Starter Quail?

[Beccatrix]

Hello! I was hoping to find 4-5 young females to raise just for eggs for 2 adults (with consideration in the future to add a male for breeding and meat).

How are quail at brooding their own eggs?

We were thinking of taking a corner of our duck house and wiring it off, and having it lead out to a covered flight pen with mouse wire on the outside and perhaps netting on the inside. We're in Wisconsin, so we also need to be prepared for winter weather.

Any sources of info for beginners would be appreciated!

 

[muddy75]

Some coturnix will go broody but it’s not the norm. Your planned set-up sounds great and quail acclimate really well so should be able to survive wisconsin winters without supplemental heat as long as they have draft-free dry area to escape the worst weather. Mine are in aviary setting and I’ve only lost a few in extreme weather conditions (mainly ice)

 

[Nabiki]

Your setup sounds good. I agree with @muddy75. Your quail are very unlikely to go broody and raise their own chicks, so if you want to raise them, you probably want to plan on incubating them.

For general information, I would start with the articles here.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/quail.32/

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Hello! I was hoping to find 4-5 young females to raise just for eggs for 2 adults (with consideration in the future to add a male for breeding and meat).

How are quail at brooding their own eggs?

We were thinking of taking a corner of our duck house and wiring it off, and having it lead out to a covered flight pen with mouse wire on the outside and perhaps netting on the inside. We're in Wisconsin, so we also need to be prepared for winter weather.

Any sources of info for beginners would be appreciated!

Quail are not known for being broody, unfortunately it has been breeded out of them over time. There is a rare chance they could be but you're better off buying a smaller incubator because it's a very rare chance.

Avairy set ups are more than fine, the quails will love them, just make sure you do use small holed wire like 6mm or 13mm to prevent rodents getting in. Give them a place to hide from cold winds such as a house. Very hardy birds.

Raised cages are also fantastic, pretty easy to DIY and reduce predators by an enormous amount. It is recommended you give 1ft² per bird so it would be 6ft² if you plan to add a male later.

Lots of resources here, go to articles for consise information.