Quail is an easy bird to breed. Egg production, the small size of the bird, and an edible carcass are attractive points for farmers and homestead owners. If space is limited, you can start a business in a small area thanks to cell breeding. In places with contrasting climates, the question arises: what temperature is needed to keep quails?
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Temperature conditions for quails from the first days
After the chicks hatch and dry in an incubator or under a hen, they are taken to a warm room. A plywood or cardboard box can be made into a temporary home for them.After the brooding temperature, which was approximately 40 °C, for day-old quails it will be a comfortable 35-36 degrees near the heater. In the room itself, it is enough to maintain 27-28 °C.
If the heating device is not located outside the box with the chicks, but in the fence itself, along which they move freely, then it is placed at a height unattainable for the chicks of the age when they leave this shelter. There is no need to gradually move it higher, it will be safer.
From the second week, babies’ temperature begins to decrease by approximately 0.5 degrees every day. At the same time, the minimum in the corner farthest from the heater remains within 25-26 °C. After another week, the quails are given almost room temperature: no higher than 27 °C under the radiator and 24 °C throughout the room. At the end of the third or early fourth weeks of the brood's life, the heater is removed. Further, 20-22 degrees are stably maintained.
On the scale of a farm where thousands of quails are kept, from the first day the chicks are placed in cages lined up in several tiers with a mesh floor. The desired temperature is created either by an electric heater or an infrared lamp.
With a high-calorie feed composition, quails can overwinter in an unheated room. But females lay eggs at temperatures approaching 20 °C. It is not recommended to lower the temperature below 15 °C in the place where laying hens live.
What to do if quails are hot
To successfully keep an adult bird, a set of conditions must be created.
| Characteristics of the indoor microclimate | Quantitative expression |
| Temperature | 18 °C |
| Humidity | 60-80 % |
| Air circulation speed | 0.4-0.8 m/s |
Laying hens react especially poorly to heat. Shading the room with trees or vines has a beneficial effect on the internal temperature and humidity. It is recommended to install a hood to provide fresh air. In summer, a fan blows air from the shady side, expelling the warmest layers of the gaseous medium through the hole at the top. The humidity in the room increases:
- frequent wet cleaning;
- factory-made air humidifier;
- hanging wet rags.
