They need a cage, coop, run, aviary or tractor. They cannot free range, at all! They are small enough that pretty much everything that can eat meat will want to eat them plus they have zero sense of self-preservation. If one gets out they will literally just sit and watch something come up to eat them. They don't have a "homing" instinct like chickens and won't return to a coop to sleep. Also it is illegal to release domestic quail without a permit. They can release illness into wild quail populations that have no resistance to them. It can be an ecological disaster to release domestic quail.
Coturnix do best in groups or coveys of 3-7 hens per roo if you want fertile eggs, less hens per roo and the hens can get over-bred. If you only want egg production you can just keep hens, which are quieter anyway though the quail roo crows are not too loud. More room is always better for housing but 2 foot by 2 foot enclosure can house a small covey as long as they have places to get away from each other if desired. Most of my coveys are in 2x4 foot cages.
They are the cutest egg laying machines there is. They rival the best of the best in layer chickens for number of eggs laid per year and they can start laying at 8 weeks of age.
From eggs...
to chicks in 18 days...
gangly youngster at 14 days...
full grown at 8 weeks.
White quail photo bomb!
They are very cute! So...do you raise them for show...just for the pleasure of having them...? I can't imagine you get must sustenance from those little bitty eggs, though I know they're considered a delicacy of fine cuisine.
