Thinking of getting quail and have questions

[cavemanrich]

A girlfriend of mine cannot eat chicken eggs.
She eats my quail eggs with no issues.

I have also read/ heard about quail eggs as you stated. Another thing that I have read,,,, quail eggs were given to children going thru chemo to help with their nutritional needs.

 

[alwaysthere4chickens]

I started raising quail and pigeons together a year ago. So far it has gone well, they do not fight. The only problem I've had is finding good feed and separating both feeds. I recommend Brown's or Verselle-lagga feed for pigeons as they are high quality. Full grown quail should be fine in the teens, it can get -10 to -20 here sometimes so I put a small brooder-plate in so they can have a little warm spot.. One thing that quail absolutely love is dust baths so if you want super happy quail that is a great add-on, plants sound great too! Good luck!

 

[igorsMistress]

@cavemanrich and @WVduckchick
I've never thought of keeping pigeons before!
Are they easy to care for, what are they like?
And I cant believe I've already found a WVian here, hi neighbor lol!

@igorsMistress
I have an allergy to chicken eggs and may not be able to eat quail eggs either!
I would be raising them strictly as pets, to just watch and listen to them being adorable little birds.
Honestly I love the idea of growing plants for them to nibble on.
Do they enjoy kitchen scraps like chickens do? My friends have chickens and they are basically feathered garbage disposals for them lol

@Lizzy733
Thank you for all the good information.
And thats exactly what I'd love to do, just sit and visit with them. Especially when Im taking a break after working in the garden.
I'd probably prefer to get adult birds over eggs but Im not sure that will be an option. I dont see any local sellers for juvenile or grown quail so I'll likely have to hatch some.
Its a little intimidating since they are so so very tiny.

Thank you everyone for your comments and advice!

They might but I never gave them anything from the kitchen. If you give them scraps limit to 10% of daily rations. For a chicken that’s slightly less than a Tablespoon so for a quail…not much. They ate plants and there were bugs so I only gave them their feed and water.

You could potentially eat their eggs. There are people who are allergic to chicken eggs but can eat ducks eggs, etc.

Enjoy, they’re a lot of fun!

 

[Aquira]

As a heads up, it's generally recommended to do 1/4 hardware cloth to prevent any critters from getting in. You might be able to get away with 1/2 hardware cloth depending on what kind of critters you have in the area. With an aviary, you'd want to do a skirt and/or putting some into the ground (I don't remember how much is recommended though)
If you're getting chicks, I prefer a brooding plate for them.
Keep in mind the 1 to 4 or 1 to 5 ratio will work for most birds but if you have an overactive male he'll need more ladies to prevent feather loss. But lots of ground cover and such should help with this if he can't see them all the time.
But also know that you don't need a male for them to lay eggs. Only if you want fertile eggs.
Some say that coturnix will go broody in a natural aviary setup. So that's something to consider if you want a male in there.
I didn't keep mine in an aviary but I did notice that when I would place a hen or two in the brooder with chicks that the chicks would do much better and the hens would seem to get attached some (I did the same two hens for two batches, on the second batch one hen wanted the other out of there and got rather defensive).
I don't have any anymore, partly due to my kid being born late last year and partly due to I had them for eggs/meat but that just didn't go well. No one in the house wanted to eat the eggs and I couldn't ever cook the meat right (granted, I'm not a huge cook to begin with, but they turned out tough regardless). I know you can get quail to be quite tender as I've had it elsewhere like that but it was too difficult for my simple cooking XD;;

 

[Whiskybear]

Hi everyone, I'm interested in getting some Cortunix quail. These would just be pets, I'd like just a few to start with for now.
If I could get some information and basic advice, it'd be very appreciated!
I was thinking of having a walk-in pen so I could go and hang out with the little birds sometimes, and give them plants to peck at, ground to forage on, etc.
Is that a realistic option for quail?
Are there any kits or plans I could get for a pen? Or are there some easy DIY guides anyone could recommend?
I live in WV and our winter temps have been in the low teens on occasion, would the birds need something for heat at those temperatures? My friend has chickens and they dont need a heat lamp or anything, I thought the quail may be more delicate.
Thank you.

Just chiming in about the temperature question...
Coturnix (adults at least) are extremely cold hardy. More so than most chickens.