Food Plots quail plot

[buckaroo]

Hoping to raise feed for my quail I have in coop, also I know its not a great idea but would like to release a few to see if they hang around, anyone plant plots for them ? Im planning on sorghum, millet, buckwheat, sunflowers

 

[DoubleRidge]

Hoping to raise feed for my quail I have in coop, also I know its not a great idea but would like to release a few to see if they hang around, anyone plant plots for them ? Im planning on sorghum, millet, buckwheat, sunflowers

Never tried to raise any quail but I'd sure love to see them make a comeback.....I do like your food plot blend....I'm considering the same or something similar for a variety of wildlife and for soil building....we experimented with buckwheat last year and was impressed with how well it did...we allowed it to go to seed and the turkey and dove loved it...but I like the idea of adding sunflower, millet and sorghum to the buckwheat for better diversity and to generate more organic material.

 

[Popcorn]

Long lesson here. Establishing wild quail via pen raised has never been successful.
At the same time some things to know;
Pen raised quail never learn to drink the dew or find water. Keep a shelter on the ground in an old pen or brooder with an auto watered. Pen the release birds there for a few weeks with food and water. Then open the door but you must keep a rooster (call back bird) penned there so they find their way back to water. Most released birds dehydrate, become slow and listless and die or get eaten.
For food plots you need to think on an annual scale! Short native grasses, small grains, weeds, natural edge like honeysuckle, briars and ragweed. Small patches of planted small grains with different maturities among the natives.
Avoid long straight edge mowings as this creates a runway ripe for birds of prey. If you have the ability a small wildlife watering hole nearby, deep enough to keep water they the hot months. This is your best shot.
I wish you the best of luck and continue to hope for the impossible but be prepared to continue to release because they do dwindle away.

 

[buckaroo]

Yes That is what I've been reading, I do have a pond where I plan on planting, but also have a few hawks and coyotes around

 

[wildlifefarmer]

Yes That is what I've been reading, I do have a pond where I plan on planting, but also have a few hawks and coyotes around

Trap Trap Trap and then Trap some more. You can't do anything about the birds of prey but all the other predators you can thin. We've trapped hard for the last five years harvesting 25 to30 predators (cats yotes coons etc) per year. Still we only have 2 small coveys but the population is growing. Good luck with the quail and all the little critters.

 

[MickThompson]

As @Popcorn said, released birds are good at dying and not much else.

 

[Thelonegoose]

We have a few coveys that hang around. I used to plant dove fields every year with millet, sorghum, and buckwheat, and I have never once seen a quail in there. I always see them in the native grasses and in the stuff that no one wants to really walk through. If you are doing it to get some seed for quail in a coop, then that might work out fairly well.

 

[cm1021]

So with pen birds being great at dying, is there an alternative to them that would be able to self sustain? If a property doesn't have a current covey are you just hoping one decides to show up? I really need to do some habitat improvement on a few farms I have to encourage them to stay

 

[Popcorn]

Legally all you can do is create the ideal habitat and then hopefully wild birds will find your contribution and move in.

 

[MickThompson]

So with pen birds being great at dying, is there an alternative to them that would be able to self sustain? If a property doesn't have a current covey are you just hoping one decides to show up? I really need to do some habitat improvement on a few farms I have to encourage them to stay

If you don't do the habitat work first, why would planted or wild birds stay? Gotta build it if you ever hope for them to come.

 

[buckaroo]

Thats what I've been working on, thickets, plum trees, millet, sorghum, etc.

 

[cm1021]

If you don't do the habitat work first, why would planted or wild birds stay? Gotta build it if you ever hope for them to come.

I have some habitat. Have two covey on the farm currently. Im just talking about other farms that might not have as good of habitat, and I think there is always something that can be done to improve the current habitat.

My question wasn't meant like I don't have good habitat currently for them, I was asking what could a person do to get birds on a farm.

 

[Popcorn]

Rarely ever see a wild quail at a bait pile.
Thousands of acres of small grain and the only place you might find a quail is the habitat along the edge.
Trapping ground predators is critical.
Cover (bi-color lespedeza, briar thickets, honey suckle) from birds of prey since it's illegal to trap or shoot them (even though there numbers are more great than ever before).
Native wild grasses, grains and Forbes.

Habitat, habitat, habitat

 

[TheLBLman]

Rarely ever see a wild quail at a bait pile.
Thousands of acres of small grain and the only place you might find a quail is the habitat along the edge.
Trapping ground predators is critical.
Cover (bi-color lespedeza, briar thickets, honey suckle) from birds of prey since it's illegal to trap or shoot them (even though there numbers are more great than ever before).
Native wild grasses, grains and Forbes.

Habitat, habitat, habitat

Totally agree.
I even used to read Forbes,
but the quail prefer the forbs

 

[megalomaniac]

Trap Trap Trap and then Trap some more. You can't do anything about the birds of prey but all the other predators you can thin. We've trapped hard for the last five years harvesting 25 to30 predators (cats yotes coons etc) per year. Still we only have 2 small coveys but the population is growing. Good luck with the quail and all the little critters.

This. Year round assault on predators, esp before nesting time.

Habitat where quail can avoid raptors while you are killing all the coons, foxes, and yoties.