Suggestions for how to move young quail to the outdoors as weather turns cold

[Boppo]

When I grew out my original flock of quail, it was spring, and the weather was warming. Do I need to worry about acclimating my newer quail as they mature to the outdoors before I move them out permanently? I know how to "harden off" plants, but it seems very disruptive to move quail in and out the way I would plants! Tips appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

[Nabiki]

It depends on what your outside temps are like. At my old place, I never worried about it. The lows at this time of year are in the 40s. At my new place it's getting down into the teens at night.

If your temps are that low, you might consider a heat lamp for a while so they have a warm corner to retreat to while the get used to the cold.

 

[007Sean]

Belive it or not, I worry about putting my late in the season hatchers outdoors this time of the year, even here in South Texas.
They are fully feathered, and even so, I have loss birds by putting them outdoors when the temps were warm and it turned off cold (in the 40's) overnight. I have the room and the facilities to keep them indoors until spring but it's only a small number, no more than 10 birds.

I don't use greenhouse plastic to cover my pens against drafts, would be too expensive and would need to be removed too soon....but you might consider it for you're situation...in combination with what @Nabiki , proposed.

 

[Boppo]

Thank you both. I appreciate the heads up, Sean! and very helpful, as always, Nabiki! I don't know if I can keep them indoors, but we are in a warm spell right now - Indian summer, where low temps are only going down into the 60's! This might be very lucky for my earliest hatch of 2 to get out and start getting acclimated. And I could put some plastic over the front of a lumber shed when it gets chillier.

 

[Nabiki]

Sounds like a good time to kick them out. Put some boxes in their pen with entrances on both sides. They're great hiding places and will also help keep them warm. They don't have to be anything fancy.

As you can see, I just use cardboard boxes. They like the plastic ones when it's warmer because they feel hidden but can still see out.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

My brooders are in a ventilated shed outside, it gets pretty cold in there. Our nights are around 35-50°F at the moment and I use heat plates. This gives the chicks a feel of the cold air nice and early in their lives, after they are 3-4 weeks and full feathered they seem fine without heat.

However (during winter), I will offer a heat plate until 6 weeks just in case, by then I never seem to have any wanting to even go near it. I do believe quail can survive just fine in -20°F so long as they're protected from winds and snow. Give them some hiding spots like cardboard boxes with some woodchip in, that'll keep them nice and warm.

 

[Aquira]

I don't keep quail anymore and I didn't have a ton of experience but I had no losses doing these two methods: either have them in a brooder outside with a brooding plate on at night, or have them in more open cages with a hen or two (I would use the same hens since the babies hatched as I knew they worked well with the babies) and covered them with a tarp. So either they got the warmth from the brooding plate or a hen that let the babies snuggle up to her. Now, I live in California so my temps never got too cold but it seemed to work out decent. I did enjoy having the hens in there once the babies hatched (some hens were more protective/possessive of the babies so sometimes only one hen would work). Hopefully this helps at all.