When living in an area where raising larger poultry such as chickens is not an option, quail are a great alternative. Most HOAs generally allow you to raise quail even when other types of birds are frowned upon. The truth of the matter is that as long as you keep the smell of quail manure under control, chances are they won’t even know you have them. Quail are relatively quiet birds. Even when the males sing, they sound like other birds in the area and go unnoticed.
Agree, quail can be raised anywhere, but are they worth it? Yes, quail are small, weighing between 3 ½ and 5 ounces, so you may need 1-2 quail per person for a meal. The eggs, of course, are small too, taking about 5 quail eggs to equal 1 large chicken egg. An adult quail will eat between 20 and 25 grams of food per day, which will probably cost you about 2 cents per day to feed it. In the long run, it would be a good return on investment.
Another great advantage of quail is that they reach adulthood between 6 and 8 weeks and have a life expectancy of just over two years. So in less than 2 months they will be ready to eat or, better yet, ready to breed. One important thing to remember is that over the years coturnix quail have lost the instinct to hatch their own eggs, so you will either need an incubator or you will need to place them under a chicken. Coturnix Quail, which are the most commonly farmed quail, are easy to identify as male or female by the color of the birds breast. Females have a speckled breast, while males have a light brown unspotted breast. Quail usually breed between the months of March and September, when they can receive 14 or more hours of sunlight. When the days get shorter they will stop laying but by adding a light to their cage you can lengthen the season and get about 300 eggs per year per adult hen. As they get older, those women will tire and produce less. The eggs are also highly edible and in some areas are considered a delicacy. There really is very little difference in taste between quail eggs and chicken eggs, in fact if it wasn’t for that size I don’t think you would be able to tell the difference.
You will want to raise your birds in a cage to keep them safe from predators such as tireless hunters, dogs and cats. You’ll want to give them about 10 inches of space per bird and try to keep the cage about 8 inches high. Quail fly and can injure themselves hitting the top of the cage if they have enough space. The typical cage has a ½ inch chain link fence floor so they can walk on the floor and their waste can fall to the ground. If you’re a gardener, bird waste is great fertilizer. If for some reason you don’t like the idea of keeping them in a cage, you can leave them in a fenced area, but as I mentioned before, they fly so you’ll need to clip their wings.
Quail are fairly docile birds, so if you do have an escape, stay calm. Don’t run or chase them or you will scare them away and they may be gone forever. Just walk slowly towards them and corner them and you can easily pick them up. If you really think you need it, you can use a net, but again do it carefully and they should be easy to catch.
Quail really get into things. By that I mean they get their food and their water and where they go, they go. In other words, when they get on your food and water, they will leave their waste there. You’ll need to keep these things clean so they don’t get sick from bacteria or disease. Chicks should be fed starter until they are 6-8 weeks old to ensure they get enough protein. Although you can give them chicken feed, it is best to give them quail food or game bird food. Don’t let your food get soggy. Wet food will go moldy and can kill your birds.
When your quail lays eggs, you can store them for about a week before hatching. This will give you the opportunity to collect multiple hatching eggs at the same time. When you store them, you should place them point-side down and try to store them in a cool area between 50° to 55° Fahrenheit or 10° to 13° Celsius. Handle the eggs very carefully as they are quite fragile. Be sure to wash your hands before handling, perspiration, oils, or other foreign matter can get into the egg and cause bacterial growth. Also make sure your incubator is clean and sanitized before you use it, as chicks are susceptible to disease. When choosing eggs for incubation, choose eggs that are clean and free of cracks. Do not wash the eggs or you will remove the protective coating or bloom from the eggs and they will not hatch. You will need to set up and run your incubator for at least 24 hours before using it to ensure it is working properly and at the right temperature. Coturnix quail will require a temperature of around 99.9° Fahrenheit or 37.7° Celsius. If you are hatching Bob White quail, you will need a temperature of 99.5° Fahrenheit or 37.5° Celsius. You will need to turn your eggs 2 to 3 times a day at the same time. time if you don’t have an automatic egg turner. 3 days before your eggs hatch, you’ll want to stop turning them. If you’re turning the eggs by hand, it’s a good idea to mark them with a circle on one side and an X on the other so you can keep track of which side they’re on. Make sure that if you mark them you do so with a pencil and not with ink. Ink can penetrate the cover. The Coturnix quail will take up to 18 days to hatch. If you are breeding Bob White, they can take up to 23 days. The humidity in your incubator should be between 25% and 60%. As your chicks hatch, leave them in the incubator until they are dry.
Once your quail are dry, you can move them to a brooder. A brooder is a kind of large box or container with a heat lamp. You will need to keep the brooder temperature around 98° Fahrenheit or around 36.6° Celsius. Then lower the temperature about 10 degrees a week until it reaches the average outside temperature and your birds will be ready for the great outdoors.
Quail are easy to raise, inexpensive, a great food source, and can be fun to raise no matter where you live.