I've been storing quail temporarily this week and have gotten to like it. I'm thinking about taking this up as a hobby. I live on a half acre in town, with neighbors and all that. The four quail I have now are all males. I've been excited to build a coop and try this out, but this morning about 4:30 they started making quail calls and they were LOUD and wouldn't stop. Is this normal behavior, or is this because I have all males? I think if I had all females, this wouldn't happen. But if I had a mixture, would they call like this?
Yes, male Bobwhites can screech and call all summer long. They are calling for mates. They should all get along well as long as there are no females around, but yes, Bobs are incredibly loud. Getting them females will stop the calling, but you can't keep them all together as they need to be kept in pairs unless you have huge spaces. They tend to want to kill each other during breeding season. Only in the off season can you keep these pairs together.