# Quail question



## russm (Aug 28, 2009)

Does anyone here keep quails? 

I have a couple of questions if anyone can help. 

Are they noisey?
Are they expensive to buy and keep?
How often and how many eggs do they lay?

Any help would be great.


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## clumsyoaf (Oct 23, 2012)

Hiya,

I don't but a friend of mine does. she keeps hers in a guinea pig hutch in her kitchen, the do make noise but not a lot. you also have to be careful that they can't hurt themselves because startled quails will fly straight up in the air. 

They're very cheap to buy and to keep, but you need to watch your m/f ratio because the boys pester constantly, the ladies will end up with no tails.

They lay every day, sometimes twice, but remember the eggs are TINY, so you will need a lot. I'm not sure about quails eggs but chickens eggs taste best after 2 days of being laid.


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## DAZWIDD (Feb 9, 2009)

Mal quail do make a fair bit of noise, you want to hear ours first thing in the morning. My son loves collecting the eggs and boiling them up to eat.


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## spottymint (Oct 3, 2010)

What type of quail ?

Chinese painted or Japanese are very cheap to buy and feed. Only kept CPQ, the males can make a squawking sound (not unpleasant) and from what I remember a heavy breathing sort of noise. 

Other breeds may be more expensive, like Californian etc.

Some of the larger breeds like to perch & would need more room.

For egg production, Japanese/corturnix would be the best.


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## russm (Aug 28, 2009)

It would only be females I would need as I am after the eggs to feed my tegu. By the sound of it tho I would end up with too many eggs unless I can find family or friends that would eat them too.


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## SilverSky (Oct 2, 2010)

i have kept japanese quail for years.

they lay really well, and even through the winter you'll still get at least half the usual amount. during summer all females will lay every day.
females are pretty silent, even when they make a noise they are quiet.
they need a good protein strong diet or they will start to peck each other. we use meal worms (alive or dried) and they work well, a few each sprinkled around once a day.
they also get chick crumb and finch seed, along with small grain grit. they will also peck at things like brown bread and cabbage.
they are best kept in an out building or garage/shed with good lighting, as outside they leave themselves vulnerable to rats etc digging in, and to cold, as they don't go to bed to roost like chickens, they will just sit outside.
ours are in a large homemade almost viv type thing, it has a glass front, a strip light, and mesh on the sides, with a lift up roof. when i had several groups i also used high sided pens with open roofs.

any questions feel free to pm me :2thumb:

p.s if you get too may eggs you can eat them they are really nice, feed them to dogs, or just leave them out for badgers/foxes somewhere.


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

My cats and opossum enjoy hard boiled quails eggs too so you could give them away to cat owning friends if you don't have your own


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

Or eat them yourself hard boiled (matter of minutes) with some smoked salmon! Better still sell them to friends - have you seen the price of quails eggs in the supermarkets?


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