4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Guest]

why do you keep quail? (Do you keep them for eggs, for meat birds or just pets?)

 

depending on your reason, which breed of quail do you keep?

 

are they as straightforward as chickens to look after?

 

are they noisy?

 

what advice would you give someone thinking of keeping quail (apart from doing some research on them)?

[Krysia]

good question poet. I am thinking the same but would want them for eggs. how good at laying are they?

[Willow]

We got quails at the request of my then 9 yr old as he loves asparagus dipped in softboiled quails eggs we also planted an asparagus bed.

 

They are even more dependent than chickens on a certain number of hrs daylight to lay eggs so we got no eggs over the winter. You could provide artifical light but I felt if nature designed a rest time from laying we'd stick with that. During spring and summer they each lay an egg a day so eggs build up quickly.

 

Hardboiled quails eggs are perfect for packed lunches and one of our neighbours love the eggs in new potato salad.

 

In many ways they are easier to keep than chickens especially if you don't have much space as they shouldn't free range but that also means you as a keeper interact less with them so I'm less attached to them. I'm still inclined to think you're better being experience chicken keepers and then introducing quail.

 

You need 1 male to about 4 or 5 females to encourage females to lay and the males 'crow' early morning in summer. It's not too loud but can be heard through open windows.

 

Worst thing about quails is they do sometimes fight. You need to ensure plenty of space and not too many males together but come spring and early summer your males with be missing odd patches of feathers.

 

They are also amazing escape artistes !

[The Dogmother]

They will need an 'enriched' run, with plenty of grasses and cover.

 

As Patricia has said, they are brilliant at escaping - a friend of mine keeps hers in an aviary with double door entry.

[Willow]

I keep a kids crabbing net by the run for those times when they get out

 

We have several terracotta pots on their sides for them to play in. And although they don't use the hutch to sleep in some of them seem to like running up the ramp and going in and out of the hutch side.

[Lewis]

why do you keep quail? (Do you keep them for eggs, for meat birds or just pets?)

-For eggs and as pets

 

depending on your reason, which breed of quail do you keep?

-Japanese Quail

 

are they as straightforward as chickens to look after?

-Yes, if not easier

 

are they noisy?

-Generally no, but I have one really noisy male that I can hear right now! It sounds a bit like a frog but isn't too loud and happens when he can see a light on

 

what advice would you give someone thinking of keeping quail (apart from doing some research on them)?

-Make your run escape-proof, we've lost a few that have got out, and they're so small they just disappear