Housing questions.

Hi everyone. As some of you know, we are thinking of buying/hatching some quail. We have a "redundent" area at the bottom of the garden, it's not that big, about ten foot by six foot, but we really want to make the most of it. We would like to keep Califonians and Japanese/Italian. Firstly, I know californians are very flighty, so are they not "ground dwellers"? Do they spend their day flying round the run and perching? Also I heared that quail don't put them selves to bed, I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable leaving them out in the cold. They would have a plastic roof on their run, but still....What does everyone else do? Is there a way of training them to go to bed at dark?
Also, I don't want to sound like I only want the quail for eggs, because it sounds like a nice hobby, but with selling fertile eggs, we would need them to lay for more than six months per year. Of course they would have a "winter break" but it would be a bit shorter. Maybe February through to November? But they would need artificial lighting. If we put solar lights in their hutches (sleeping area) would they stay awake all night? Or would they eventually go to sleep? I don't want to wear them out by keeping them awake all night!

Any help would be great!

x.x.x.

Hi,

Califonian quail are mainly ground dwelling birds, and like to roost high up.They don't fly around like, say a budgie would do.

Having lights on in the shed before dusk will encourage them to go inside at night.

Given the right light pattern, at least 14 hours of light per day, quails will lay all the year round.If you want to keep the fertility high (80%+) it's best to only breed from birds that are 26weeks old or less. After 26 weeks, the fertility drops, so your hens will be producing more infertile eggs.

If you plan your year out, you can hatch birds 8 weeks before the first lot are 26 weeks, thus continuing egg laying throughout the year.( this time of year, the lights go on at 6am until 8am, then again at 3.30pm until 10pm)

I'm not to sure on solar lighting, my biggest worry would be on dark winter days. are the batteries going to be charged enough to give the birds 8 hours extra light? My shed are all supplied with electric, and lights are on a timer.

Derek.