Quail absolutely need to be in a predator proof enclosure. If you're incubating eggs to get your chicks, you can expect the hatchlings to be incredibly creative in ways to die. They don't automatically know what's food or water, and you'll need to tap your finger at the food and watering dishes until you're certain that they understand. Their very shallow watering dish should have marbles or stones in it, as they can very easily drown their first couple weeks. Use non-shredded paper towel or terry towel as bedding in their brooder for the first week (changed daily) to avoid slipped tendons (that look a lot like splayed legs, and is hard to deal with in a bird as tiny as a quail chick). Definitely add chick booster (vitamins for baby chicks) to their water as quail can pass along dietary deficiencies to their offspring through their eggs and if supplemented from the moment they hatch, can greatly reduce problems. A quail chick that constantly cries is usually in distress; will be up to your powers of observation of that crying chick to determine if they've not figured out about food and water yet (crying because they're hungry or thirsty), too hot, too cold, or outright sick and in need of antibiotics... Quail are very resistant to coccidia, even when freshly hatched, unlike chicken who often die soon after they've been exposed to the soil for the first time (usually somewhere between 3 to 6 weeks old) unless they've been fed medicated feed or corid in their water). Touching on the subject of too hot / too cold... make certain that your brooder's heat source is not teflon coated as the fumes from the hot coating are toxic to your quail. If it says shatter-resistant, it's probably teflon coated. Make sure that their brooder has plenty of space to allow the chicks to get away from the heat, and place their feed and water somewhere in that middle-ground to avoid chicks sleeping on the food under the heat source and refusing to move... and consequently overheating.
With all of that said, I've found quail to be very hearty and a pleasure to raise.
