Quail questions

[rek9]

Hello,

Been thinking hard about getting some Coturnix quail soon for egg production. Just wanted know if any of you could provide a ballpark of
on how many hens I should purchase. I have a local source that sells Jumbo Coturnix quail juveniles and wanted to start with young birds instead of incubating eggs. I have a wife and two small kids. I will probably be the only one at first that will be eating the eggs but hopefully that will change. I will most likely be building a 2x3 pen(unless you guys suggest otherwise) that will sit on a work bench in my heated garage over the winter and then probably move them outside in spring. Just wanted to hear others opinions on how many to get so I don’t buy too few to not make it worth it. In the spring I would most likely construct a larger pen for outdoors. Thanks for the help!

 

[rek9]

Also I am in central Indiana if anybody close has some young birds for sale let me know. Thanks

 

[Erkenstein]

If you get standard birds, eggs are around 10g, which is six to an extra large chicken egg. Jumbo eggs are around 15g, so four to a chicken egg. Once they start laying, the birds will lay at about 80%, especially if you put lights on in the winter (I use LED string lights for 14 hours/day).

So, you'd probably want about 8 standard or 6 jumbo females for the equivalent of every chicken egg your family would use every day.

Also good to keep in mind that quail eggs are a perfect substitute for chicken eggs in most cooking where the eggs are mixed up (omelets, baking, scrambled) and they make cute boiled eggs. However, they aren't good for recipes where you need to separate whites and yolks, and some people think it's creepy to have 20 sunny side up eggs in the pan (although kids tend to think it's cool).

 

[rek9]

Erkenstein,

Thanks for all the great info. I had no idea about the different cooking applications. I plan on using a lot of the eggs to blend in raw for my protein drinks.

 

[DK newbie]

With a 2x3 pen, you can house a maximum of 6 quail. You need to have at least two, as they are social. If you want more than 6, you'll need a larger pen.

 

[rek9]

With a 2x3 pen, you can house a maximum of 6 quail. You need to have at least two, as they are social. If you want more than 6, you'll need a larger pen.

If adhering to the one square foot per bird rule then yes a maximum of 6 birds. I have read you can have more birds than one per square foot but not sure I would wanna push that too much since I have never kept quail. I can make the pen longer just not much wider. The pen I would build in the spring for outdoors would be larger and would keep the smaller one just in case I want to hatch some in the future. Do you think I could put more than 6 in a 2x3 just for the winter?

 

[RUNuts]

You are pushing density. Try it. If one bird is aggressive, butcher it. Getting younger birds and raising them together is better than introducing adult birds into a high density situation. Younger birds mean you might have roosters too that need butchering.

Winter to me means through February - 4 months. In Indiana, you are talking about 6 months? Pushing the limits, imho. Since they are in the garage, consider building stacking cages. Your work bench will get messy. Garage dusty. What is your plan for cleaning cages and health of the birds? Healthy birds mean healthy eggs. Best wishes.

 

[rek9]

I was planning on making a removable drawer to catch droppings underneath the pen in the garage. I would probably set the birds outside at the end of February or early March weather depending. The outdoor pen would have an area where the birds could get out of the wind.

 

[RUNuts]

Sounds like you have a plan. Have a back up plan. Second cage or butcher? Might find a rabbit cage off craigslist or the local resale paper for a second cage.

 

[rek9]

I plan on having only hens for egg production so I don’t plan on any butchering.