Interested in getting some Coturnix and/or Button quail—any advice is appreciated!

[Prince and Pavo]

Hello everybody,

I have known about and been interested in keeping quail for quite a while now, but I think I am almost ready to get some. I have a lot of questions though, so I’m sorry in advance. I’ve done a small bit of research, but I figured getting answers to my questions from real people would be more beneficial. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Though quail would be a new experience to me, I am not unfamiliar with raising other species of poultry. I have chickens, peafowl, a Guinea fowl, and ducks, many of which I incubated and hatched myself.

I would like to raise a covey of several different color patterns as pets and for egg production, and possibly to sell eggs or chicks in the future.

I’m having a hard time finding a full and complete list of the coturnix color varieties anywhere on the internet, and every website I look at mentions only a few of the varieties which I know to exist. Here’s is a list of the ones I’ve found:
-Pharaoh
-Tuxedo
-Italian
-Japanese
-Cream
-Fawn
-Redcap
-Range
-Texas A&M
-Cinnamon
-Rosetta
-Silver
-White
-Golden
I’d like to see a lot of different color variations so that I can compare them and decide which ones I’d like to have. Please feel free to add any others that you think of.

To my understanding, these are all different varieties within the single species of Coturnix. But I am wondering if the harlequin quail is considered a variety of Coturnix as well? I couldn’t really find a clear answer when I looked it up.

My favorites (regarding appearance) so far are the cream, fawn, pharaoh, Italian, cinnamon, silver, and harlequin, but I like all of them. Which varieties are the most popular or would sell the best if I was to start a breeding business?

Also, if I was to get some button quail as well, would they be able to live with the Coturnix? Would they get along if they were all hatched together or if the buttons were slightly older, or would one group pick on the other?

I have a lot more questions, but I didn’t want this post to be too long lol. I’ll continue to add more to this thread as we go, but I figured I’d start with this. TIA for any advice, suggestions, tips, information, etc!

@Nabiki @Patiocoturnix @007Sean

 

[Nabiki]

Coturnix come in a LOT of colours. Harlequins are a different species, and I would recommend starting with coturnix if you want eggs and/or meat. Buttons come in a lot of colour varieties too, but they are more ornamental or pet quail.

I definitely would not house coturnix and buttons together. Coturnix are much larger and are likely to injure or kill your buttons. Coturnix are also very cold hardy and will be happy in temperatures that will kill your buttons.

Personally, I like the fee colours of coturnix, (grau fee, falb fee, pansy fee, calico fee, etc), but if you like the ones with reds, you have rosettas, tibetans, ambers, german pastels, and more. I can't keep track of the myriad of colours myself.

 

[calicocows]

Seconding what Nabiki said!
I've got a pair of coturnix hens that I got from a sketchy craigslist breeder. One's health is pretty questionable. Get your birds from a reputable breeder, and I recommend giving at least 2-3 sq ft per bird, especially if you have a male! Hideys are very good, so are sand baths. The parrot feeding approach seems to work well for many (commercial feed + seeds, veggies/chop, and insects (bsfl, mealworms, etc))

 

[Prince and Pavo]

Coturnix come in a LOT of colours. Harlequins are a different species, and I would recommend starting with coturnix if you want eggs and/or meat. Buttons come in a lot of colour varieties too, but they are more ornamental or pet quail.

I definitely would not house coturnix and buttons together. Coturnix are much larger and are likely to injure or kill your buttons. Coturnix are also very cold hardy and will be happy in temperatures that will kill your buttons.

Personally, I like the fee colours of coturnix, (grau fee, falb fee, pansy fee, calico fee, etc), but if you like the ones with reds, you have rosettas, tibetans, ambers, german pastels, and more. I can't keep track of the myriad of colours myself.

Thank you for the reply!

Okay, I think I’ll start with Coturnix and maybe get some harlequins later then. I am still considering getting some buttons too, but I’ll just keep them separated from the Coturnix if I do. I live in Phoenix, AZ so I don’t think “cold” is much of an issue as we don’t get any snow and the temps rarely reach below freezing. I’m more concerned about the summer heat of up to 120 degrees. I’ll make sure to provide lots of shade though.

I didn’t know there were so many different colors! I think I’ll start with some of the more common ones, and maybe get some of the rarer varieties later on when I’m more familiar with caring for them. Thank you for the advice!

Seconding what Nabiki said!
I've got a pair of coturnix hens that I got from a sketchy craigslist breeder. One's health is pretty questionable. Get your birds from a reputable breeder, and I recommend giving at least 2-3 sq ft per bird, especially if you have a male! Hideys are very good, so are sand baths. The parrot feeding approach seems to work well for many (commercial feed + seeds, veggies/chop, and insects (bsfl, mealworms, etc))

Thank you for the suggestion! Do you know of any reputable breeders where I can get some? I’m looking to get eggs to hatch myself, and am willing to buy from multiple places if need be.

You said to make the enclosure with enough space for 2-3 square feet per bird, which leads me to a question. I’ve read that you’re supposed to have about 1 square foot per bird, but is that not enough space?

Also, if I’m planning to sell birds in the future, which types would be best for that purpose? I’ve heard that some varieties are harder to breed than others, including silver and golden. Does breeding Coturnix for specific characteristics (particularly color) work essentially the same as it does with chickens? I know that Coturnix don’t exactly have “breeds” like chickens do, but would it be comparable to a certain breed of chicken with multiple color variations (e.g. orpingtons)?

 

[Nabiki]

The general rule for space is a MINIMUM of 1 square foot per bird. There are commercial breeders who will say to cram 3 birds/square foot, but personally, I think that's rather cruel. My birds have 2-3 square feet per bird.

You will want to check with your local ag department about whether or not harlequins require a permit. Coturnix and buttons usually don't, but other species often do.

Most of the pretty colours in coturnix will breed mostly true, but there will be 10-30% that don't. How often you get oddballs depends on the lines that you get. If you were to get Southwest Gamebird lines, they're pretty clean. Thieving Otter has those lines now. If you get Myshire Farm lines, you will get a higher percentage of ones that don't breed true, in my experience.

 

[Prince and Pavo]

The general rule for space is a MINIMUM of 1 square foot per bird. There are commercial breeders who will say to cram 3 birds/square foot, but personally, I think that's rather cruel. My birds have 2-3 square feet per bird.

You will want to check with your local ag department about whether or not harlequins require a permit. Coturnix and buttons usually don't, but other species often do.

Most of the pretty colours in coturnix will breed mostly true, but there will be 10-30% that don't. How often you get oddballs depends on the lines that you get. If you were to get Southwest Gamebird lines, they're pretty clean. Thieving Otter has those lines now. If you get Myshire Farm lines, you will get a higher percentage of ones that don't breed true, in my experience.

Alright, I definitely wouldn’t do any more than one bird per square foot, but I’ll plan to make the enclosure big enough for each one to have more than that. Thanks!

 

[Whraith]

Thank you for the reply!

Okay, I think I’ll start with Coturnix and maybe get some harlequins later then. I am still considering getting some buttons too, but I’ll just keep them separated from the Coturnix if I do. I live in Phoenix, AZ so I don’t think “cold” is much of an issue as we don’t get any snow and the temps rarely reach below freezing. I’m more concerned about the summer heat of up to 120 degrees. I’ll make sure to provide lots of shade though.

I didn’t know there were so many different colors! I think I’ll start with some of the more common ones, and maybe get some of the rarer varieties later on when I’m more familiar with caring for them. Thank you for the advice!


Thank you for the suggestion! Do you know of any reputable breeders where I can get some? I’m looking to get eggs to hatch myself, and am willing to buy from multiple places if need be.

You said to make the enclosure with enough space for 2-3 square feet per bird, which leads me to a question. I’ve read that you’re supposed to have about 1 square foot per bird, but is that not enough space?

Also, if I’m planning to sell birds in the future, which types would be best for that purpose? I’ve heard that some varieties are harder to breed than others, including silver and golden. Does breeding Coturnix for specific characteristics (particularly color) work essentially the same as it does with chickens? I know that Coturnix don’t exactly have “breeds” like chickens do, but would it be comparable to a certain breed of chicken with multiple color variations (e.g. orpingtons)?

I live in Phoenix and I keep my Coturnix in an outdoor Aviary (fully screened in section, then mostly enclosed section that I can put poly panels on during the winter to make it fully enclosed, summer they are removed). Winter you don't need to worry about Coturnix as they are fairly cold hardy you just need to make sure they have a draft free area. I do have a portable evaporative cooler for them for the super hot days, I also use shallow trays I can put water in and they will stand in it and cool off. My outdoor area is on the north side of the house, with a small section that extends out and gets some southern sun, they do like to sit in the sun in the winter but tend to avoid it during the summer.

I do have a stackable set of cages inside on the enclosed temperature controlled porch that I use in extreme weather (be it heat or rain) they don't mind the rain, but they should not be in standing water, so make sure you don't get floods in that area during monsoons. I also use the cages for growing out until they are old enough to go outside or infirmary cages.

The bigger the area they are in the more they want more space. I think my birds have ~2 foot of outdoor space, 1 foot in the enclosed area (which they really don't stay in except at night or when a stray cat wanders by and they run in there to hide).

Southwest Gamebirds is in Tonopah and where I got all of mine from. They are no longer selling hatching eggs but are still selling adults (8 weeks old) and the nice thing you can take an hour drive out and pick them up from him.

If you are looking to sell out of state you will need to be NPIP certified for shipping them. As far as harder to breed, the only ones I really know that are harder to care for during brooding are cinnamon due to them being light sensitive and needing special consideration for brooding so they don't go blind. I use mine for just meat/eggs and picked a color I liked. I don't have "jumbo" birds I have Calico Fee and Roux Calico Fee but they work for me, if you are mostly looking for the larger birds/larger eggs you will be a bit more limited with color selection as there isn't a jumbo size in all colors.

The above info is all for coturnix, I don't own buttons and not familiar with them.

 

[Prince and Pavo]

I live in Phoenix and I keep my Coturnix in an outdoor Aviary (fully screened in section, then mostly enclosed section that I can put poly panels on during the winter to make it fully enclosed, summer they are removed). Winter you don't need to worry about Coturnix as they are fairly cold hardy you just need to make sure they have a draft free area. I do have a portable evaporative cooler for them for the super hot days, I also use shallow trays I can put water in and they will stand in it and cool off. My outdoor area is on the north side of the house, with a small section that extends out and gets some southern sun, they do like to sit in the sun in the winter but tend to avoid it during the summer.

I do have a stackable set of cages inside on the enclosed temperature controlled porch that I use in extreme weather (be it heat or rain) they don't mind the rain, but they should not be in standing water, so make sure you don't get floods in that area during monsoons. I also use the cages for growing out until they are old enough to go outside or infirmary cages.

The bigger the area they are in the more they want more space. I think my birds have ~2 foot of outdoor space, 1 foot in the enclosed area (which they really don't stay in except at night or when a stray cat wanders by and they run in there to hide).

Southwest Gamebirds is in Tonopah and where I got all of mine from. They are no longer selling hatching eggs but are still selling adults (8 weeks old) and the nice thing you can take an hour drive out and pick them up from him.

If you are looking to sell out of state you will need to be NPIP certified for shipping them. As far as harder to breed, the only ones I really know that are harder to care for during brooding are cinnamon due to them being light sensitive and needing special consideration for brooding so they don't go blind. I use mine for just meat/eggs and picked a color I liked. I don't have "jumbo" birds I have Calico Fee and Roux Calico Fee but they work for me, if you are mostly looking for the larger birds/larger eggs you will be a bit more limited with color selection as there isn't a jumbo size in all colors.

The above info is all for coturnix, I don't own buttons and not familiar with them.

Thank you very much! This is all very helpful.

 

[indomix]

I'd be careful with white and blue. They often have genetic defects (mine did - white was blind, blue was weird socially, not in a quail way).

As for the area per quail, I'd suggest erring on the side of too much, at least in the beginning -- when they don't have enough space and hideouts, they start fighting and getting injured.

 

[Prince and Pavo]

I'd be careful with white and blue. They often have genetic defects (mine did - white was blind, blue was weird socially, not in a quail way).

As for the area per quail, I'd suggest erring on the side of too much, at least in the beginning -- when they don't have enough space and hideouts, they start fighting and getting injured.

Okay thank you! I’ll definitely keep that in mind