How Many Eggs do California Quail Lay a Year

[raingarden]

I give my birds my entire yard to roam.

How do you keep them from flying/running away?

 

[Ntsees]

I know someone who lets her (handraised) valley quail out to free range under supervision and then calls them back in to their aviary. Is that what you do, too? I've done this with chicks, but I'm too scared of hawks to try as they get older.

No, I do not call them back. After they live in my yard for some time (via clipping their primary feathers), they recognize my yard as their territory (plus, I put out food and water for them and so that is helpful). When they regrow their primary flight feathers, they sometimes do fly into my neighbors yard and to my front yard, but those areas are "foreign" to them and so they are uncomfortable and don't stay there long. My yard has brush piles for them to hide and that makes them more comfortable to stay. At night, they sleep in the trees. Currently, I let my birds to roam like this, and I allow it because I'm familiar with their nature. I also know that I can only allow this to continue until before the next spring. Come spring time, if I don't contain my birds or clip their flight feathers, the dominant pair will kick out every other bird off my yard.

Whether hawks are a problem depends on the birds themselves and how much cover you have in your property. My birds grew up in my yard and are accustomed to the ever-present dangers. They are extremely skittish, alert, and fast, and that helps them be safe from hawks. Hand-raised birds on the other hand may be slower to react because they are not predator-trained and so they may be more susceptible for hawks.

 

[Ntsees]

How do you keep them from flying/running away?

The key is the mother bird. I clip the primary feathers off of my breeder hens and they free roam in my yard. Once she is paired with a male, he (being completely free to leave and never return - i.e. his flight feathers are not clipped) will never leave her. When she hatches her chicks in my yard, her chicks also don't leave her. If the chicks fly over to the neighbor's yard to peck around, the father sentry guard them, and the mother just calls them all back. Currently, my oldest chicks are in their adult plumage and they are capable of easily leaving my yard. But they don't - because their mother is still in my yard. Knowing their nature, this will only last until before the next spring.

(video is from spring of last year)

 

[raingarden]

The key is the mother bird. I clip the primary feathers off of my breeder hens and they free roam in my yard. Once she is paired with a male, he (being completely free to leave and never return - i.e. his flight feathers are not clipped) will never leave her. When she hatches her chicks in my yard, her chicks also don't leave her. If the chicks fly over to the neighbor's yard to peck around, the father sentry guard them, and the mother just calls them all back. Currently, my oldest chicks are in their adult plumage and they are capable of easily leaving my yard. But they don't - because their mother is still in my yard. Knowing their nature, this will only last until before the next spring.

Wow, thank you. That's the first hope for being able to free range quail I've ever heard.

 

[maadroj]

The key is the mother bird. I clip the primary feathers off of my breeder hens and they free roam in my yard. Once she is paired with a male, he (being completely free to leave and never return - i.e. his flight feathers are not clipped) will never leave her. When she hatches her chicks in my yard, her chicks also don't leave her. If the chicks fly over to the neighbor's yard to peck around, the father sentry guard them, and the mother just calls them all back. Currently, my oldest chicks are in their adult plumage and they are capable of easily leaving my yard. But they don't - because their mother is still in my yard. Knowing their nature, this will only last until before the next spring.

(video is from spring of last year)

How large is your yard?

 

[Ntsees]

How large is your yard?

Not big enough. Just roughly 3,100 sq. ft.

 

[Sherri_Texas]

How many eggs do California Quail lay a year? Do they lay all year long? At what age do they stop laying?

Has anyone let their California Quail hen hatch her eggs herself also? Thanks in advance!

I have let my quails hatch their own eggs. The hatch rate is much better than incubation. Nature always knows best. They are all healthy adults now.