dying quail

On April 1st I took in 11 domesticated quail.
Until then I didn't even know such a quail existed.
These birds were adolescents, almost fully grown. However, they could barely walk, they couldn't straighten up, they came with broken toes and feathers, and they were silent. They had no sense of objects, food, and space.
In October 7 out of 11 were dead, too vulnerable and weak to even survive.
During the last 5 months I’ve been slowly exposing them to objects they had to climb or move around to develop strength. Then I started to expose them to an increasingly bigger area. Later, every evening I let them out into the big yard watching them so they wouldn't get lost or eaten.
By now they've learned to talk, to find each other by sound, to get along with the chickens knowing which one to avoid to not get hurt. They flutter and fly, know their paths through the blackberry thicket and where the best earth baths are. From the chickens they've learned to eat certain plants and to check the sky for predator birds.
Yet they will always stay handicapped and clumsy, as for many generations, they’ve been bred in captivity only to become objects of consumption.
Nevertheless their ability to learn and adapt reminds me of the intelligence in all of nature.
Here's my question:
Aren't there any regulations for breeders of quail regarding hygiene, health standards and humane treatment?

 

Australia seems to have more progressive regulations than the US. Poor little quail!

 

Since I first started living around chickens I stopped eating meat. A couple of years later, after experiencing these lovely animals on one hand and seeing all these infos and pictures about agro-business, small and big on the other hand, I stopped eating animal products all together. It goes against my conscience.

 

They deserve it. It's the least I can do. I can help a few of them live as good a life as possible. And so I started rescuing birds.
I got so inspired by the first chickens I took care of. I was at awe and I made a photo book, story and text. It's called A Rooster's Tale. A rooster is telling the story of a year in the life of his family. The years creating the book were some of the best in my life, as I got to watch the birds very closely. It was an eye opener. I think there is absolutely no justification for treating a chicken or quail with disrespect.

 

When you hunt an animal, at least it had a good life in freedom and a quick death. The meat we buy is usually the flesh of animals that experienced confinement and various degrees of cruelty. Not my thing!