My Personal Experience With Mearns Quail
welcome 2021! I’ll be sharing quite a bit this year. A little different than past years but i love to share Information and Experiences that i’ve had in hopes that others will find it useful to some degree.
Keep in mind, this is my personal experience and what I’ve written are not rules
Lately, I’ve seen some information on the interwebs and have been asked a few questions about these iconic birds. This inspired me to share my experience when I started with mearns. Although I’ve been around them for quite some time, this would be about my first REAL “hands on” experience from beginning to end. It’s a quick, educational read and could be beneficial to mearns newbies. After all, I was there once! Hopefully it’s helpful to anyone looking to start the hobby. Just know that it’s not cheap, easy or lucrative but extremely rewarding. I wish I had someone offer any information from the beginning- before I had them. It may have saved me a lot of heartache and even more money! I’m not an expert and neither am I perfect. Trial and error is easier said than done!
Getting started - Mearns have peaked my interest! Now what?
When I found the mearns quail, I was thoroughly intrigued! The male’s feather pattern was interestingly eye-catchy and the comb-over orange puff on their heads are just Endearing. Their calls are soothing, their personalities will draw you in and fascinate you. I could literally watch them all day! Little did I know what I would be in for. Not only were they on the expensive side but they are also worth every penny! The kicker? How much of an investment is required for the hobby? Be it time or finances? The short answer is whatever will keep them healthy and happy if there’s even a price tag for that or any amount of reasonable time. In hindsight, time has never been a thought when I’m with my Mearns and I really don’t track supplies for their upkeep but that’s my personal choice. It may not be anyone else’s but I was determined to be in for the long haul no matter what. These little guys are not for the faint of heart or beginner. I would even say some intermediate hobbyist should tread with caution. They fall somewhere between psychotic valleys and coturnix (which have no life preservation skills).
Mearns quail are not easy keepers if you don’t invest the time to understand what’s needed to achieve longevity with this breed. You should research what they eat, their behavior patterns and habitats before even thinking you want them, let alone understanding the cost. Looks can be deceiving because they’re beautiful BUT just like any animal, their upkeep requires work, time, money, effort and attention to detail. In the horse world, we always say the horse is the most inexpensive piece (from my personal experience, they cost more than your first born). everything that comes after that (shoes, tack, feed) will have you sticker shocked and not in a good way. It’s pretty similar for mearns in my experience but not because I’m a penny pincher or practical but I want healthy, thriving birds. I’d be happy if I didn’t have to do a necropsy for the rest of my life. For example: Jumping from Coturnix to Mearns is like going from zero to sixty without a car so I highly advise against it. If there’s any free advice I could give or wish I had gotten before I started, it would be to do your research and lean on the experienced breeders for advice BEFORE YOU START. Thankfully I found a few! Scott O’Brien at *Maine-ly Quail is a super nice guy, Extremely informative and Honest. Mike Cochlin at *USA Quail in Florida is also another honest breeder and has quite a bit of patience. There are some other notable breeders I have not had the pleasure of learning from such as Jack Lutes who did win the Master breeder award for Quail in 2001. The good ones will always have the time to help, not dodge questions, give convoluted answers and will tell you WHY their answer is what it is. As for the others... engage at your own risk!
Eggs, Incubation & Hatching - HELP!
I’m sure a lot of people know, there isn’t a ton of information on this particular breed outside of hunting season, parts to leave behind and bag limits. I thought this was really just due to lack of interest but truth be told, so many people are interested! Know that they are the top “prized” Game bird when it comes to quail hunting in Arizona. They’re hard to find because they don’t immediately flush. Anyway, that was just some random info. Eggs are white and much smaller than that of a coturnix. They are similar to bobwhite eggs in shape and weigh roughly the same. Their incubation period from beginning to end is 25 - 26 days. Incubation parameters are going to vary for everyone depending on your geography. Down in the south, we get humidity almost all year. When incubating them, they require very low humidity as they are desert birds. A good rule of thumb is to monitor the air sacks in a consistent fashion. We incubate at About 30-35% with success. When it comes time to lock them down, keep in mind what your RH is in the room where you are incubating. I only raised the humidity by 10% and have been able to hatch successfully. Keeping them alive after is a completely different story.
Do’s and don’ts- Don’t buy eggs with high expectations. No-hatches do happen often and this is due to Egg sensitivity to transport Which instantaneously diminishes Viability. Do buy a pair to start and save yourself from the disappointment, astronomical prices and limited availability. If I had to do it again, I would have bought pairs before eggs.
Rearing, feeding & housing basics
Post-hatch, these little babies are extremely adorable when they fluff up. Their eyes are bright and large! They don’t really need to be taught to eat but I have hatched them with cots in the past. This was especially helpful if you only get ONE! I wasn’t expecting to get any out of three but it did happen and at the most inopportune time... during an eight hour power outage in the middle of a tropical storm on day 26! When *Mearnsi hatched, he was the lone survivor so we improvised with four cots from a hatch a few hours earlier. It was helpful for him to have friends but he did call and cry every night for a few days. I didn’t realize that initially pulling him out of the incubator and handling him caused some sort of imprinting. He seemed to stop his descending cry when I picked him up and cupped him in my hands or put him in a small blanket on my lap, so I just kept doing it against my better judgement. The cots did provide their precocial training for my lone hatcher which tendered some relief for me knowing that he wasn’t alone. It didn’t take long for him to learn what his food was and where it was located. Their food should be high in protein (I use 30%) and will also need to be ground down to an appropriate size. We did this for about 2 weeks and of course kept him inside. Mearns chicks will need heat for about 5 weeks. I used a red light bulb to prevent any toe picking or cannibalism and adjusted temperatures accordingly. I was ever so watchful because I only had one! They will unfortunately eat bedding because they don’t know any better but you’ll want to avoid this. Too much of it and they could die. I used chopped Timothy/orchard or alfalfa hay mixed with fluffy pine shavings after 2 weeks of chicks being on pads and rubber matting. They’re fine pecking at straight grass. The enclosure was stripped and cleaned daily to prevent poop toes and disease.
Your brooder enclosure roof should allow for some “give” with low resistance and plenty of ventilation. You’ll want to leave some head room space or extra padding for flushing because (like it or not) it will happen. We used flexible mesh and it worked great. It provided some shock absorption for their flushing potential. If you have a hard surface, they could potentially break their necks if they flush into it. Mearns also require more space than most would assume. As Adults, We are currently at 15sq ft per pair and although they love it, I still think it’s snug but they’re pretty happy. Solid flooring is best as they love to forage and scratch the ground. Not only is this a natural behavior but I’ve had them searching for worms and seeds before. It keeps them busy. I have not kept them on wire and would likely not consider it. Have you seen their feet?! If not, definitely look it up! I usually provide a healthy rotation of whole golden millet sprays, mealworms, a high quality seed mix, micro greens, prickly pear, dragon fruit and apples every day. They seem to inhale all of it fairly quickly. When I miss a day, they remind me by turning over the ceramic treat bowl 😳....this is of course, just my observation on days that I am not on time or completely forget.
When feathering out, weather can be a huge factor. In warmer climates, they tend to take just a tad bit longer to gain all of their adult feathers. In cooler climates, I have noticed that they get their adult coloring much quicker. You’ll also notice a transition in their calls. they will go through a few phases of molting before completely coloring. Molting also occurs after breeding season is over.
Breeding - Do not consider this lightly!
I have to say this is a sore subject for me. Initially, I didn’t care much if they breed, lay eggs, etc. but because I would love to have descendants from my faves one day. my fingers and toes are crossed that they do well in the coming seasons. Watching the disappointment of some people I know; season after season, not have a single egg and then a really good season, then back to nothing at all is almost depressing. What gives right? Well, that’s the thing that I learned about mearns...they are UNPREDICTABLE. You just never know if they will live, breed, fight or just drop dead. So when you’re looking for pairs to breed, I stress the research and talk your breeding source. These quail don’t do well in colonies due to the territorial nature in both sexes and inbreeding is hugely unacceptable for many reasons. In an attempt to keep the bloodlines as pure as possible, don’t breed siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Mearns pairs that are sold should be unrelated and typically are if you find a tenured breeder with spotless husbandry records. This may not mean anything to anyone but this was really important for me simply because if inbreeding continues, we may never see these birds again and I’d like to see them around for as long as I’m alive. They don’t really serve a purpose at our homestead but they are the most interesting ornamental birds which have fit in quite nicely!
Mearns are always in high demand but that doesn’t mean they are for everyone. They do not breed like any other quail, do not produce in abundance, are typically sold in pairs or just single males would be available. I have not seen any breeder sell just hens due to the M:F hatch ratio as the breed is extremely male biased. The males however, are amazing indoor pets! The mearns clutch numbers are usually small and their laying season is fairly short in the wild. Most breeders do not sell eggs and only one that I would buy from will tell you the risk upfront. You may not hatch a single egg! Sometimes the males just don’t do their job and there’s nothing that anyone can do about it. There’s also no way of telling if the egg you just loaded is viable. So before thinking that (because of their hefty price tag Starting at $400/pair) they are lucrative birds, you may want to take into account the incubation, hatching, lighting, feed, bedding, housing, rearing, time etc before you see a dime in profit. Although they are worth their weight in gold, they will not be as productive as other quails and will not load you with cash overnight. Maybe there are some that pay no attention to the importance or appropriate propagation, pairing or the negative impact of turn and burn without considering relationships. We have slowly paired ours as juveniles and it has worked with the right timing and transitioning method of very slow introductions.
Let’s Wrap it up!
This is not a set of rules and I do not claim to be an ornithologist. this is a depiction of my experience with this wonderful breed of beautiful birds. When people say they are easy to raise, keep in mind that what’s easy for them may not be easy for you. I think they’re easy to raise also and extremely rewarding when you figure out what works and what doesn’t but I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. You may agree with the above, you may not. the idea behind this is information sharing. I hope that anyone who does read and comprehends what I have written will find the information helpful.
*Links to Mentions
