Anyone else keep quails?

I had four Japanese quail which I kept in my dog run (no dogs in the run, ha ha!!) until a rat sadly killed two about a month ago so I moved the remaining two to a temporary home, an old rabbit hutch. I'm getting four young quail imminently from a friend and hope to move them back to the dog run which should now be pretty much rat proof. They are such sweet, friendly little birds and I'd regularly get four eggs. Really enjoy keeping them! X
 
Don't the male Jap quail fight? Bob white can be flock mated but I heard Japanese quail couldn't because they'd been bred for fighting?
 
I have Japanese quail and they are nothing like my bantams. Great layers but skittish as hell from the moment they hatch! They need rat proof runs (I once found a dead quail stuck in a rat hole) so I have my run on paving slabs. They stink more than chickens due to higher protein food and the boys are so randy I tend to cull them as soon as I am sure they are a boy. We eat them or the dog gets them as part of her raw diet.

Mine were an experiment and I'd be quite happy to reduce the flock by half!
 
My neighbour's got about 5000 of them. They're endearing little things. Quail eggs, boiled and cold with celery salt, is the food of the Gods. Better still is when the said neighbour makes scotch eggs with them, and the mince is minced venison, and they're coated in breadcrumbs and dry and crunchy, and they are magnificent!

When they've finished laying, at about a year old, or so, they're gassed and incinerated. Such waste. You'd probably want 3 or 4 for a meal, but it would be do-able, I'd have thought.

Those who have large aviaries of finches and the like, often keep quail to clear up the food on the floor, so I'm told.

That's about all that I know about them!

Alec.
 
Mine have finally started laying. Getting two a day most days.

One's very brave and doesn't mind being handled but the other is massively skittish. No chance of rats where we're keeping them!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top