Quail for eggs?

I have recently learned of domestic quail for egg production, and seeing the interecting colouring of their eggsa nd their small size, i instantly bcame curious, here are some of my questions and i hope that you can answer them.

how many eggs to quails lay a week?:
how many quails could you keep in 314 square feet?:
are quails friendly? can they be tamed?:
how hardy are quails? are they quite fragile?

thank you in advance for answering such hard questions

ok um....


you have alot of various questions, as quails ARE NOT chickens

there are a few different types of quail, i own coturnix so for this post i'm going to base all of it on THAT FACT


coturnix lay 1 egg a day (this can be FORCED by giving 14 hours of light a day(artificial or real))

i'm horrible with math, so i doin't know what 314 square feet is, but FOR COTURNIX its like, 1 sq feet per bird( i don't like this but thats what THEY say, i give double that)

quail are nice enough, they will mainly stay away from you until they figure out that you give treats

quail are mainly south birds(USA that is) they can live up north, but you'd have to ask the nothern people here how they keep them.




hope SOME of this helps, i've been hanging out with the yeast man tonight so yea....

That is a lot of info. I would reccomend looking at the sticky on corturnix and these will all be answered and more. Variables are...Depends on the species and many other factors. Read up on coturnix for egg production and bobwhites on meat production and california valley quail for the best looking quail out there . This will wet your appetite.

I know there's a REALLY!!! good market for pickled quail eggs, at least where I'm from.

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For Most Accurate Answers You Need To Pick A Speces, They Vary Greatly

I think you need to start out with a few coturnix. Great birds for laying.

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These are for Coturnix (Japanese) quail ONLY. Bobwhites are a lot different.

1. about 1 a day, though they may take a day off. So assume 5-7 a week, per bird.
2. You could keep 314 quail in that amount of space comfortably. You would want a one:six ratio of cocksns, so 52 cocks to 262 hens, so assume you'll be getting anywhere from 200-250 eggs a day.
3. They can be, but if you are keeping them in such large numbers, they will only be docile, not tame like a parrot or budgie.
4.Coturnix really aren't that fragile; you should keep the top of the pen high enough so that they don't boink their heads and break their necks, and when they are chicks they are fairly fragile. Other than that, it's like owning a bird-bulldozer.

These are for button quail:

1. About one a day, sometimes one every other day. I experience more like 5 eggs a week from these birds.
2. You can keep two in that area. They are best left in pairs, and colony breeding is NOT reccomended.
3. These are more flighty than coturnix, but some people report very tame buttons. It's all about how much time you spend with them.
4. These are quite fragile birds. Boinking is a very serious issue, predators are, and while they are chicks, they are VERY vulnerable to chilling, overcrowding, and just generally being 'Fragile' in nature.

These are for bobwhite quail:

1. They lay in seasons, as compared to buttons and coturnix, which lay year round. You can coax them to lay more with artificial lighting, but fertility drops. Assume anywhere from 250-300 eggs a year from bobwhites with lighting.
2. You can keep 314 in that area. For best results, a lesser number please!! You should have the cockn ratio closer to 1:3 or 1:4.
3. Not really, again, the numbers factor, and bobwhites are more wild than most quail.
4. Fairly fragile as chicks, vulnerable to predators (although not so much as Coturnix and Buttons) and can boink if the ceiling is too low. They also can be cannibals if they are too crowded! They fight like no other quail mother! Just FYI.

wow, I'm definitely new and everybody has been so helpful! thank you so much! you guys have gotten me all excited. if they CAN be kept in 1 sq feet, then i'll probably give them 3-5 sq feet. thanks everybody!