Thinking about raising quails for eggs

[Mixedcat13298]

I was wondering what it takes to raise quail for eggs and I'm not looking to have a ton of them just a small flock to be raised alone side my chicken flock.
How big of a coop do I need?
Which breeds are good layers but also good for cold winter's
Can they eat the same kind of people food chickens can?
Which breeds are kid friendly?
I know it's alot of questions but I want to be 100% sure I want and have what it takes to raise quail and chickens at the same time with three kids dogs and cats so any info on these little bird will be greatly appreciated

 

[dpenning]

I would suggest going to the sticky at the tip of this forum as a good place to start. I'm about three weeks post hatch on my first batch so can only provide limited feedback and most everything I know was learned from reading, reading and more reading.

I think coturnix are the most common and prolific layers. If you want to eat the eggs some of the smaller breeds would be almost pointless. They are skittish but fairly calm when picked up so a small child may not be able to catch them but so far they are gentle once you have them. I would not raise them in the same penal chickens as there is apparently some disease that can be passed from the chickens to the quail. I believe they CAN eat the same kinds of people food but likely shouldn't in any quantity. Their protein Requirements are higher than chickens so need to be on a different crumble. As far as cage size, they have suggestions I think of 1 square foot per bird but also consider water and feeder space. The other hint is to only have one male per group of females, if any. More than that and they will start fighting.

Again, there is a bunch of great info in this forum so snoop around a bit. Have fun with it, they are tiny babies that grew fast!

 

[blackdust951]

how big of a coop do i need?
1 foot per bird or more 4 foot square for bobwhite gambel etc
which breeds are good layer but also good for cold winters?
coturnix are the best layers and i think there good with cold???
can they eat the same kind of food chickens can? some maybe i don't have any experience with quail but it seems they all like different things? but these foods are bad for them Avocado skin and stone green potato peelings dried or under cooked beans chocolate or foods with sugar salty food
which types are kid friendly?
coturnix quail can get slightly tamer than the rest but still not very tame
i hope you found this useful i don't know much about quail because i've never had them but yeah read other threads about quail and perhaps find better information?i'm new here myself

 

[feedman77]

I was wondering what it takes to raise quail for eggs and I'm not looking to have a ton of them just a small flock to be raised alone side my chicken flock.
How big of a coop do I need?
Which breeds are good layers but also good for cold winter's
Can they eat the same kind of people food chickens can?
Which breeds are kid friendly?
I know it's alot of questions but I want to be 100% sure I want and have what it takes to raise quail and chickens at the same time with three kids dogs and cats so any info on these little bird will be greatly appreciated

As far as a coop I keep mine in wire rabbit cages. Most figure 1sqf a bird. If you just want for egg laying you could figure a 1/2 sqf a bird. Its tight but they dont seem to mind.

For the best layers and quickest growth birds look at pharoah cotournix. Iv kept some over the winter. I just transferred them from wire cages to a more solid rabbit hutch that I wrapped with some plastic and put straw in where the rabbit would sleep. Had a few below 0 degree f. Nights and they did fine.

For the best eggs and health of birds imo. I feed mine 28 to 30 protein feed year round. Gamebird or Turkey started.

If you look at most cotournix they are basically the same just a color variant. I have pharoah, Texas a&m, rosetta, and a few tuxedos. The a&ms can be a little spastic at feeding time. But with a little handling they are all tame. A child should have no problems with any of the varieties.

They are fun little birds. Good luck on any you choose.

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

I just started out with 7 coturnix, 3 males and 4 females. The males started fighting and picking on the hens so I moved two of the males to a separate cage. They get along, but they also crow a lot because they can hear the hens. The crow isn't loud but it sounds funny. The hen make a variety of quiet sounds, including one call that sounds like a songbird. One of the hens has started laying, she lays one egg a day. I think they start laying at 6-8 weeks.

I build them cages with hardware cloth and lumber. The cage shouldn't be too tall because when quail are spooked they fly straight up and bash their heads. My cages are about a foot and a half tall. I use kiln dried shavings for bedding. They drink out of a big rabbit bottle. I tried them with a horizontal nipple but they prefer the bottle.

The lady who sold me my quail told me she was handling them every day. So, mine are pretty tame and come running to the front of the cage when they see me. They will eat treats out of my hand, and I can pick them up and they don't struggle. I think your kids would be able to tame them by daily handling and hand feeding treats, as long as they're gentle with the chicks.

For food, they get gamebird crumble as their main diet. I also give them chopped greens (romaine lettuce, collard greens, bok choy, or any dark greens). They get boiled button quail eggs with the shell, as well. They should eat any scraps a chicken would eat, though I wouldn't give them meat or anything spicy or greasy. They will eat grass clippings and grass hay. I give them a handful of grass hay and it's gone in a few hours. They also love it if you clip a leaf to the side of their cage so they can tear it apart and eat it. For treats I give them dried or live mealworms and chicken scratch feed.

One thing they love is dust bathing. I give them a pan with play sand and they go nuts. One gets in the pan and throws the sand all over the place, and the rest circle around the pan enjoying getting sand thrown on them. In general I find these coturnix quail are smart and fun to watch.

 

[Mixedcat13298]

I just started out with 7 coturnix, 3 males and 4 females. The males started fighting and picking on the hens so I moved two of the males to a separate cage. They get along, but they also crow a lot because they can hear the hens. The crow isn't loud but it sounds funny. The hen make a variety of quiet sounds, including one call that sounds like a songbird. One of the hens has started laying, she lays one egg a day. I think they start laying at 6-8 weeks.

I build them cages with hardware cloth and lumber. The cage shouldn't be too tall because when quail are spooked they fly straight up and bash their heads. My cages are about a foot and a half tall. I use kiln dried shavings for bedding. They drink out of a big rabbit bottle. I tried them with a horizontal nipple but they prefer the bottle.

The lady who sold me my quail told me she was handling them every day. So, mine are pretty tame and come running to the front of the cage when they see me. They will eat treats out of my hand, and I can pick them up and they don't struggle. I think your kids would be able to tame them by daily handling and hand feeding treats, as long as they're gentle with the chicks.

For food, they get gamebird crumble as their main diet. I also give them chopped greens (romaine lettuce, collard greens, bok choy, or any dark greens). They get boiled button quail eggs with the shell, as well. They should eat any scraps a chicken would eat, though I wouldn't give them meat or anything spicy or greasy. They will eat grass clippings and grass hay. I give them a handful of grass hay and it's gone in a few hours. They also love it if you clip a leaf to the side of their cage so they can tear it apart and eat it. For treats I give them dried or live mealworms and chicken scratch feed.

One thing they love is dust bathing. I give them a pan with play sand and they go nuts. One gets in the pan and throws the sand all over the place, and the rest circle around the pan enjoying getting sand thrown on them. In general I find these coturnix quail are smart and fun to watch.

Yes so far mine are super tame I got them at a day old and we just did the chicken coop and run and with all that loud noise right next to them they never flushed
They are in a rabbit cage right now til next week when I can sex the Texas a&m then hoping to split female two the two males I bought and in the spring we will build them an aviary attached to the chicken run mine seem to be picky on food but love wworms and grass they make nest in it
Definitely like my quail more then my chickens lol

 

[blackdust951]

Yes so far mine are super tame I got them at a day old and we just did the chicken coop and run and with all that loud noise right next to them they never flushed
They are in a rabbit cage right now til next week when I can sex the Texas a&m then hoping to split female two the two males I bought and in the spring we will build them an aviary attached to the chicken run mine seem to be picky on food but love wworms and grass they make nest in it
Definitely like my quail more then my chickens lol

HOW MANY DO YOU HAVE? AND WHAT'S YOUR MALE TO FEMALE RATIO?