[carl]

I think I'm going to get some for eggs and meat. + a incubator.... Any tips or advice please

[Casey76]

Have you kept any poultry before?

Quail need quite different husbandry from chickens, and can be extremely flighty.  Obviously they are ground dwellers, however they can jump quite high when they are startled (about 3 feet) so need hutch at least that tall to stop them killing themselves by knocking their head if they jump.

They need specialist quail food, as the ratio of nutrients they need is different to chickens, and will need much smaller pieces of oystershell and grit than chickens.

Quail don't nest in nest boxes, but rather have a nesting area on the floor, which may or may not look like a nest.  Males can be extremely vicious both to each other and to the females.  They can be quite difficult to sex, and real sexual maturity at about 6 weeks of age.

[ANHBUC]

As Casey says they are flighty and can be vicious to each other.  I only have one male in with my females so he has plenty to keep him too busy to cause injury.  They will lay their eggs anywhere they are standing at the time so you have to be careful if you have a walk in run not to step on them.  The females will start to lay eggs at around 8 weeks old as long as they have a minimum of 13 hours light per day so if you are wanting them to lay in the winter you will need additional lighting.  They are prolific layers so you don't need many birds to have a good supply of eggs. 

I did initially buy specific quail micro pellets for mine but now I give them a mixture of layers pellets and non medicated chick crumb and have had no problems. Budgie grit is ideal for them to help with digestion. 

If growing for meat I use chick crumb and then growers pellets.  They are quite easy to hatch with an incubator and grow at an alarming rate so are ideal for meat birds.

One of the main things you will have to be aware of is toe balling which is when they get poo/dirt which dries on their claws.  They are very prone to this and you have to be very careful removing it as it can take the claw off and they will bleed profusely.  I use a mini pair of pointy nose pliers to apply gentle pressure to the poo/dirt so it breaks up and comes of easier.  The females can also suffer from prolapse when laying large eggs so best to keep an eye out for that.   

[Sassy]

I used non-medicated chick crumb and found that they are laying machines during the longer days. If you get their housing right along with feeding and understand how they operate they are easy to keep but do your homework first. You can try Katie Thear's quail book - not expensive.

[carl]

Thank you all