Quails vs chickens for eggs?

[Nabiki]

By what you say that if the flock is big enough you can give hens 4sqf per 1 hen but can it be done with quail? If I have 25sqf(which is good for 25 quails) could I possibly add another 10 or 20 quails in that space for them to still have enough room to be happy? If It can be done with quail I guess then they're just better for eggs comapring to hens. Of course more cleaning is needed.

25sqf of space can't house 6 Hens since the flock is too small but it can house maybe 3 hens that will give me 1-3 chicken eggs daily

25sqf can house 25 quails which will give me around 3-4 chicken eggs daily. But since quail flock of 25 is bigger/more space for them
maybe if I add 10 or more quail then I'll get 1-2 chicken size eggs.

There is no such thing as too much space. You can have only 6 birds in 25 square feet if you like and they will be very happy. Just make sure they have plenty of hiding places. The should have a minimum of 1 square foot per bird. I keep about 12 per 20 square foot pen.

BTW, when you say "hens", I assume you mean chicken hens? Quail females are called hens too, as are several other species of bird females.

 

[Susan Skylark]

I can raise quail in my garage and basement, I can’t keep chickens due to space and zoning issues. I can have an entire breeding flock of quail in 6 square feet but that would be a bored unhappy hen. We don’t have rabbits for the same reason. Quail are adorable but about as smart as goldfish or commercial laying hens, they don’t mind small spaces. They also grow at ridiculous speeds, ready to eat or lay at 7 weeks. Quail require 20% protein so the feed is a bit more expensive (couple bucks a bag) but I go through fifty pounds a month for 15-20 adults and 6-10 chicks. They lay daily all year long (with supplemental light) and there is no magical difference between quail and chicken eggs except size, especially nice when you don’t need a whole egg for an egg wash or something but ridiculous for angel food cake or deviled eggs (adorable but tedious!). It basically comes down to what your desires and limitations are but I’ve loved the silly things and it is a ton of fun.

 

[CliftonQuail]

Regarding the nutritional differences between chicken and quail eggs, I found this information at https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/quail-egg-vs-chicken-egg (which they appear to have gotten from the USDA website). I don't know how old the USDA data is because it was a dead link from the referenced web page. Please note that the chart compares 100 grams of each type of egg and it's not an egg for egg direct comparison. I modified the chart to include the percentage difference. If that column is greater than 100%, the chicken egg has more of that nutrient than the quail. Less than 100% and the quail egg is higher.

Nutritional Contents per 100 grams	Chicken Egg	Quail Egg	Percent Difference C/Q
Water (g)	76.15​	74.35​	102.42%​
Energy (kcal)	143​	158​	90.51%​
Protein (g)	12.56​	13​	96.62%​
Total Fat (g)	9.51​	11.09​	85.75%​
Carbohydrates (g)	0.72​	0.41​	175.61%​
Sugar (g)	0.37​	0.4​	92.50%​
Calcium (mg)	56​	64​	87.50%​
Iron (mg)	1.75​	3.65​	47.95%​
Magnesium (mg)	12​	13​	92.31%​
Phosphorus (mg)	198​	226​	87.61%​
Sodium (mg)	142​	141​	100.71%​
Potassium (mg)	138​	132​	104.55%​
Zinc (mg)	1.29​	1.47​	87.76%​
Selenium (µg)	30.7​	32​	95.94%​
Vitamin A (µg)	160​	156​	102.56%​
Vitamin B-12 (µg)	0.89​	1.58​	56.33%​
Choline (mg)	293.8​	263.4​	111.54%​
Cholesterol (mg)	372​	844​	44.08%​

Carbs, Iron, B-12 and Cholesterol are the only nutrients that stand out as significantly different between the two types of eggs.

 

[farmer90]

Although many people have stated here that chicken are better layers than quails, I just want to say that I prefer quail for the following reasons:
1. You can stack them up in cages so they actually take less room than chickens.(No, you can not free-range a quail like you do with a chicken)
2. Quail eggs are more nutritious (and more tasty)
3. You can use quail eggs in all the recipes you use chicken eggs.
4. Their meat tastes better than chickens.
5. (Cuteness factor) They're like baby chickens who lay eggs.
I have a family of 4 and 12 laying quails cover our egg needs entirely. And I can keep them in my basement during the winter. I would not be able to do the same with chickens

 

[007Sean]

Regarding the nutritional differences between chicken and quail eggs, I found this information at https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/quail-egg-vs-chicken-egg (which they appear to have gotten from the USDA website). I don't know how old the USDA data is because it was a dead link from the referenced web page. Please note that the chart compares 100 grams of each type of egg and it's not an egg for egg direct comparison. I modified the chart to include the percentage difference. If that column is greater than 100%, the chicken egg has more of that nutrient than the quail. Less than 100% and the quail egg is higher.

Nutritional Contents per 100 grams	Chicken Egg	Quail Egg	Percent Difference C/Q
Water (g)	76.15​	74.35​	102.42%​
Energy (kcal)	143​	158​	90.51%​
Protein (g)	12.56​	13​	96.62%​
Total Fat (g)	9.51​	11.09​	85.75%​
Carbohydrates (g)	0.72​	0.41​	175.61%​
Sugar (g)	0.37​	0.4​	92.50%​
Calcium (mg)	56​	64​	87.50%​
Iron (mg)	1.75​	3.65​	47.95%​
Magnesium (mg)	12​	13​	92.31%​
Phosphorus (mg)	198​	226​	87.61%​
Sodium (mg)	142​	141​	100.71%​
Potassium (mg)	138​	132​	104.55%​
Zinc (mg)	1.29​	1.47​	87.76%​
Selenium (µg)	30.7​	32​	95.94%​
Vitamin A (µg)	160​	156​	102.56%​
Vitamin B-12 (µg)	0.89​	1.58​	56.33%​
Choline (mg)	293.8​	263.4​	111.54%​
Cholesterol (mg)	372​	844​	44.08%​

Carbs, Iron, B-12 and Cholesterol are the only nutrients that stand out as significantly different between the two types of eggs.

Thanks for posting this, I was going to post something similar but you beat me to it!

 

[Toasty525]

My quail lay every day. They take a few weeks off in the winter but over 300+ eggs a year. I also raise Coturnix which their eggs are bigger. 2-3 eggs = larger chicken egg. I can raise a crap ton of quail in the space I normally raise chickens. They also only take 8 weeks from hatch unlike chickens that take 18-25 weeks to lay. Quail win in my book. I raise both chickens and quail tho but if I’m looking at logistics quail are my best. I’ve also raise quail in coops and on wire and they’ve always been healthier and happier in hutches. I do supply sand trays any all sorts of other stuff so maybe that’s why.