Illinois Quail Keepers

[BReeder!]

Any Illini quailers out there? Let's chat! I'm new to quail still. I have contacts to talk with about chickens and I really enjoy the Illinois thread here on BYC that mainly focuses on chickens. It would be nice to have a place just to talk about quail though with my neighbors. If you keep quail, whether it's just 2 or 3 or 200-300 (or more of course) - backyard keepers, basement breeders, farmers, hatcheries - I want to connect here. What's your story? Where are you located (if you are willing to share)? Why do you raise quail? Any local ordinances or laws you have run into with keeping quail?

 

[pnptrapp]

Hello!

We're just starting out on our journey with quail. We've had them a little over a year now and absolutely love them. We're located in Bond Co. IL, close to Edwardsville and Greenville.

 

[BReeder!]

Hello!

We're just starting out on our journey with quail. We've had them a little over a year now and absolutely love them. We're located in Bond Co. IL, close to Edwardsville and Greenville.

Hello! I'm in Plainfield, close to Chicago. I am extremely new to quail - my first batch of Coturnix eggs are expected to hatch tomorrow or Thursday. I do have 1 live Coturnix quail that is a rescue. I just got it on Sunday from a fellow BYC member who found it in a park near their house. I think it's a mail since it woke me up this morning with some odd noises and it hasn't laid an egg in the 2 days I've had it.
The eggs I'm hatching are Jumbo Brown and Texas A&M - There's 60+ in lockdown right now.
I like finding local people who I can really on for their experience and knowledge when things come up. Do you breed? Hatch? Sell eggs? Slaughter for meet?

 

[scootermagoo]

I've been looking into Quail a lot more recently...I do love the chickens and will always have them, but quail seem to be a lot more economical and love the idea of the fast turn around for homesteading.
We are about an hour south of Plainfield in Ford county...I'll be watching how your experience goes and GOOD LUCK! Are you planning on using them for eggs only or will you be using them as meat animals as well? I'm curious how the A&M's taste

 

[BReeder!]

I've been looking into Quail a lot more recently...I do love the chickens and will always have them, but quail seem to be a lot more economical and love the idea of the fast turn around for homesteading.
We are about an hour south of Plainfield in Ford county...I'll be watching how your experience goes and GOOD LUCK! Are you planning on using them for eggs only or will you be using them as meat animals as well? I'm curious how the A&M's taste

I am planning for eggs and meat. I will be breeding as well.
At the moment we have 47 quail chicks that are 4 days old. They are growing fast. They eat and drink a lot. Oh boy, do they poop too?! We had a few with splayed legs that died or I had to cull. We hope the 47 all make it and live long lives, minus the extra males that will go to the freezer at 8-9 weeks.

 

[BReeder!]

@Dovetail thanks for the like on the first post in this thread. Do you keep quail and live in IL? Looking for others out there... Especially looking for people willing to trade quail for breeding. I have 3 wk olds right now - both Jumbo Brown and Texas A&M. I am interested in trading for same lines. My stock comes from Georgia so it should have genetic variance for you.

 

[AmberZooKeeper]

We are going to be getting some quail this year. How did you decide what breed to get? I was looking into pharoah coturnix quail. Located near the Peoria area.

 

[CoopyDoo]

Hi! I'm brand spanking new to this and plan on getting some quail this spring. I'm still in the obsessively researching stage but I figured I should say hi to my neighbors. I'm also in the suburbs of Chicago... unincorporated DuPage. I only plan on having maybe 8-10 birds for eggs. I'm running into the same problem you did with finding local sources. I really don't want to incubate eggs. I've checked Craigslist and it seems my options are driving out to Wisconsin or Indiana for live birds, so we'll see.

 

[BReeder!]

We are going to be getting some quail this year. How did you decide what breed to get? I was looking into pharoah coturnix quail. Located near the Peoria area.

I ended up getting Jumbo Browns for their size of meat and eggs and ease of sexing. Pharoahs would be easy to sex as well based on chest feather patterns.
I also got TX A&Ms because I wanted to add a little variety with a second breed and they too are a good size.

 

[BReeder!]

Hi! I'm brand spanking new to this and plan on getting some quail this spring. I'm still in the obsessively researching stage but I figured I should say hi to my neighbors. I'm also in the suburbs of Chicago... unincorporated DuPage. I only plan on having maybe 8-10 birds for eggs. I'm running into the same problem you did with finding local sources. I really don't want to incubate eggs. I've checked Craigslist and it seems my options are driving out to Wisconsin or Indiana for live birds, so we'll see.

I ended up ordering shipped eggs and incubating them. It was a fun process, and I plan to continue hatching my own now. My first batch is nearly 4 weeks old, so no eggs just yet. 45 birds running around, eating and drinking an incredible amount, and POOPING A TON.

Depending on when you want to get birds, I would be happy to work out a deal and incubate some of my eggs for you once they are developing fertile eggs. It's going to be about 6 weeks likely until I will be putting eggs into the incubator.