A Beginner’s Guide to Raising Quail: Supplies, Tips & More

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Everything you need to know about caring for these small birds

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Preparation

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Buying & Hatching

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Caring for Chicks

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Video

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Q&A

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Tips

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Things You'll Need

Quail are small wildfowl that can be raised in a backyard cage. Unlike chickens, most city ordinances don't restrict or outlaw raising quail. They are quiet, small, even-tempered birds that can produce about five to six eggs per week. Make sure you raise them in sanitary conditions with plenty of light, water, and food.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Preparing to Raise Quail

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Quail are small and fairly easy birds to look after but do need time for feeding, refilling water containers, cleaning the cage, checking up daily, and collecting eggs. You may also encounter many problems while raising quail for the first time.
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Find a space in your yard or on your balcony where you can hang a quail cage. Clear the space underneath in which to place straw. This will help you to collect and remove waste.^{[1]XResearch source}
- You can also decide whether to house your quail in a different sort of housing like a rabbit hutch or something alike. However, the cage above is set up in a way to prevent diseases since quail waste is high in ammonia.
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Purchase a long, narrow cage and hang it from an overhang on your house, garage or balcony. Choose somewhere that has access to light, but is blocked from strong winds. Most quail cages are built of open mesh wire, since the birds need shelter, but plenty of air.
- They should be housed away from predators including pets and the room shouldn't have any disturbances.
This will allow you to increase egg production in the fall and winter months. The birds need 15 hours of light per day to produce eggs but any more and they will get stressed from lack of sleep.^{[2]XResearch source}
A mature bird can cost around $5, while you can get 50 eggs for about $20. Along with the eggs you'll have to prepare to spend a lot of time caring for a bunch of chicks and you will also have to purchase some extra equipment. If it's your first time raising quail you might want to purchase some mature birds instead of hatching chicks.
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Decide how many birds you need based on your egg consumption. Figure out your weekly chicken egg consumption. It takes five quail eggs to equal one chicken egg and your mature females should lay one egg every day.^{[3]XResearch source}
- Plan to get one female bird (through hatching eggs or pairs of mating birds) for each chicken egg you eat.
- Quail eggs can be consumed like chicken eggs; however, it requires more birds to produce the same amount.

Part 2

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Buying & Hatching

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1
Look for a good egg-laying breed. Coturnix are highly recommended birds to keep. They aren't just good egg producers but they can also be kept as meat and are really easy to look after. If you're looking for quail that lay bigger eggs you should go for the jumbo Coturnix.^{[4]XResearch source}
- Coturnix quail are also known as Japanese quail. You'll also get different coloured Coturnix quail such as the tuxedo quail which is a white and brown colour.
- Coturnix usually start laying at 6-8 weeks when they mature. From then on they will lay 1 egg every day.
- If you're not sure about Coturnix you can buy other popular breeds such as the Scaled Quail, Gambel's Quail, or the Bobwhite Quail. However, Coturnix quail is the recommended starter breed.
The best idea is to use contacts in the local livestock or urban farming community to get birds that are acclimated to your climate.^{[5]XResearch source}
They can be sent via mail; however, you may suffer higher mortality rates than if you buy locally.
If they don't get quail each spring with their chickens and guinea fowl, they may be able to order them specially for you.
A preponderance of females will ensure plenty of egg production in your flock. At the same time, you'll probably only be able to house one male in each cage; if two or more males are kept in a single cage, the dominant male may attempt to kill all other males to ensure that only he will be able to mate with the female quails.
You can also order them in advance online. Your incubator should include an egg turner.
Keep a humidifier or dehumidifier nearby to adjust the humidity. Humidity controls unnecessary loss of moisture in the egg.
It is essential that you keep it even at this temperature.^{[6]XResearch source} It will take a Couternix egg about 16 to 18 days to hatch at this temperature, while other breeds take 22 to 25 days.
Then, the tray must turn 30 degrees each way every day to keep embryos from sticking to the shell.

Part 3

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Caring for Chicks

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Gradually lower the temperature from 100ºF (40ºC) to room temperature by three degrees each day. Cold chicks will bunch on top of each other whilst hot chicks will pant.
Then, give them more space as they grow.
Chick starter provides more nutrients for your chick which is what they need, and when they get older they do not require this diet anymore. You can purchase some turkey starter or some chicken starter and grind them up into smaller grains so that the quail chicks can eat it. Any feed that is high in protein should be alright.
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Provide quail with clean drinking water. Clean and refill their water containers daily.
- Make sure that the chicks cannot drown in the water container and have easy access to it. Most breeders will put marbles in the water container to prevent the quail from drowning.
You can add some of it to your compost. Quail waste is high in ammonia, so it must be changed frequently.
Wash it once per week to avoid disease and illness.
Special laying food is available at most feed stores. Ask if it is good for laying birds before you buy it. If you are raising quail for meat, change their food to a finisher diet instead of a laying fowl mix.
The grit will help grind down the food and the oyster shells provide calcium for the quail to lay strong, healthy eggs.
The females will start to lay and they will have poor egg production levels if they are exposed to other animals, noise or other disturbances.

Community Q&A

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Question
Are quails easy birds to breed?
Community Answer
The answer to your question is unfortunately no. Quails are hard birds to breed, which many people believe is due to the ''years of domestication''. There have been occurrences of quails hatching their own chicks and it can be done. But keep in mind the best way to trigger a quails broodiness is to set them in a natural habitat with nesting material and plenty of hiding spots. There are other methods you can take to hatch some quail chicks. If you have a male quail and female quail together, you'll get some fertile eggs. Collect these and you can incubate them, which will guarantee a hatch. Alternatively, you can set some fertile eggs under a broody bantam hen.
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Why are my quails losing their feathers on their heads and backs?
Community Answer
It sounds like you have a bully in the flock. Quails peck/pluck at feathers to show dominance. If the pecking is severe you most likely have more than one male quail in the flock. Males should be separated to avoid conflict. Another reason is a lack of nutrients in their feed if you truly think there is no conflict between them.
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Do heat lamps bother quails?
Community Answer
If it is too hot, then yes, and also if it is on all night and day. Telling the temperature of your quail is easy. If your quail is cold, it will be huddled in a corner and puffed up or right in the middle of the heat lamp. If the quail is too hot, it will move away from the heat lamp and pant its beak. Also, leaving the light on all night and day will cause stress. Turn off the heat lamp during the day or just before/after the quail huddle up to sleep.
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If you are a beginner in raising quail, ask other people for advice. Raising quail for the first time isn't easy so it's a good idea to ask other people for their advice based on their experience with quail. You can ask people who have raised quail around the neighbourhood or ask online.
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