Help talk me into quail (for meat)

[DemeterAD9]

I have chickens, a pair of ducks, a couple Jake turkeys so what's next? Quail (Coturnix) of course! These would be for meat and maybe if they are nice and easy to work with I can save a small breeding group for the future. I'd likely be ordering hatching eggs. Anyone have good results with shipped quail eggs or do they have a harder time with shipping due to their smaller size?

I hear they are pretty easy to keep once you get the hang of things so I'd like to hear what others think about them. Are you glad you got quail? Was it worth the time and money to raise them? Was it difficult to keep the chicks going or was it as easy as raising chickens? I live in MI so how cold/heat tolerant are they (would an outdoor enclosure be okay for winter)?

What makes a quick and easy setup? Where do you keep their cages? I have a couple rabbit hutches I could fairly easily adjust and make a small cage for them but I'm not sure how much space they'd actually need. If the rabbit hutches aren't big enough then it likely wouldn't be all that hard to make a simple cage out of some wood (we have plenty) and hardware cloth right?

Of course this is all hypothetical, I'm not sure if I will even try quail (yet) but it certainly is something to think about doing if I get time between my chicken plans.

 

[Nabiki]

I would recommend starting with the articles on quail here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/quail.32/

That being said, I started with quail because I lived in suburbia where chickens were regulated pretty heavily. I also didn't really have much space. I raise them for eggs and meat, and since I don't like how commercial meat producers keep their animals, I choose to raise mine in more spacious and comfortable homes than commercial breeders.

While there are plenty of wrong ways to raise quail, there are a lot of right ways too. I don't consider them that hard, but they aren't chickens.

 

[Nabiki]

I forgot the most compelling argument for them as meat. They're delicious!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8AKDZ9NpcmGRSF-6vcvoL3OP2K-laGvu

 

[farmer90]

Quail chicks are as easy to keep as chicken in my experience. They are quite hardy when all the conditions are met.
They require less room than chicken. I keep mine in cages and I can stack them up on top of each other. I have two sets of cages, winter cages are in my basement and summer cages are in my backyard. One spring there was an unexpected cold snap and they did well outside with -5 degrees Celsius, but otherwise I try to make sure they are above freezing temperatures.

Besides the fact that meat is very delicious, I really like how fast they grow. I harvest my quails at 8 weeks. Compared to chicken, they are (physically) much easier to cull. Just one quick snap with scissors.

If you are still unsure I suggest you to get a trial period. Get a few hatching eggs, try with a small flock so you can figure out pros and cons for yourself. That's the best way to know if you want to get into quail. Most people this side are quail enthusiasts so you'll probably hear a lots of positives about quails anyway but there's really only one way to find out if they are great for you.

 

[DemeterAD9]

I found someone who is selling hatching eggs ~10 miles from me and I have 5 cages I can possibly put them in with a few modifications. One such cage is a big plastic cube, used to be a fuel/chemical tote tank but was cleaned up and turned into a brooder. It's about 3ftX3ft so I think I can keep a small breeding group in there. Just need to add a better roof over it as it can get a little wet in there from the rain. It's already outside and set up from keeping a broody and her chicks in there last summer and seems the most ideal location for keeping a group long term.

I've got a mesh pop-up play pen that's completely enclosed, about 4ftX4ft that has worked wonders for brooding chicks. The rabbit hutches are both ~3ftX2ft and then I've got a wooden brooder that is 4ft by 2ft. The only thing I don't like about the wooden brooder is the bottom, which is also wood. It had gotten moldy before when I had Cornish cross chicks in there. I don't expect quail to be so filthy of course.

By May 9th or so all my brooders should be empty so maybe, just maybe I'll see about contacting that local seller and get a couple dozen eggs. Worst case scenario I don't like keeping them so I just eat them all after 8 weeks!

 

[farmer90]

Sounds good! Feel free to ask any questions about quails if you'll have them. And I as a big quail enthusiast would appreciate updates of your journey (I'm already following the journey of Chunky jr)