Releasing Pen Raised Quail

[charles p]

Can they live to reproduce or does something eat them.

[SHOOTALL]

We had several get away from us while training dogs about 25 years ago . It was in an area that had no birds . When finished training there were several birds left so we set out a covey set up for the puppies . Long story short they joined the others . Today there are several coveys there with at least 25 + birds in each . The man that ownes it said he fed them for the winter so he knew they lasted to summer . He feels the birds he sees now came from those that got away . Since there were few birds in the area it would seem he was correct.

[dukkillr]

My experience with tame quail is that they will be dead in a week if they are lucky.  They simply aren't able to avoid predators and aren't smart enough to find food.  My family owned a tame bird shooting place when I was growing up. 

I also turkey hunt on a piece of ground where the tenets raise tame quail and pheasants.  He says when they get put out they naturally wander back to the pen because they hear the whistling and get hungry.  They can be caught with a minnor net then.

[AtlLaw]

My experience with tame quail is that they will be dead in a week if they are lucky.

That has been my experience also.  I tried it with a few hundred birds some 35 years ago.  

[SHOOTALL]

To be honest i was suprised the ones that got away lived but i worked with the guy who raised them . He had a huge flight pen - old holly farms chicken house . He often released them and had call back pens . Maybe that helped . They flew like wild birds .

[GeneRector]

  Howdy! There is a device called a quail/pheasant restorator that grows quail or pheasant to a certain age and then you release them. It is a contained unit with feed and water provided and is varmint/snake proof according to the website. There has to be suitable habitat and readily available food sources for there to be even a small chance for quail survival. If you have the habitat, etc., you might want to see if your wildlife biologist for your area would have some real wild quail released in your area.  Best of Luck! Always, Gene