I think I'm wanting to start raising quail . They will be for meat and eggs. I'm thinking bout raising enough for me and even selling them. Just don't know what kind of number of birds to start with? I got plenty of room and I can build about anything . Im thinking of the a&m quail. Say if I started with 20 quail how many roosters do I need ? Should I keep the breeders all in the same pen or separate them something like 10 birds per pen ?any ideas or input on birds coop and feed ?
I am new to this and just starting with my first batch of babies. I found this thread really helpful. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/102281/coturnix-quail-basics-information-and-pictures-galore
Dear Strummer, I too am new to quail. Have had chickens for many years but first go at quail. All came about because we love to eat fried quail and grilled quail wrapped in bacon and they are hard to find dressed out. So we bought 30 Texas A&M Coturnix quail about 30 days ago. Have viewed the thread above and found it very informative. Right now my concern is all the noise they are making at night. Afraid my neighbors may complain. Not sure what is causing them to be so vocal at night, perhaps a full moon? It's not a predator, I have heard those noises too and it's not the same. From threads and info I have read, I don't think we will be getting any eggs to hatch out until spring. I love my Aggies and they are all very gentle and sweet. They do eat a lot and I'm trying out different feeders searching for one that will keep them from wasting so much. They scatter it out and it falls on the ground. I have already covered 3 sides of their hutches with heavy duty plastic to block out the rain and winds. Learning something new about quail every day. Good luck on your new adventure.
For good fertility, you need about 4/5 females per male, but if you keep 2 males together you should up that to around 6/7 females to male. It's probably easier to keep them as smaller breeding groups of 5 hens and a male, if you want them for meat then the popular choices are a&m which I believe have white meat and jumbos which are normal brown quail colours but are larger.
Well I think I'm going to go ahead and start building a coop . Nothing fancy just a 8 or 9 foot long and 24 in or 36 in deep and maybe 16 to 24 tall .does that sound about right ?
