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I know one way to find out :) Throw 'em in the incubator

Hi Nikki! Welcome to BYC. You have already got some great advice. If you want to be totally self-sustaining then quail would not be the best option. Their dietary needs are pretty steep and they cannot free range like a chicken. If you are just looking to trade feed money for healthy eggs...

Gamebird starter - 26-30% protein. Crushed into powder and scattered everywhere for the first few days. Quail chicks do not have the food reserve that chickens do, they need to be taught to eat much sooner. Immediately. Shallow water (avoid drowning) - dip every single beak in water after...

3:1? I've never had fertility issues at 6:1 and 7:1

Yes. That is a standard brown coturnix "Pharaoh"

Thanks DC, I hope people listen to that and take it to heart.

They will still lay on low protein diets but... 1) eggs will lose quality/fertility 2) it is harder on the hens to create/lay and it shortens their life span 3) aggressiveness will be higher and general satisfaction will decrease

I've got two hens that took a few months of laying before their eggs showed any pigmentation at all. I am hatching only those eggs and trying to breed for that trait. Very pretty little blue/green eggs.

For young/laying quail I feed exclusively that 30% Purina feed. Does so well in creating good strong chicks.

Hens often have foamy excrement because the foam is from the roosters and...well you get it

It took 24 days? Holy smokes

Never heard of a coturnix going that late and living. Are you certain these weren't bobwhite eggs? If these were coturnix eggs then your stock and or incubator are bad. Not trying to add insult to injury but that is pretty much unheard of. Most chicks that hatch more than a a couple days...

I don't trust cats for a second. I don't trust dogs either but they can at least be trained to not kill on sight.

Some birds start earlier than that, some start later. I've read that some birds start at 5.5 weeks but mine are around 8 weeks. I figure that is a good thing because they have a longer chance to develop before they start producing. Chickens that start laying later typically lay longer, quail...

Quail eggs have very thin shells and are designed to be incubated by a quail hen which is many times lighter than even a Silkie so the risk will always be significant. Significant too will be the risk that the chicks will die from or permanently carry Coryza and other infectious diseases which...