How to Raise Bobwhite Quail in Ohio

The incubation period for bobwhites is 21 to 23 days.

Bobwhite quails are seed-eating, reddish-brown birds that proliferate fields and forests throughout the Midwest states, including Ohio. A wildly popular game bird and a high-end alternative to chicken, breeding northern bobwhites for release and consumption can be a lucrative business endeavor.

Things You'll Need

• Ohio propagation license
• Enclosed pen
• Commercial feed
• Water dispensing system
• Quail eggs/breeding pair of quails
• Incubator
• State supplied tags
• State supplied "special" pliers

Instructions

Procuring a Propagation License from the Ohio Division of Wildlife

1. Apply in writing for a propagation license from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. If the Wildlife Division approves your license, you'll be asked to pay a fee for the specific class of license you require.

2. Choose a license class. Ohio offers three classes of propagation licenses for bobwhite quails. A "commercial propagating license" costs $40 a year and permits you to raise quails in an enclosed preserve at the location you provided on your application. You may sell and harvest the birds and sell the carcasses of your quail. A "noncommercial propagating license" costs $25 a year and permits you to raise quail in captivity for your own use. A "raise to release license" is free, though it's usually reserved for organized hunting clubs. Quail raised under this license may only be released into the wild.

3. Buy state-mandated bands/tags for each of your birds. A box of 100 is $10. You will also have to buy a special pair of pliers for $25.

4. Renew your license annually with the Division of Wildlife. All licenses expire March 15.

Raising Bobwhite Quail

1. Create a place to raise your quails. If you are starting with eggs, you will need a "chicken style" incubator. The two basic facilities for bobwhites are flight pens and quail barns. From birth to 2 weeks, long feed troughs and dishes of water will do fine. After they are 2 weeks old, try to switch them to circular feeders to save space. After 6 weeks, each of your quails will need around 2 square feet of space of its own. Anticipate the size of your "covey" and plan accordingly.

2. Place "pecking" items throughout your quail enclosure to keep your birds from attacking each other. Unoccupied quails will vent their frustrations on one another. Give your quails adequate opportunities to peck at something: Disperse whole vegetables like heads of greens throughout their pen and spread oats and hay across the ground.

3. Buy either quail eggs or a pair of breeding quails. Choose your breeders wisely. When managed properly, a healthy female can lay 100 eggs a year. Separate your breeders from the rest of the covey but do not isolate them from the other birds. You can put in smaller communal cages designed for about 20 birds or cage them as pairs periodically. Healthy birds reach maturity at 16 weeks and should begin laying eggs around 21 weeks.

4. Feed your quails only food blended specifically for bobwhite quail. Higher-end commercial feeds are properly formulated to meet the bobwhite quail's unique nutritional requirements. Bobwhites are finicky eaters. All feed should be uniform in size. If it isn't roughly "bite-size," bobwhites will cherry-pick grains for their size resulting in inadequate nutrition.

5. Clean your quail pen daily. Get rid of any litter, decaying food and feces and immediately tend to any moisture/wet spots in their cages. An unkempt quail pen can quickly turn into a petri dish of bacteria, parasites and disease. Quail are famously susceptible to disease, the two most prevalent being ulcerative colitis and coccidiosis. A veterinarian can treat sick or injured quails with zinc bacitracin, bacitracin methylene disalicylate and penicillin.

Tips & Warnings

• The Ohio chapter of the North American Gamebird Association is a great source for bird dealer and feed recommendations.

References

• Revised Ohio Code: Chapter 1533 section 71---License to raise or keep game birds and animals
• Division of Wildlife Ohio Department of Natural Resources: LAWS: WILD ANIMAL PROPAGATION AND RELATED ACTIVITIES
• North Carolina College of Agriculture: Feeding Bobwhite Quail
• The Beginners Guide to Raising Quail: Bobwhite Quail
• Mississippi State: Raising Bobwhite Quail

Resources

• North American Gamebird Association: Ohio