[Sassy]

Daft comment of the week from me; I thought they stayed on the ground :blink:

They fly straight up vertically off the ground and are very quick and if they get out they will fly off and not return. They don't have the same 'honmng' instinct that chickens and ducks have.

Just a note - most quails do not lay until the afternoon. 

[Chookiechook]

Yep they are ground dwellers but leap in panic.... and for no particular reason other than to stun themselves on an irritatingly regular basis 

Its also correct that they lay in the afternoon.... after around four o clock usually......

I have one that lays either really late at night (like after 12am) or first light.... and the rest of the pen lay after four

[evie2]

Ah, right, I don't think I should get quail then.  With the mayhem which is our everyday life, I don't think the poor wee things would cope

[massa]

it must just be mine then but they fly around like pigeons sometimes!

[jinty1911]

The guy I got my chickies from (silkie x sussex) had a huge avairy and kept Golden Pheasants, Parrots, love birds, canaries, finches, and 2 different types of quail (5 of them were tiny wee things) all in the same avairy.  They all seemed quite happy and I didn't see any of the quail flying.  Though he did say he had lost 1 after it flew out of bedroom window.

[Mulberry1990]

They've started getting a bit flighty when I go to shut them in at night, do you think they'd be better if I just left them out in the run at night as they can go inside by themselves, they can't escape from the run, and the entire run is inside an electric fenced enclosure.
I don't like scarring them to put them to bed!

[massa]

i leave mine to do as they please they are in a fully enclosed run and they seem fine. they decide for themselves if they want to go in or not on mild nights they somtimes sleep outside. I dont think mine understand how to be quails  they spend most of their time on the floor but do seem to enjoy a nice fly around now and again. they dont seem very flighty either they come over to me and eat out of my hand! it may be because i hatched them all and they have been used to me since day 1! still not had an egg though! im worried they are all males but dont know how to sex them!

[massa]

Mulberry i forgot to ask did you get them from storrs poultry?

[Mulberry1990]

Yes I did get them from Storrs!
They were really good! I would have come away with all the puppies, kittens and ducks if I was allowed!
But that road down to them didn't really suit my Dad's car very well, which ended up with my Mum and her Cousin stressing the entire mile down the track.

[Sassy]

i leave mine to do as they please they are in a fully enclosed run and they seem fine. they decide for themselves if they want to go in or not on mild nights they somtimes sleep outside. I dont think mine understand how to be quails  they spend most of their time on the floor but do seem to enjoy a nice fly around now and again. they dont seem very flighty either they come over to me and eat out of my hand! it may be because i hatched them all and they have been used to me since day 1! still not had an egg though! im worried they are all males but dont know how to sex them!

Storrs should have sexed them for you. When I bought mine they were sexed at about 3 weeks old. If they are Italian coturnix quail and you can post a picture of them I might be able to advise but there will be others with more knowledge than me anyway. It might be worth a try to put your mind at rest.

Mine were younger than yours and four out of five are laying but it was a few weeks after the 5 to 6 weeks advised by the books! They are probably like hens in that they lay when they are ready. Good luck!

[Sassy]

Me again!

What size is your run? It sounds as though it might be sizeable given that you have an electric net round it. Quail don't nest to lay and lay wherever thay happen to be, might you need to have a really good look round. Mine are in a relatively confined pen (although about 6 times more space than recommended) and even on shavings it can be hard to spot the eggs!

[Mulberry1990]

Storrs did sex mine, the comment about them not laying wasn't posted by me =)
The run is quite big, but not so big that you wouldn't be able to find an egg in it, the electric fence also surrounds my chicken coop and rabbit hutches, it's mainly there for when the rabbits and chickens are running free during the day.
The quail coop is just inside it to make sure they're safe from the local foxes =)

[daisy1990]

Just to add to Mulberry's post (I am her mum!) we have shared two quail eggs for tea between four of us- they were delicious but cant say I am full!

Hoping for more eggs tomorrow!

[Sassy]

Just to add to Mulberry's post (I am her mum!) we have shared two quail eggs for tea between four of us- they were delicious but cant say I am full!

Hoping for more eggs tomorrow!

Sounds wonderful

[Mulberry1990]

No more eggs today!
I will be very disappointed if they all suddenly decide to lay tonight whilst i'm back at uni!