Quail are not as domesticated as chickens, so they are more likely to become frightened or stressed. Changing their environment is one of the things that can cause stress. I move my birds around my yard, but I keep their setup the same when I move the pen to cause as little stress as I can.
Quail don't have the same behaviours as chickens do. They don't roost, they don't "go home" at night. These are a couple of reasons they don't free range well. The main reason you don't free range quail is because they will fly away and not come back. Another reason is that everything likes to eat quail. If you don't keep them in a predator proof environment, they're quite likely to get eaten.
Quail don't have the same behaviours as chickens do. They don't roost, they don't "go home" at night. These are a couple of reasons they don't free range well. The main reason you don't free range quail is because they will fly away and not come back. Another reason is that everything likes to eat quail. If you don't keep them in a predator proof environment, they're quite likely to get eaten.
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To be specific: What precisely motivates the statement that "no one in their right mind would free-range a Coturnix quail?" Or What exactly about quail coming and going from a run to a house would "stress" them? I'm genuinely curious because I literally don't know and I don't want to make assumptions--that's why I asked for information. If I know more, I can make a more educated assessment, and go from there. Just FYI, if it helps, I have kept and bred poultry for decades, even led workshops, so I have some frame of reference--just not quail-specific firsthand experience. And I don't have quail yet. I'm still looking into how best I might use the resources I have (outdoor space, year round forage, compost, mild weather, general paucity of predators, and all the byproducts of a small diversified working farm) to produce eggs for minimal input while still providing a quality environment that is species-appropriate. Chickens work well, but feed is expensive and chickens require a lot of room to pasture, but quail caught my interest because of the efficient feed conversion, higher nutritional density, more rapid maturity, and compact, manageable size. I'm not interested in keeping quail or any other animal in tiny cages when I have all the aforementioned free resources and space to use. If I can't keep quail humanely to my satisfaction I'll do something else with my time, no problem. While a roomy wooden hutch-type setup is not out of the question, I am however leary of guidance that downplays the importance of providing adequate space and enrichment for any animal (as much of the conventional quail literature I've encountered seems to) and would be grateful for any tips from others more experienced as to how to provide that--for quail.
