Check your state G&F laws first. Quail don't get advertised in Wyoming because you have to have a permit before you are allowed to have quail of any kind and you can't sell live quail or hatching eggs here to anyone who doesn't already have a permit. Not all states make an exception for Coturnix quail.
Oh yes... I wasn’t thinking. That would explain it. I had looked before and it seemed to me (tho unclear) that coturnix were not on the list but I couldn’t find the same place, and the place I did find just says “quail.” So who knows? I’ll call them and ask, but the chances of talking to someone who knows aren’t likely much better than my own chances of figuring out the down-low online.
I grant that not many people (myself included) have a cow barn & fields to turn the chickens loose in. Hence, the quail with store bought feed.
Yup, that’s a big part of it. Plus quail are pretty non-threatening. They sound more like a cool homeschool project than serious livestock. Yet, you can potentially grow a significant quantity of your own protein in a relatively small space. They’re not going to have been regulated against by your town or your HOA, either.
I had thought that quail were mostly a hobby thing, probably not one I was interested in, but I started watching vids from “Living Traditions Homestead” (great cottage industry, YouTube). They have plenty of land in MO, but they did start out in TX in an upscale large-lot suburb. Their meat/egg options were limited to things that wouldn’t annoy the neighbors, so they did quail and meat rabbits. But they got back into both on their new place (and added larger poultry &pigs) because they’re working well for them. Seeing that, I figured maybe I had underestimated quail. Rabbits, too.
The “smalls” are a lot easier to handle, less intimidating for people, I think. And possibly not everyone even knows they’re supposed to be providing fancy high protein feed. In fact, I don’t remember seeing any videos that have mentioned what kind of feed people were providing their quail... an important detail, one would think.
Reminds me: R2Elk I looked up those amino acids you warned about the quail needing (in an earlier post) that weren’t in lower protein feeds. They’re all three abundant in eggs (and elsewhere, but eggs seemed easiest.) Could a person make up the lack by feeding a daily portion of scrambled or mashed boiled eggs to the quail? Best I could find at Running’s was broiler or turkey feed. They don’t carry game bird feed, or at least not when I was looking. I didn’t see waterfowl feed, either (they do have brewers yeast).
Spirit
Greeter
Friend
opened up the lower level for 3 week olds yesterday.....everyone seemed to be happy.....lost one overnight.....no apparent cause. So I’m now at 19...
Duckling said I can eat the quail because then she can incubate! 
