Quails

[Newtothis]

Hi
Just wondered if anyone has reared quail at all. Are they more difficult than chickens - or is it the same sort of set up?

[Snadger]

My allotment neighbour tried rearing a few. They don't need much space and can be kept in a rabbit hutch. If you open the door and they fly out though you will never see them again.
I've just aquired a double story rabbit hutch and i know a local garden centre used to sell them so I may get a breeding trio in the spring myself!
I'll probably build a small aviary on the front of the rabbit hutch though to give them a bit more room!

The cock birds are noisy devils though........sound like a rattlesnake in my opinion!!

[baldrick]

A friend of mine kept them. She said they were easier than chickens. They need quite a lot of headroom as they do like to boing but they all sleep and lay eggs together in straw on the ground with no hassle....til a weasle gets in and kills them all. So use tiny tiny mesh :-(

[stella]

We had some last year and they were great. Produced eggs like the world was going to end and such pretty ones. The males sound a bit like a typewriter but we didnt have any luck with breeding them.

[Nicos]

Roitelet has had them...and we've been toying with the idea.
If I recall.....Apparently there are 2 sorts ( different colours). One is calmer than the other. Older males seem to want to kill each other
(I'd certainly go for the calmer ones)

You might be able to hunt around and find a thread she's posted on- or pm her if she doesn't spot this thread????

[super trowel]

Sorry, don't mean to jack this thred.
But I have been toying with the idea of keeping quail with my chicken's.
Would it even me possible?

I would love to get a small handful, just could never find any info.

[RichmondHens]

Just Google raising quail, seems to be lots of info on there. I've not had them myself but used to visit a farm who kept them.

I think super trowel unless you have fine mesh chicken wire they will escape from a normal chicken pen, I would think it is easier to keep them separately.

[petal]

You cannot keep quail with chickens! An aviary is the best set up with one of those walk in safe room doors, so they can't escape. Tiny mesh is necessary- they are very prone to predators. (as we found out....) i know somewhere you can get a load of eggs to incubate- the babies are simply the cutest things you have ever seen!

[stella]

We found that they didn't mix well with the chickens as they picked on them and didnt give them any peace. They were much better when seperated.

[roitelet]

I have had two lots of Quail and I did toy with the idea of breeding them. It seems you need an inccy as the hens dont go broody and they are very disorganised in their egg laying. They just drop them all over the place. I did try putting the eggs under a broody bantam several times but had no luck. They have a life span of about 18 months and the feed is expensive. They lay loads of eggs so you need to think what you do with them (an omlet takes 20 eggs!)and some time they lay twice a day.

The males have to be culled as they will fight to the death, not a pretty sight!

I kept them in a large Rabbit hutch which worked well. Probably the best thing is to buy young birds enjoy the birds and the eggs and then pop the birds in the freezer.

[super trowel]

I have red loads of conflicting topics about this.
I think I will stay clear for now

[Hilary B]

Corax Aurata (my daughter) kept quail for several months, 2 trios for breeding, and the daughters as layers. Hatched males were eaten!
Hatching was incubator. It worked OK, but when the incubator was lost (house fire) we let them die off and didn't bother again. That was at least 15 years ago so memory of the details is a bit rusty.