Raising Backyard Quail

[Chris100]

Hello,

I've been raising backyard chickens for a bit and thinking about raising Quail.
I live in NC and wanted to gather opinions on the best breeds based on the weather here and return on investment for eggs and meat.

Do you find it worth while to raise quail for meat and/or eggs?
Are they cold hardy?
What are your biggest challenges?
Any suggestions on a "on floor" run/housing design under a tree? (And would it be a problem that it only receives indirect sunlight?

I live in a suburban area and leave our chicken coop open 24x7 without any issues of predator or egg thieves. I have 4 chickens and my neighbors have 15+. They do not shut their coop either and have had chickens for 5+ years and haven't lost one to predators. Neither run is enclosed with hardware mesh.

Will quail incubate their own eggs?

 

[Dawnjanell]

Great questions, and I'm here just to read the answers and learn along with you.

 

[mistycolleen]

Great questions, and I'm here just to read the answers and learn along with you.

ME TOO Im debating on quail as well, so what dawnjanell said.....

 

[CapricornFarm]

Hello,

I've been raising backyard chickens for a bit and thinking about raising Quail.
I live in NC and wanted to gather opinions on the best breeds based on the weather here and return on investment for eggs and meat.

Do you find it worth while to raise quail for meat and/or eggs?
Are they cold hardy?
What are your biggest challenges?
Any suggestions on a "on floor" run/housing design under a tree? (And would it be a problem that it only receives indirect sunlight?

I live in a suburban area and leave our chicken coop open 24x7 without any issues of predator or egg thieves. I have 4 chickens and my neighbors have 15+. They do not shut their coop either and have had chickens for 5+ years and haven't lost one to predators. Neither run is enclosed with hardware mesh.

Will quail incubate their own eggs?

Most domesticated quail of a size to provide meat will not incubate their eggs. But they lay early and frequently. The extra males are good for meat. It is best to have one male and a group of females for breeding.
They are not suitable to free range. I raised mine in cages i built with wire bottoms but they had trays of sand to dust bathe in and get off the wire if they wanted to. I am planning to get more Coturnix, they are quite tame and entertaining.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Oh and they are cold hardy. I raised them in TN during winter and just made sure to tarp over the cage to block winds.

 

[Hope Hughes]

@007Sean & @JaeG
Will have great advice to give here. They are better at explaning and answering questions! And have great advice.
But i can give you my opinions and experiences as to what i have learned with the quail i am raising.

• We raise our quail for meat/eggs/dog training/pets (they are not laying yet, some are to yonng still and because they only get natural lighting so he less daylight hours have impacted that)
• As far as cold hardy, that will depend on he bird, breed and how they are raised. I do not raise mine on a heat lamp but he MHP Cave. And at about 3 1/3 - 4 weeks they stop using it on their own and they go in the flight pens. We had below freezeing temps and they did just fine. I have a tarp up on the sides that get the most wind to help. But i have them in N florida so people that rais them in colder states may be able to help a little better on that subject.
• As far as housing i cant give my best opinion on cages, as i house mine on the dirt ground. It gets raked out every week. And will add new dirt about every 4 months or so. They have caves and pine branches to hide in and boxes to get into. I raise my little ones in a cage unil they are old enough to be left out and it is not a fun task cleaning the cage. To me they stink like crazy!

Now we have never locked our chickens up until we got quail. Quail attract predators lile crazy. EVERYTHING wants to eat quail it seems. So to keep everyone safe we lock them all up at night.
I have herd of quail going broody and hatching their own chicks, but have not experienced it so cant help you to much on that, sorry.
All of this is just my experances with Coturnix Quail. Everyone has their own ways of doing things. Quail are fun, cute and some are sweet. We have enjoyed raisin them! I hope to hear of your quail adventures soon.

​

 

[JaeG]

Quail are gorgeous little things that can be very friendly. They are great for children as the calm ones are very easy to pick up and handle. Chickens can pass on Coryza to quail who don't have any immunity to it so they should be housed away from chickens. Chickens can be carriers but show no outward signs of the disease - having been domesticated for much longer they have a certain amount of immunity to it. Good biosecurity needs to be in place to prevent your quail becoming sick.

As far as housing goes just make sure it is easy and comfortable for you to clean out. Make sure it is 6ft+ tall, or at the other extremem 1ft tall. Quail 'flush' when frightened, meaning they shoot straight up at great speed. They can break their necks hitting a solid ceiling so at 1ft they haven't yet got up the speed to really hurt themselves, and at 6ft they should've slowed down enough to not do any serious damage. As long as they are dry and can shelter out of the wind they are very cold hardy.

Fermenting their food does cut down on their smell (caused by the high protein food they need).

Make sure if you want a variety of plumage colours that birds are constantly raised seeing all the different colours as they can be quite racist if you try to add a mutation that the other birds are not familiar with. They can be very violent towards members of the flock that they dislike for some reason so you will need a hospital cage just in case, and a way of introducing new groups to the main group. Multiple cages are often a better idea rather than just one, especially if you want somewhere to grow out chicks.

You will need to wait until young birds are mature before trying to introduce them to the main group as well, and often you need to start separating boys from girls around a month or so old as they can start stressing out the females which delays egg laying.

Moving quail from one cage to another can disrupt their egg laying and they'll take about a week to get back into it. They need 12-14 hours of daylight to lay consistently, and if you provide additional light during winter to extend their laying just remember that it will shorten their lives/burn them out quicker. The females do a bang up job of pumping out those eggs but my girls get a winter break.

Fertility can drop off quite sharply after a year but adding a young cock, or putting an older cock with younger hens works to keep those eggs hatching. You will need an incubator as these birds have been bred for a long time to pump out the eggs and not stop to sit. In a spacious, natural environment you may get a hen wanting to sit, but if they make it to hatching the eggs they aren't the best mothers (having no experience to fall back on or instincts seeing as that's pretty much been bred out of them).

Anything else, just ask.

 

[Chris100]

Thanks everyone! This information is super helpful.

I do have one other question. I have an area that would be ideal in terms of the amount of space under a very large spruce tree in our backyard. The area however, would leave the birds in the shade. Any idea if them being able to see sunlight, without being directly in it, would be a problem?

On one hand, the tree would certainly help shelter them from the elements a bit in cold windy conditions, but on the other, I'm not sure how they'd do living in the shade.

Any insight would be great.

Thanks!

 

[JaeG]

Mine don't get much direct sunlight and they still lay beautifully. I'd rather they were sheltered from the heat of summer and the wind which the tree they are next to provide.

One more thing I meant to say - Coturnix quail hens just lay their eggs wherever they feel like it so it can be a bit of an egg hunt. Mine like making nests out of straw and most of the time they will all lay in the same place, but that place can change from day to day. A secluded spot is usually chosen so have a few hiding places/houses they can choose from where there is a bit of straw and hopefully those are the places they will choose to lay.

 

[Ulaidian]

Hello,

I've been raising backyard chickens for a bit and thinking about raising Quail.
I live in NC and wanted to gather opinions on the best breeds based on the weather here and return on investment for eggs and meat.

Do you find it worth while to raise quail for meat and/or eggs?

Personally, I find them perfect for both meat and eggs... I don't have the meat that often, but the eggs are absolutely beautiful.. and bountiful!

Are they cold hardy?

Absolutely. Of course, you can't just chuck them out from room temperature to -15, but my chicks will be going out pretty soon, and it is around 5C here. That way they build up their tolerance. They don't appreciate getting (or staying) wet, so somewhere for them to go that is dry, draught free and warm is a good idea.

What are your biggest challenges?

That thing about the water... we have lots of it, and whilst the emerald isle is lovely and all, we really do have loads of water. I have found they are fine though... as long as they have that place to go and stay dry etc. Bullying can be a problem, depending on your amount of birds, but I just ate a number of the problem birds, and now all 23 are happy enough, with the males (4) all having their bit of pie.

Any suggestions on a "on floor" run/housing design under a tree? (And would it be a problem that it only receives indirect sunlight?

As above, regarding rain.. this was my issue. What I went with was nature.. I dug out and paved, then put a layer of stone/sand/soil/peat a few inches, and then some grass. It works for me in that regard, and wasn't all that hard. Absorbs the rain, naturally dries out, and the birds work away. If you have a spot, and don't want to start paving etc, I would suggest making the walls of the pen a foot below ground, and well wired off etc.. these birds are like KFC to the rest of the animal world. The sunlight issue doesn't seem to be a problem.. i mean some people keep them indoors, so as long as the cycle is there..

I live in a suburban area and leave our chicken coop open 24x7 without any issues of predator or egg thieves. I have 4 chickens and my neighbors have 15+. They do not shut their coop either and have had chickens for 5+ years and haven't lost one to predators. Neither run is enclosed with hardware mesh.

Quail have to be enclosed.. if not they will just take off and end up somethings dinner. If that happens, your predator free days may be numbered..

Will quail incubate their own eggs?

No. You might get the odd broody one, but in general, they have to be incubated. They don't even really make nests, and just drop the eggs where ever.