anyone keep quails?

[DirtyCoconuts]

I have been home a lot lately (lol) and i have done a TON of awesome and terrible projects (as judged by their success, not the fun i had in executing them) and i have endeavoured to make as much as possible geared to either human self improvement or self sufficiency, so either something to eat or a way to enrich one's mind and or body, including a four and a half year-old -

so i got some quails.

they fit all the boxes and they are damn cute.

i wired off my herb garden atrium into a 10x12 aviary and now have 8 coturnix quails quietly cooing to my delight.

anyone have any advice or experience? they are darling and extremely calming to sit with. I have only had them a week and a half so far but they are great fun to have and I look forward to some eggs eventually but i have heard it takes them a while to settle in.

[Diane56Victor]

I used to have a few quail when I had finches.

The young can easily drown in very little water. Try marbles in a shallow container or may a chicken dripper style water system.
Some older males can be quite aggressive to young males, even their own sons, so be prepared to separate one or two.
They like hidey places, low shrubs, upturned pots etc
They are very fast! They can be under your feet as you are stepping so it pays to have eyes in the back of your head if they are in an aviary where you can walk in.
Generally they are a quiet bird.
They have some lovely colours.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

They are good eating! But it's like cornish game hens; it takes two to make a meal. Oh wait......wrong species!

[WaterWitchin]

Used to raise a ton of them every year, then release at a nearby piece of property we owned. They are sooo tiny when first hatched... little bumblebees.

One year I raised a couple dozen in same area with some baby chicks that hatched. The momma hen took them all in, and it was a hoot as they got bigger to see momma trying to sit on all of them. They patterned on her, and as they grew would all follow her around.

I released them into our back yard (about seven acres, surrounded by another thirty or forty acres on each side). Mostly trees, about twenty acres in apple orchid. For several years they would literally come up to the chicken aviary/coop to visit. Thanks for reminding me of a very wonderful memory!

---------- Post added at 09:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 AM ----------

Now raising wild turkeys... that's a whole different ballgame, and not nearly as delightful. I still have the scars on one arm from catching the "teenager" turkeys.

[DirtyCoconuts]

i am quite taken with them...they are the first birds i have experienced in captivity and i think they are a great first one.

[Fuerte Rav]

Been thinking about it!
A neighbour who supplies my hen's eggs often pops a few quail ones in as a bonus (like today!)! I love frying them - they look so cute! Slice of fried black pudding with a fried quail's egg on top - stunning!

Following this thread with interest - how long do quails live/keep laying?

[estación seca]

When I was a kid we visited a quail egg farm in southern California. Eating pickled quail eggs while drinking beer in a tavern is a very Midwestern thing to do.

The very plentiful Gambel's Quail here in Arizona lay eggs only once a year in spring, in many of my outdoor pots. I wonder whether they would lay more often in captivity? I can't find out, because it's against the law to keep them. They can only be taken during a short fall hunting season.

[Dollythehun]

Originally Posted by estación seca

When I was a kid we visited a quail egg farm in southern California. Eating pickled quail eggs while drinking beer in a tavern is a very Midwestern thing to do.

The very plentiful Gambel's Quail here in Arizona lay eggs only once a year in spring, in many of my outdoor pots. I wonder whether they would lay more often in captivity? I can't find out, because it's against the law to keep them. They can only be taken during a short fall hunting season.

Midwestern California perhaps, Not the Midwest I live in.

---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:19 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Fuerte Rav

Been thinking about it!
A neighbour who supplies my hen's eggs often pops a few quail ones in as a bonus (like today!)! I love frying them - they look so cute! Slice of fried black pudding with a fried quail's egg on top - stunning!

Following this thread with interest - how long do quails live/keep laying?

And you asked about Tater Tots?! What is fried black pudding?

[Ray]

I’ll highjack this thread with a dog story involving quail.

When I was just married and still in grad school, the secretary of the school chairman happened to be a big-name breeder of Irish Setters. She gave us the runt of a litter, who didn’t have much coat, but was probably one of the smartest setters there was.

We had a couple of finches in a wall-mounted cage, and he would teeter on his hind legs to try to see them, and would be yelled at for doing so, as we were concerned about him injuring himself.

Fast forward a year or so, and our IS club decided to experiment with field trialing, so we bought a bunch of quail and put them in small cages hidden in the brush in a large field. The idea was that the dog would point one and hold. “Clancy” found them like he always found birds on walks, but then just kept moving. Baffling.

I suddenly had one of those “bolt of lightning” ideas, and took a couple of the birds out of the cages, hypnotized them and laid them free on the ground. BAM!!! He pointed and froze like a statue. He was remembering getting yelled at for looking at birds in cages!

[WaterWitchin]

ES... yes, pickled quail eggs are sold by folks around here as a fun treat. I know a couple of gals who sell them for "pin money."