Quail or No Quail?

[nessa.morg]

Comparing to chickens how hard it is to care for quail? I currently have three hens but I'm thinking about getting some quail too. Is it easier or harder than chickens to take care of

 

[cosmosue]

Super easy. I would say easier. But I love my hens, don’t get me wrong and I wouldn’t choose to have one or the other I would def always have both because I love their eggs and their company and bad attitudes... lol

But the quail they are so much fun and so lovable... so easy to breed, if you can’t keep normal roosters because of noise (I can’t) you can keep quail roosters usually because they barely make any noise I rarely hear mine and you can’t hear it from inside it’s very low noise.

So you can keep 4-5 hens to every rooster and get LOADS of eggs to incubate or eat and they are small but REALLY GOOD.

I boil loads every few days, takes literally 5 mins for perfect eggs, run them under cool water, peel and eat. Or store them in the fridge for later. My little 7 year old eats them every day. Loves them. He calls them egg poppers!

Quail can also be tamed. If you spend a LOT of time with your babies they will not run from you when you pick them up. I have a couple like this that got extra attention from my kids from day 2. Now you can just pick her right up and she sits on your hand or your shoulder (have to make sure she doesn’t fall) they are also suckers for meal worms.

They are the funniest animal I ever had. I love them all. The more the merrier. They have the cutest funniest antics!

Ok maybe my Amazon parrots are tied for first place on the funny scale because who doesn’t want an animal you can teach to insult your husband???? Or taunt him... when he’s doing dishes... haha plus they can speak in sentences they come up with, you can almost hold a conversation...

I digress, quail are amazing little animals, they are high in protein if you go that way (yes I admit we do, we get too many roosters) so we raise for food/eggs and we will be set for winter. Some people hunt, some people choose the grocery store, we choose to also raise some of our own food with a garden and quail and chickens (hens are only for eggs) keeping quail for food is extremely easy and easy to butcher (sorry.) there is a TON of videos on YouTube on how many, getting started, etc etc etc and not just for meat I mean for EVERYTHING LOL!

We love them.

 

[nessa.morg]

Well thank you for all of that great info. That makes me better about getting quail. Im really excited now and I hope I will get some

 

[DenverQuail]

Just a warning--quail catch diseases from chickens very easily. If you do decide to get some quail, make sure they're housed far away from your hens.

 

[nessa.morg]

How far do you suggest to keep them away

 

[cosmosue]

I’ve heard at least 20 feet. Mine are in hutches about that far and further and we have not had issues. The disease is airborne so really I mean the wind blows... all directions, can’t control it.

But people keep both without problems all the time, but not together of course.

 

[nessa.morg]

I don't have that big of a yard so now I don't think ill be able to get them. But thanks for the info

 

[cosmosue]

You got like a normal backyard? You should be able to space them 20 feet no?

Gosh I hate when someone can’t have them why do I care? Because I know how much fun they are and I want everyone to have quail LOL I’m a bit nutty like that!!! And I want everyone in the world to experience the happiness they bring. Seriously my husband thinks I’m losing my mind.

You want to post a pic of your yard? You don’t need huge amount of space.

Hey can you keep a couple inside? Even 4 would be ok, they don’t smell any worse than having some guinea pigs. Then at least you get the benefit of eggs!!!

Just trying to help!

 

[nessa.morg]

Yeah ill post a picture of my yard when I go outside to check on my hens in like 30 min. I didn't know you can keep quail inside. I don't know how large a normal backyard is so its hard for me to say

 

[cosmosue]

My yard is probably a bit larger than average, lots of trees and shade no sun back here except patches.

It’s the south, it’s like a swamp lol

My birds are all kept to the left of the yard because I can take advantage of the deck as more coverage, with the hutches for the quail 20-35-40 feet away from the chickens and under the deck. The chickens have a run and a a small roost, there is 4 of them. They have no contact with the quail.