Are quails poultry?

[Phneyda]

I’ve been preparing to make the argument for my quail being pets if the issue ever came up. I am treating my quail as pets because they are. We are feeding them, interacting with them and keeping them as pets. We give them names based off their markings or personalities. We will not butcher them. We also plan on having less than 10. I’m worried any more would scream breeding operation, you know?

 

[BReeder!]

I’ve been preparing to make the argument for my quail being pets if the issue ever came up. I am treating my quail as pets because they are. We are feeding them, interacting with them and keeping them as pets. We give them names based off their markings or personalities. We will not butcher them. We also plan on having less than 10. I’m worried any more would scream breeding operation, you know?

If you are not going to breed them, you could just keep the females. They are much quieter. That said, I live in a suburban area. My neighbors know I have chickens and ducks. They had no clue about the quail though. While the males' calls are definitely audible, they are not a sound that most people know. It's nothing like a chicken, duck or turkey. Their calls blend in with wild birds fairly well. I also only kept 3-5 breeding adult males. All other males where grown out and sent to freezer camp around 10 weeks old.

 

[Quailguy728]

Quails are not poultry according to my local township when I checked. But that is PURLEY a matter of how they decided to define it themselves.

In most places I've checked in Canada, they fall under "Livestock" and typically aren't listed at all, and fall into a grey area... When i got quail i decided that if i kept it quiet long enough, there's really nothing they can do about it if they find out without any complaints made.

Hell, to be completely honest with you, most by-law officers that enforce those rules are more concerned that the animals are being kept correctly and in good standards. I had a whole farm in the middle of town before I had to rehouse them and relocate. (And it WASN'T because anyone asked me to) the by-law officer who had got a few calls said that he loved it and the animals look healthy and housed well. The only calls he received we're about me housing the animals in a trailer/camper and that it was too hot. He came by on a day that was SO hot i was only wearing boxers when he knocked on the door. (We didn't have A/C) I asked him to come inside for a second while i got my boots on and he was sweating by the time we got outside.. I took him into the trailer with the animals and it was about 30 degrees cooler in there than it was outside even. He had no problems, met all the animals, and told me if anyone comes to complain to me to give them his number. there were 16 rabbits in outdoor enclosures, 2 muscovys, 3 pekins, 2 goats, (they lived in the two halfs of the camper) and 5 chickens In a smaller coop outside) All in the heart of a small town. The neighbours loved it. And thats really what matters most.


If you are able to keep these quail and there aren't any personal problems with you having them, nobody will likely call on you or anything like that. I recommend maybe showing up at your neighbors with some eggs, just to show that these quails can benefit everyone *wink nudge* and you'll probably be fine.

Cheers and happy quailing!