The northern bobwhite is the most widely raised game bird in the Southeast and the backbone of most SEGB member operations. It supplies hunting preserves, dog-training programs, restocking efforts, and a growing meat market.
Bobwhites are relatively hardy but demand clean, dry brooding conditions and a high-protein diet in the first weeks. Cannibalism and disease pressure at density are the two failure modes that separate a good hatch from a lost one.
Housing & space
Bobwhites are raised in three broad systems: floor pens on litter, wire-floor batteries, and flight pens for finishing birds destined for preserves. Most operations brood on litter, then move birds to flight pens at 5–6 weeks so they develop the wing strength and wildness a preserve needs.
- Brooder: start around 0.25 sq ft/bird, expanding as they grow.
- Flight pen: 3–4 sq ft/bird minimum; more is better for flight conditioning.
- Cover in flight pens (pine boughs, sorghum, brush) reduces piling and builds wildness.
- Keep pens dry — wet litter drives coccidiosis and ulcerative enteritis (quail disease).
Brooding
Start chicks at 95–98°F under the brooder and reduce about 5°F per week until they are feathered and ambient temperature is reached. Watch the birds, not just the thermometer: chicks piling under the heat are cold; chicks pressed to the pen edges are too hot.
The first 48 hours are critical. Ensure every chick finds water and feed — dip a few beaks, use shallow waterers with marbles or stones to prevent drowning, and keep feed on paper or in shallow trays at first.
Feed & nutrition
Bobwhites need a high-protein game-bird starter (26–28%) for the first 6 weeks, stepping down to a grower (around 20–24%) and then a finisher/maintenance ration. Do NOT feed standard chicken layer or broiler feed as a substitute — the protein and the medication profile are wrong for quail.
- Provide grit if birds get any whole grain or are on range.
- Clean, cool water at all times; medicated waterer lines should be flushed regularly.
- A coccidiostat in the starter is common practice — follow label and withdrawal times.
Health & biosecurity
The major health challenges in bobwhite are coccidiosis, ulcerative enteritis ("quail disease," Clostridium colinum), respiratory disease, and at density, cannibalism. Biosecurity and dry litter prevent most of it.
- Isolate and observe new or returning birds before mixing with the flock.
- Control cannibalism with adequate space, reduced light intensity, and beak management where practiced.
- Work with a diagnostic lab (see the SEGB adviser directory) at the first sign of unexplained mortality.
- Report suspected notifiable disease per your state — avian influenza monitoring matters to the whole industry.
Breeding & incubation
Bobwhite eggs incubate about 23–24 days. Set at roughly 99.5°F (forced-air) with 45–60% relative humidity, raising humidity for the final three days of hatch. Collect eggs frequently, store pointed-end down at 55–60°F, and set within 7 days for best hatchability.