Some time ago I wrote about why you might want to consider keeping quail if you can't keep chickens. This raised quite a few questions, so I thought I'd go into more detail on them.
There are various types of quail, but the one I'll focus on is the Japanese, or coturnix, quail as this is the one I have most experience with and they are the most prolific egg layer with the largest egg. They aren't very long lived as quails go. They live an average of three years, whereas, a bobwhite quail, for example, will live 6-8 years.
How Do you Sex Quails?
Japanese quail come in a variety of colours. Some of which can be sexed by the different distinctive feathering.
On the left are females with speckling on the chest and on the right is the male of this same type with a plain chest and the red/brown face mask. This face mask will be less distinct out of breeding season, but still visable.
However, some colours don't have an obvious difference between the sexes. The only sure ways to tell in this case is when they are in season (their season is dependant on the length of the days). Of course the females will lay eggs and the males will crow, but you have to catch them in the act. So a quicker way to find out would probably be to gently squeeze the vent and a male will produce a foam which carries the sperm. If they've been laying, the females will also have a distinctively wider vent.
Female on the left and male on the right. Apologies for the blurry pic, virile quails don't like to be held or stay still! Hopefully you can see the foam though and that's coming from the swollen gland underneath the vent.
Housing and Feeding Quail
Keeping Japanese quail is similar to chickens, except they won't necessarily shelter at night and they won't roost. You could keep them as pets indoors or on something like a balcony or veranda in an old rabbit cage. They'll only need about the area of an A4 piece of paper per quail. I would recommend a highly absorbent material to line the cage that they can also scratch around in, such as wood shavings. They can quickly start to smell otherwise. You could also use sand or a soil sand mix which would work as a dust bath too. If you use wood shavings then having a separate dust bath is a good idea.
If you're keeping them outside, then just look at something fully enclosed which is predator proof for them. Unfortunately free ranging them is not ideal as they are liable to fly over the fence. They don't have a sense of home like chickens do and they are also a target for a lot more predatory birds than chickens are.
Quail can be surprisingly hardy or incredibly fragile. I’ve watched them being rolled around like little footballs in stormy weather and found them all in good health the morning after. They won't take shelter from anything but the hottest sun. They aren't graceful and when they take off, landings will usually be rough. Most of the time they come out fine, but sometimes they will end up with broken or dislocated toes, feet or legs. Stress can cause sudden death, but what kills one won't faze another.
When planning out the quail enclosure try to avoid small gaps that they might get stuck in, because you can guarantee one will get stuck in it! Bear in mind that they will take flight in an uncontrolled way and land in the least expected places. We have an arched shelter and it was too close to the fence. Twice we had a quail get stuck on its back between the arch and fence, presumably after landing on the arch and sliding down. One wasn’t there for long, but died and the other was there for quite a while. It was hungry and thirsty when I found it, but didn't seem too perturbed by its situation otherwise. These days I make sure to leave a good gap around everything and check on it regularly in case it's shifted.
Yes, that's a pigeon under the shelter and she's nesting on the floor like a quail!
Access to fresh water is, of course, a must and feed wise you can get a complete game bird feeder which provides for their high protein needs. However, I feed them the same as the chickens just with a larger portion of the high protein pellets.
How Noisy Are They?
If you're keeping quail indoors or with close neighbours in earshot then the question occurs of how noisy they are. Females are for the most part quite quiet. They will make little chirruping sounds, but occasionally they'll raise their voice a bit if they get separated from companions. Males will make chuntering sounds to call females over for food and they will crow. It depends on the quail as to how loud that crow is. Some have very soft, gentle crows whereas others belt them out. However, the loudest crow is by no means as loud as a chicken rooster crow and I've heard other types of quail are also much louder. If you want to know what a typical coturnix quail crow sounds like there's one at the end of this video. He's a loud crower.
Apparently they can be loud enough to bother close neighbours. I have friends who've told me they've had complaints about their quail crowing. Some will even crow through the night. Generally they stop crowing when the days shorten in winter, or at the very least crow much less.
Just like with chickens, you don't need to have males for the females to lay eggs, so you'll only need a male if you want to breed them. If you don't want to breed them, then stick to females and you should have no noise problems. However, if you do want to breed them then you might be able to select quieter males. Sound muffling with brush, fences and walls could also be an option.
So What About Their Eggs?
Their season under natural light is roughly spring and summer. They need a certain amount of light to trigger their hormones to get the females laying and the males busy. This can be achieved with artificial light. Our pet, house quails will lay year round and when we had a male in with them he would eagerly be on the job year round. The moment the curtains opened in the morning that was his first priority!
When they are laying, they lay almost daily, so you can end up with a lot of eggs, sometimes too many! Approximately 6+ quail eggs will be needed to match the weight of a chicken egg. They are a bit more fiddly than standard eggs with a higher chance of a bit of shell getting into what you're preparing. If you have the patience, though, they are just as good and even said to be more nutritious than chicken eggs.
The speckled ones are Japanese quail eggs. In the centre is a small bantam egg surrounded by standard/medium chicken eggs.
Some Final Thoughts and Answers
Coturnix quail are not as intelligent and interactive as chickens, but some can be happy to be handled.
I often get asked if you can eat quail or if we eat the quail and the answer is yes. We breed them and just like with chickens you'll get 50% males on average. This ratio of males will lead to fighting and hens being killed. So we select the breeding stock and prepare the rest. I won't kill for the sake of it, so we use them for food.
