Someone else may have said it already, but you should know that "1 square foot of space per bird does not mean you can keep a quail in a 1x1 space, it would be miserable! I've seen people try... The birds were not happy at all. It was like a battery cage.
I'd say that rule is more realistic the more space you have. Like! you can keep up to 12 quail in a 12x12 enclosure... there has to be a minimum. I'd say your smallest cage should be 4x4 feet for two quail.
You should know I'm a quail-spoiler though! I mean it's physically possible but it's also physically possible for me to be kept inside a refrigerator box for my whole life, so take the 1x1 space thing with a grain of salt.
Other stuff you should know:
-Coturnix roosters crow at all hours of the day and night when lost or unhappy, otherwise you might hear it 1 or 2 times a day. It's about as loud as a budgie screeching or a loud human sneeze. Your neighbors will hear them, but they probably won't keep them awake.
- Quail are poor breeders and unless you sre lucky, you have to hatch and raise new ones yourself
- They can be treated yearly for coccidiosis! And a spot-on monthly for parasites is good too! In my experience they DO catch coccoid easily so keep some harker's on hand
-roosters are a handful. They will overwork the hens, so be prepared for that. Even if they have 8 to themselves, they will sometimes pick favorites and just harass them bald and bloody, so have a backup plan on where you'll keep any overworked hens to recover should this happen.
-they don't live very long! Average for a hen is onkly 1.5/2 years. The roosters can live much longer, but tend to get arthritis at around 4, especially if they eat the same diet as the hens which can hardly be avoided.
-they are a lot more personable and tameable than people think! You get out of them what you put in, pet-wise.
-they are happiest in small groups of about 10
-quail eggs are DELICIOUS. It takes 4 large or 5 normal quail eggs to equal one chicken egg in a recipe.
-Quail eggs have a lot more yolk per-egg than chicken eggs.
-except for a few breeds, quail are a greasy dark meat. It reminds me of extremely tender turkey wing meat. Their diet affects the flavor of the meat as well!
-quail egg shells are very thin, but the mebrane is thick. So, when cracking quail eggs, try to rip them open like paper at the initial crack site, not break them open like other eggs! You will have a much easier, less messy time.
