How to keep Japanese Quail?

Hi, I'm still pretty new to quail but I can answer some of your questions.

 

Most people do raise them on wire. It is safe as long as it is small enough. They have little feet that could slip through the wire. I think 1/4 to 1/2 inch hardware cloth is the best choice, and it's a nice idea to put in a board or something to allow them to get off the wire if they want to. Some people also use pine shavings. I have mine in an open bottom run. It used to be grass, but they demolished that pretty quickly, so I'm thinking of putting in sand.

 

They will probably eat any real plants. Fake plants might be nice for them to hide behind. So far as needing sand, I'm not sure if they actually need it but they really enjoy taking dust baths in it. I have those big rubber livestock bowls full of sand for them right now, and they spend a lot of time in there. But they will get it all over the place, so be prepared. Nest boxes aren't necessary, really. I have a little sheltered box for mine, and they hide in it sometimes, but my females just lay whenever and wherever they want.

 

In a 3 foot by 2 foot area, you could keep six quail comfortably. I have heard that they will do okay with as little as 6 square inches per bird, but one bird per square foot is a lot better for the bird IMHO. So if you have three shelves, you could keep up to 18 coturnix. Turkey starter should be fine, you want the highest percentage of protein you can get. At least 20 percent, bare minimum. I also give mine cooked eggs, spinach leaves, and yogurt, but those are treats. I use hamster water bottles for mine, and they do great with them. If you have a regular waterer, it helps to elevate it off the ground because they will get the water filthy in no time flat. They do fine in cold climates as long as they're kept dry and out of drafts. 

 

Here is a great thread that will probably do a better job of answering your questions than I can.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/102281/coturnix-quail-basics-information-and-pictures-galore

 

I hope this helps!

Hi! I cannot answer all of your questions but I will try and answer a few, but I see you already have good advice from Caribear.

Japanese quails thrives in a cold climate but I dont know where the limit is. There is cold and there is COLD ikwm? Lots of people keep quails outdoors in the winter here in Norway and we have cold winters but not as cold as Canada or Alaska winters. I have places for them to go indoors from their aviary but seems they prefers to roam outside insteas.

I have plants and grass in my aviaries, looks pretty I have very few birds in the aviaries and hope the grass will stay. they love to hide under bushes or roots so I have buildt small cavelike structures from firewood and roots. They spend all night under there.

They dont lay in a partical spot and brooding instinct is not good at all. So I havent bothered with any nesting boxes.

We use wire around the aviaries but we have grass over it in the bottom so they dont step on it. Beware the combination of wire and frost.

We cannot get gamefeed here at all, mot even high protein turkey food. It is probably far from the best and it might produce high weight slower but it is common here to just give chicken food I gave them protein powder and eggyolks mixed within the fodder the first two weeks but after that they have grown up on only 15% protein because the only protein powder I have found is made for human consumption and priced thereafter. I recently ordered 1lbs of mealworms though and was hoping I could make them multiply so I could raise their diet a bit and on the same time make them be even more tame. My quilbook states quails will sell their soul for a mealworm

They are addicted to sandbaths so if you dont have sand they will try snd bath in something else. Sand is best and will make them happy

I am experimenting with a hamster bottle now and I will not buy more of it. It took them 30 sec to figure out what that new odd thing was but after several days they still spend so much time drinking compared to the other cages that I think they dont get enough out of it. Will replace this today with a standing drinker for chickens. Like the green and white ones. I have slso tried with just bowls, that I had to change many times a day. The best waterers I have found for my quails is little pots that I hang up on the wall, then they wont dirty up the water with soil and poop and it is easy to clean and change water.
Edited by Livi - 8/17/12 at 11:36pm

I have recently started raising quail, and a breeder I got my chicks from said he used protein powder from the local grocery store and feed it to his flock to make them fill out more. I question this but I also find they sell it for poultry online, only difference I can tell is that the grocery store one is made for humans and online fire the poultry, btw, grocery store is cheaper what are tall thoughts on this. I have yet to for Ann option on it, but his birds were weighting out at 2lbs

yes you should use wire...1/2 inch hardware cloth though b/c anything else is too big and predators will get to the birds. 1/4 inch hardware cloth is too small  and real annoying to clean.

 2) i wouldnt use plants at all.. and if you do make sure they re bird safe. You could plant some wheat grass in a pot but i suspect they will dirt bathe in anything you put in there. They dont need plants in any case so it would be more for your benefit i think.

3)i put kitty litter type pans in my pens for their feed dishes. They like to bathe in their feed in the pans and the pans save feed b/c it's less apt to be kicked out while they scratch through it as they eat

4)No they dont need nest boxes, they rarely will use them if they have them

5) a good rule of thumb in Coturnix housing space is 1 square ft /adult bird

6) They eat UNmedicated Gamebird Starter crumbles.. they need 26-30% protein to be healthy, plus ground oyster shell for their bones as they grow and for egg laying to build the shells of the egg and not pull too much calcium from the hens' bodies while egg laying.Check the protein on the turkey feed... if it's not high enough, give them the feed PLUS chopped brocoli, chopped kale , and sprouted alfalfa seeds to raise the protein level.Kale and  Brocoli are 45 %.

7)you can use rabbit water bottles attached to the side of the cage...except the water will freeze in them if the temps are too cold unless you use the kind that heats the water . it doesnt take too long to figure the bottles out ,just set it up in the cage and squeeze the bottle just enough to make it drip water . the birds will be curious and investigate. once they get the idea that it's water you re all set ! takes maybe 10 minutes to train them..

8) Yes Cots are good in cold weather as long as they are protected from wind and rain/snow  and have some deep bedding like hay to snuggle down in.

9) i know you didnt ask this but... Cots do best in smallish covey groups of  1 boy  with 4-6 girls.
too many boys and there will be HUGE trouble as the males will attack each other and the females will also attack the males.

Hope this helps you .Best of luck with your Coturnix adventure !

i dont know about the protein powder for the quail , but you are NEVER going to get a COTURNIX to weigh in at 2 lbs ! LOL maybe he has Bobwhites? idk but you are HUGELY lucky if you can get Coturnix to weigh in at 14-15 oz live weight .

I have small 6x8 nest boxes 2 in tall with hay, mine mostly lay in there... but they like to root thru said hay, and some will sleep in it. I know at least it gives them a chance to get off the wire. Dosen't get too cold here in Orlando.

hey Livi... can you post a pic of your waterers?  I've tried it all and everything has issues so far.  I'm still using the standard chicken waterers but quail are so messy the water is a wreck within a couple of hours.  sounds like you have found a solution.

I like DIY stuff.  Here are few that I made from Costco 1 gallon milk carton.  You also made few feed scoops, but not in the photo. Enjoy!

 

1 gallon of water will last for 3 days for 15 adult quails.   The feeder require refill 1 day.  I am going to build a much larger wood feeder mount outside and does not require refill regularly.

 

Nipple waterer                           Chick feeder                      Waterer or feeder

Here is a pic of quail housing I've been working on.  Didn't particularly want to post pics just yet but after reading the first line of your post decided to go ahead.  My shelves are two feet deep.  Makes it very convenient to use 24" 1/2"-hardware cloth(wire),  Mine are 4 feet wide but you make it to the size you have .  The top cage is an 18"X22" "brooder" pen.  It has legs on the corners that keep it 2 inches off of the floor.  I have outlined in blue what I intend to build at that level.  It will be 3 pens that are 16"X24".  These should house breeding trios comfortably.  The second set of pens from the top are the set I made for this unit.  They are (2) 24"X24"X11.5"-high pens.  The red outlines are where the gates are.  Each of these currently house a male and female pair.  A&Ms on the left and Manchurian (sp?) on the right.  The third cage at the bottom (actually 2nd to last shelf) is a 30"X24" that I retrofitted to the unit.  It was a single unit and I'm in the process of converting to two 15"X24" pens.  The second and third sets of pens are mounted to the shelving units.  The pans underneath are "oil-drip" pans from auto-zone.  The pans were the right width and are about 30" long.  Clean up is easy  When complete I intend to have a gravity feed automatic watering system.  With the breeder pens at the top, grow-out pens in the middle and first-aid/juvenile development pens on the bottom we should be able to enjoy a fair number of quail with this unit.  I'm also designing a "second" covering that will be an additional barrier of 1/2"X1/2"  about 1.5 inches away from the cage wire.  This will prevent predators from making direct contact with the wire of the cages.  The unit will be covered from top to bottom, front and back.  To access the front will hinge on each corner and open in the middle.