Quail

[JanetMarie]

Received Jumbo Wild/Brown Coturnix quail eggs yesterday. Will receive another batch of quail eggs later this week which are Gold Manchurian and Italian Speckled mix. Will start incubating them at the same time!

 

[Alaskan]

Received Jumbo Wild/Brown Coturnix quail eggs yesterday. Will receive another batch of quail eggs later this week which are Gold Manchurian and Italian Speckled mix. Will start incubating them at the same time!

Quail are great fun!

I have only had Corturnix.. but those are incredible!

Like ADHD popcorn kernels!

They do need food and water very soon after hatch... not like chickens that can hang out in the incubator for a day.

 

[JanetMarie]

Quail are great fun!

I have only had Corturnix.. but those are incredible!

Like ADHD popcorn kernels!

They do need food and water very soon after hatch... not like chickens that can hang out in the incubator for a day.

They won't stay in the incubator very long after hatch. With chicken chicks I take them out of the incubator even before they're dry. I know it's not recommended, but never had a problem.

I don't use a brooder light, but what I call a chick cave with a heating pad(s). I'll do the same with the quail chicks.

It's been 5 years since I've hatched eggs!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Are you raising them for eggs, meat or both? Quail are so cute, I’ve always been semi interested in trying them but never enough to actually go for it lol.

What kind of housing will they be in? Do they have to be caged? Now I’m looking up quail info

 

[JanetMarie]

Are you raising them for eggs, meat or both? Quail are so cute, I’ve always been semi interested in trying them but never enough to actually go for it lol.

What kind of housing will they be in? Do they have to be caged? Now I’m looking up quail info

Raising for both meat and eggs (that is if I can butcher them). Going to grow food for them, which I can't do for chickens.

We have a chicken shed, that no longer has a group of chickens in it, that we'll be converting for the quail, and put up a large fenced run outside for them. I'll make the run as large as possible, so it can be natural for them.

I believe a lot of people keep quail in more of a cage system, but I dislike keeping anything in a cage or limited space. The run will be somewhat limiting, but has to be as quail cannot be free ranged or they'll be eaten.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Yeah the cage part is why I never considered quail. Good to know it’s not the only way. Definitely curious to hear more about how it goes for you with them!

 

[Alaskan]

I kept quail in a chicken tractor in the summer, and a smaller pen in the chicken coop in winter.

They did great in both, but the tractor was tricky since accidental escapes (when feeding etc.) Were way harder to recapture than with chickens.

Quail shoot straight up maybe 2 feet, then zoom/fly off horizontally pretty far. Again... just much harder to recapture than chickens.

 

[NH Homesteader]

My husband said he heard they can die of fright- any truth to that?

 

[Alaskan]

My husband said he heard they can die of fright- any truth to that?

Definitely never happened to mine.

But...

They can pop up with such force that they break their neck on the top of the cage. So, the top has to be so short that they don't hit it with too much force... or have some give... or be tall enough so there isn't risk of impact.

They are more fragile though in terms of cold and drafts than chickens.

And... the male quail are way more vicious to each other than male chickens.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I've had them literally scalp themselves on the top of a cage - oops. Mine do well with the cold as adults - but I don't have terrible cold here. Males will hurt each other for sure.