???Chicken or quail???

[KGQuail]

I might be a little biased, but I would go with quail. Definitely easy to learn about and take care of. Less space needed, and they are very quiet. You hardly know they are around.

But of course it depends on your situation. I personally would have had chickens years ago, if I had the space and if it was allowed in our neighborhood. I did not know about Coturnix quail until a few months ago, but as soon as I heard it was allowed where I lived, we went out the next day and picked up 2 Italian females and 9 hatching eggs from a local source. Now four months later, I have 6 breeding coveys (purchased males with separate bloodlines to help expand my flock) and around 60 chicks and juveniles.

Whatever you decide it will be pure fun I am sure!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

If your end purpose is meat and eggs, start with Quail. Coturnix are funny lil guys, and will start laying in 8 weeks. They will be social if you make the effort. Cheaper to keep a flock, just watch for pecking if you have too many boys. I didn't raise them this year and I missed them lol. The key thing is to find the highest protein feed you can for the best results.

 

[koturnix]

I'd go with quails. I've raised both quails and chickens and I definitely prefer quails as they are quieter, less aggressive, start laying eggs earlier, need less space and can live indoors if you keep their cage very clean. I also hear quails are more hardy than chickens so that's also a plus. Quail eggs are also easier to hatch too (based on my personal anecdotes). Male quails don't crow very loud either, I have 3 males at the moment and they are very happy with their harems and rarely crow. Once you give them mealworms regularly they start going crazy when you're near their cage, demanding treats with their weird chirping ("ribbit......Ribbit...RIBBIT....RIBBITRIBBITRIBBIT!!!!!!!").

The chickens (white leghorns) I've had were super mean and skittish even though I hatched them from eggs and interacted with them every day. I hear Silkies and other breeds are friendlier though so your mileage may vary.

 

[igorsMistress]

I started with chickens but they were inherited with a house so that's what I started with the second time around. Just getting into quail now.

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

I started with chickens but they were inherited with a house so that's what I started with the second time around. Just getting into quail now.

I started with chickens too and while the quail I have are a delightful side project for me, raising chicks to sell in my area is more profitable than raising quail chicks. Plus the quail, they are insisting on staying pretty wild! Coturnix.

So I like how I can tame chickens faster. There's nothing sweeter than when my little cochins come running up to me for treats and practically jump into my arms. I got cochins and silkies, this year for their hopefully broody behaviors, so my plan is when my quail start laying eggs I can use a broody hen to hatch them for me, as I found incubating quail eggs to be harder than chicken eggs.
Quails and chickens both have great positives, so I would say to have a few of each if possible! If you only buy pullets, then if you decide later chickens aren't for you, they will be easy to sell or give away.
On the other hand, quail are much cheaper investment wise, especially if you are limited on space, I keep mine inside and they are doing great, except for the very loud noise the males make! I'm planning on sending them to live outside in a rabbit hutch soon because of this.

 

[AlderCreekFarms]

All of the above. I went through liking most of the posts, lol. I've had both chickens and quail and although chickens are a hoot and I love them, there is def a bigger learning curve, more expense up front, longer wait time for anything production wise, and quail have a shorter lifespan (part of the production time). I've had skittish chickens and skittish quail, but for the most part, coturnix quail are very calm, especially if you handle them every day and are calm when dealing with them. I would recommend quail first, then after a year, you might be ready to add a couple of chickens, as you will have already learned a ton from your quail that you can apply to chickens. Other way around and you'd have to wait longer, imo, for the same learning curve. And if you decide you hate everything poultry and quail are too much to handle, then you shouldn't get chickens and you wouldn't have put out such a big expense to learn that. But, you will love it

 

[AlderCreekFarms]

Once you give them mealworms regularly they start going crazy when you're near their cage, demanding treats with their weird chirping ("ribbit......Ribbit...RIBBIT....RIBBITRIBBITRIBBIT!!!!!!!").

how's that go again?that's the best description yet, and so accurate!