New to raising quail - help with some tips?

So i want to start raising quail but not sure how to go about it. have had chickens for some time now and am wondering what the differneces are.

ive been told that quail dont free-range and that they must be kept in their cages. so, what do the cages look like? how many can stick in there and do they congregate together or need their own little "cubbies"? ive heard both ways and i dont know which is correct.

do they perch like chickens?

will they incubate their own eggs or do i HAVE to do this?

how is their egg production in general?

anything else i should know before getting my heart too set on these little guys?

thanks all,

chase

The best thing you can do is go to Monarc23's thread. She has compiled a ton of info on coturnix quail (one of the more common breeds)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1158957#p1158957

If after reading her thread you still have questions...feel free to ask


edited to add....

The cage is completely up to you. I will get some pics of my cages once the man who is building them gets done. He makes custom cages and I have him making me quail laying cages. But to my sizes. I'm using coated wire for the bottom of the pen...that is 1/2" x 1" in size. And reg. galvanized wire that is 1/2"x1" for the sides. The cages are going to have sloped floors soo eggs roll to the front.

The do not perch like chickens.

You will most likely have to incubate your eggs....you might get 1-2 hens out of 100 that will sit on eggs.

Egg production also depends on breed.....Bobwhite lay in spring....Button quail year round.....Coturnix year round.

You should read...read....read....before getting into any bird. Especially gamebirds. Quail are fairly easy once you get started and are a joy to have. There are many breeds/varietys of quail soo pick which works for you. Bobwhites and all other "Wild" types of quail are usually pretty flighty.......and can be just plain nasty if you try to breed in a Colony type setting(multiple females to multiple males} so that would mean keeping in pairs or trios, which would then mean more pens.

Good Luck

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What species are you interested in? There are many species spread over two families - http://www.gbwf.org/quail/index.html

Most common of the old world species would be Button and Coturnix; the new world species would be Bobwhite, Valley, Gambel, & Scaled.

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Some ideas can be found http://www.gbwf.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=13 and crusing through the species links on the above link. I prefer and recommend aviaries for quail. They will covey mostly in the winter to keep warm.

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The new world species (Odontophoridae) will sometimes, but mostly spend the night on the ground (I once had Gambel that would perch in trees each night). They will use the branches for calling, protection, and enrichment.

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Seems to be a hot arguement topic on this forum. I have had them do so and know many other aviculturists that have as well.

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As above. An aviculturist who keeps birds in a natural aviary and attempt natural incubation will only allow the birds to lay their normal, wild sized clutch. Those after production can force the birds to lay constantly. Natural clutch sizes are found gbwf.org, I think you can see which I prefer.

Dan

I agree with all of the above. I have jumbo coturnix and absolutely love them. Their meat is excellent, they are easy to process, and they lay a TON of eggs. You can keep quite a few in a small space, and they mature at around 6 weeks of age (don't waste your time processing before 10 weeks though). Cages are simple to build out of 1x2's and 1/2" hardware cloth - just made another one today. And their poop is excellent fertilizer for the garden!! I love my chickens but the quail are much more multi-purpose that you can't go wrong.

SamG347 says:

Hello, I have 5 adults and 10 chicks and I keep the 7 older babies in a rabbit cage and the 3 younger ones in a round rubber tub my adults are in a homemade rabbit cage that's about 2ft by 4ft and they do just fine. It is very rare for a domestic quail to set on her eggs so you do have to incubate them.

Hope this helps!!!

QuailR4me

Glad to hear your getting into quail! Check out my quail page as it has many articles on it that may be helpful to you http://www.cspotsfarm.com/quail.html