its excellent...


Tony