Lots of Quail questions from a newbie!

[Tenny24]

Hi! As I said in my introduction post, I'm very very new to keeping any kind of poultry/bird so I apologize for my lack of knowledge and understanding!! I split up my questions into little groups, even if you can only answer one question it's appreciated!! I also apologize if this ends up being a giant text wall! haha.


Housing
I have 3 potential places I could keep my Quails, but I'm not sure on where yet so I don't know exactly how much space I have to allocate to them. I'm thinking about getting maybe 4 quails? 4 Seems like a nice little group. How much space would you recommend for 4 quails? Do they even like being in groups? It would be nice to have a little group so they hopefully didn't feel lonely and they would have others to interact with.

I would like to keep them on the natural grass, but I realize you can't really clean it, so I'm thinking about a solid wood floor with some kind of bedding. What kind of bedding would you recommend if any? Maybe soft wood chips? I know they need to sand bath, so what kind of stuff would I use for this? Are they OK with being cleaned out once a week? I could stretch to two cleans a week but I also have to think about my budget and buying all of these bedding materials!

What kind of hidey holes do they like? I'm assuming that they would need to hide/rest safely at times. I would like to put a natural bush/plants in their enclosure if possible to make it feel more natural, is this OK and what kind of plants are safe?

So far I know that I would be almost certainly building my own accommodation for them, and I plan to use the chicken wire with the really small holes in so mice can't get it. I also plan to cover it with tough netting. Is this OK or is there anything else I should do?

Food/Water
What kind of food stuffs would you recommend? Fresh drinking water would be given daily, but how much feed should I give them a day? Do they like fresh veg/fruits to pick at? Which ones do they like best?

Temperament/Taming
I've read that they don't like being handled, and can't be tamed like a rabbit/pet can, but they do make noise when you rustle their food bags! Is it possible to tame them enough so that I can pick them up and move them if needed, or needed to check their feathers/body condition?

Eggs
I've never even seen a real Quail egg! No body around here sells them, so I would like to sell them! I'm thinking about selling them to a farm shop we have in the village so that she can then sell them on. Is there any rules or regulations I should be aware of? I would imagine they would have to be inspected to some degree if they are going into the food chain.
How long do they stay fresh and in a sell able condition for? And how much would you recommend them to be sold for? I do not wish to sell quail meat, and I don't intend to hatch the eggs to sell chicks, I'm afraid I don't have the ability to that!

I may end up answering some of these questions myself as I continue to browse the forum/internet! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this! x

 

[jlmissouri]

The one square foot a bird is a good rule of thumb. It is how much space I give my quail, or more. More space is always better.

I keep my quail in a cage with a wire bottom, and in tractors that also have wire bottoms. On the suspended cages with a wire bottom I put a square bucket in the cage to let the quail get off the wire and to have a shelter. I keep my young quail on anything from shavings, sawdust and wood chips. Whatever I have on hand, all of which I get free. How often you clean the cage will depend on the population density and material.

I feed all my quail as much food as they want. I put a solar yard light in their cages to attract bugs they can eat. My chickens usually get the scraps so I don't have much experience on quails preference for treats. I use chicken nipple waterers in my cages except during winter when I switch to rubber bowls due to freezing conditions.

Some of my quail are pretty tame. I am sure their is differences among breeds and how they are handled. My coturnix jumbo quail will come up to me when I am at their cage, I can easily pick them up, but I don't think they like to be picked up.

On regulations for selling eggs will be state by state. To get a better answer people need to know where you live. In Missouri you need to pay $5 or something like that for a permit, but nobody does that and you really only need it to sell to grocery stores etc. not individuals.

 

[Tenny24]

Is it best to have them raised off the floor on a wire floored cage then?

I live in the UK in case this helps!

 

[CaptainPooka]

You should read all of the articles on quail here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/other-backyard-poultry-ducks-quail-turkeys-geese-etc

 

[jlmissouri]

It all depends on what you like and works for you. Some people prefer having wire floors. I like wire floors but I also always have somewhere the quail can go to get off the wire. It is often easier and cleaner to have wire, but I think it may be nicer for the quail to have a solid floor. I wouldn't argue against either way,