Winter care for your backyard quail flock is simple. The birds need fresh water, good food, and protection from the elements. Raising quail is easy when you do the preparation work.
Fresh, unfrozen water is key to any livestock or animal under your care. For quail it is important they have access to water at a minimum of twice a day, but obviously more often or all day access is better.
Depending on your latitude, frozen water will be the main winter concern. While I have yet to find a system I am truly happy with using for a small flock of quail, here is what I have or am using. When I am keeping quail in smaller breeder cages with a water bottle or tray I have succumbed to changing it out twice a day. Here in the US Midwest the weather is variable so I can get away with this plan, but further north water can freeze in minutes.
I have also used a heated chicken watered in a colony cage. It held almost three gallons and at the time I have about 18 quail so it works well. While there are other options (fish tank heater, bird bath heater, stock tank heater, heated dog water bowl) they all require you to have electricity available at the cages.
I have not tried it myself, but I understand moving water does not freeze. There is also a gravity feed system from a pond which is something I don’t have access to in my backyard. I have also seen a system with a barrel buried in the ground to get the water below the freeze line and pumped up to the cage, then gravity drained back to the barrel. Not sure this would completely work in the colder climates, but I found it interesting.
Game bird feed is high in protein by definition. In the winter it is important the birds have high quality feed available at all times in order to generate body heat. Again winter weather is the concern here. On my breeder cage, the feeder is a tray mounted outside. So I have to work to clear snow from the feeder and replace any feed that has become wet from rain or melting snow. Soggy, wet food can freeze and become unavailable or worse moldy. On my colony cage the tray feeder is inside under cover and protected from the elements. In addition to quality feed a little extra fat in the birds diet during the colder months can help them build internal fat to stay warm as needed. A good source is meal worms, which can be purchased or grown. This is something you don’t want to over do creating obese unhealthy quail. Plus you want to back off towards the end of the cold season allowing the birds to return to normal weight.
Protection from the elements is both obvious and not. While your quail need protection from cold wind, rain, and snow. They also need fresh air and ventilation. It’s a balance. When I kept the quail in the breeder cage for winter, even though it had a roof I covered it with a tarp to block the wind and blowing rain/snow. There was still fresh air from underneath through the cage floor. It was more work because I had to watch the weather and remove it on warmer days. When using the colony cage, one end is already completely enclosed so all I do is cover the additional sides. I staple feed bags on all except the door allowing fresh air to enter and flow out the cage floor.
The colder months can be hard on your flock, but with a little work and planning it is survivable. I have yet to loose any quail to cold temperatures. One final thought, young and older quail would be the most vulnerable to bad weather. So I make it a point to only winter quail that are at least two months old and less than two years old. The two year olds are spring breeder that will be retired before the next summer. See my article on “When do quails stop laying eggs?” to see why.
I love your idea of stapling feed bags to the cage to keep out the elements.
Perry,
Would really like to try free ranging the colony.
It worked great with my ducks, can it be done with Bob Whites?
Kind regards,
Chuck
You are welcome to try, but experience has shown that quail do not free range. I would recommend a flight cage.
We have a bobwhite quail that has made its home here, we are out in a rule area of Essex county. This quail seems as if he’s been raised without fear of people. He follows us around and calls us outside every morning. I’m not sure what we are supposed to do with him as I read that they are endangered. This was the only place I could find where I could ask what we should do, he seems healthy enough as well. Do we just leave him alone? there are no other quails around here. It would be much appreciated if someone could email me with some useful information. Thank you.
Bobwhite are not endangered to my knowledge. Here in Missouri where I live they are a native species with sufficient enough population to have a hunting season.
My recommendation would be to leave it alone and just enjoy having it around. Wild animals are best left alone.
If you have more questions or want information more specific to you area, I would recommend contacting your local wildlife conservation office.
I’d love to get some quails, we would build them a little shed to keep our dogs and any predators out and have multiple cages inside, I’m just wondering about the Winter, I assume in the Summer I could get a small fan and put it at the door to the shed to keep it cool, in the Winter would you recommend a heat lamp? Is there anything I can use to keep them warm since the shed probably wont be insulated?
I don’t recommend any heating. Really the only problems the birds would have is drafts and moisture. Keep them dry and draft free and they will be fine.
I’m in Saskatchewan where temps can dip below -40°. Should I use a heat lamp past a certain temperature for Bob Whites?
While I don’t raise Bob Whites and it doesn’t get that cold here, the two issues with raising any birds through winter are drafts and getting wet. If you can keep them dry and draft free they typically can handle the cold weather.
That being said, I might recommend you check with other locals who raise birds of any kind (chicken, turkey, etc) and see if they do anything additional for those temps.