[ANHBUC]

It was really nice of daisy1990 to put a coop on the Poultry Swap Shop.  Just what I needed.  All went well, lovely sunny day, meeting another member, having a cup of coffee and chat.  Then I was introduced to her hens and quail, everything still fine.  She could not help herself though!  She had to go and give me some of her quail eggs to take home and try.  Having never tried them before I was unsure what they would taste like.  I did intend on giving them to my daughter and son in law who love cooking.  Curiosity got the better of me though.  As it was a lovely sunny evening I thought I would make a chicken salad with quail eggs to complement it.  We sat outside and enjoyed our salad and that is where I have the problem.  I enjoyed the quail eggs so much that I will just have to get some quail of my own now!!!!      

Now I have the dilemma of what breed.  Have found a breeder locally who has Italian Quail so any information on this breed would be appreciated.  Any other information on the pros and cons of different breeds would be appreciated.

Sure I will forgive daisy1990 once I get my own quail.  

[Lindeggs]

 

Ah yes!  This is how it happens!  Under the guise of a 'wee gift' instead you've been given a life-long addiction to quail! 

 

[daisy1990]

oops sorry!!
I have always been a lover of quail eggs having once bought some in Selfridges wondering what all the fuss was about!  The Quail are lovely birds, very tame and will feed from my hand and be picked up.  They are much lower maintenance than hens (weekly clean is all that is needed)
It was lovely to meet up with another member and put a face to a name and I am glad my coop has gone to a good home!

[Mulberry1990]

Don't worry 'daisy' didn't want the quail either, the first half arrived after me saying 'muuuuuum can I just...' and the second half appeared in just the same way!!
But I'm pretty sure she loved my little quail now!!
Ours are japenese quail from Sheffield

(p.s mum please can you start saving me eggs (chicken & quail) we've run out xx)

[ANHBUC]

Thought yours were Chinese quail, will have to research the differences between the various breeds and their eggs.

Looking into making a home for them but am undecided whether to go for avairy or hutch type.
 
Sure the eggs will be popular with my regular hen egg customers.  Not sure how many to get and whether to get all hens.  Any advice would be very welcome.

Going to use the eggs we have left tonight on a crayfish tail salad, yum yum.   

[daisy1990]

there is no need to have cock birds, our ten girls are perfectly happy.  Quail dont make good mums in captivity so if you were thinking of breeding you would need to take the eggs from them I think.  I prefer the aviary set up as you can get in with them and they are much tamer now that they know us (with a low roofed coop you dont really see them!) We have had local cafe's asking to buy from us, but there is all the defra regs to consider, so we now eat the eggs and supply friends only.  The Quail we bought were eight pounds each.  They only lay for 2-3 years and quail food (if you buy the proper stuff) is twice as much as hen food (some people just give them chick crumb, but we give ours a mix of Quail layers and Quail seed).  As a commercial enterprise it probably doesn't stack up, but I am glad we got them, their eggs are delicious and they make an interesting gift!

[ANHBUC]

I am favouring an avery but thought if I had a hutch I could transport that for relatives to look after for holidays.

Wouldn't want to do it commercially but wouldn't mind breeding some as meat birds.

[shetan]

i'm really interested in quail keeping too....i even have a spare hutch but just haven't taken the plunge yet.

someone  i know hatched 11 out of 12 eggs i located for him - only to have 9 drown in the water bowl ( fool)

i was thinking of 5 hens and a cock bird. are they noisy? also, someone mentioned that they smell and if frightened jump straight up - sometimes knocking themselves out on a low hutch roof.

there are lots of them available at melton but i don't feel confident in sexing them - hence the hesitation in setting up.

lets hope more knowledgable people will help push us in the right direction 

[Mulberry1990]

We have all females and they don't make a noise.
When they get close to needing to be cleaned or if it rains and their bedding gets wet then they do smell if you get close to it.
We give ours rabbit water bottles so there's no risk of them drowning, and it stops them spilling their water everywhere, they are very messy with anything you give them, and we keep their food container in a cat litter tray to minimise how much they waste through spillage.
They definitely do jump straight up if scared, and scare very easily. We had ours in a chicken coop which had quite a low roof, and lost one of our birds due to a head injury caused presumably by hitting the roof.
Now that they're in a full size aviary we've had no injuries and they're much tamer than before as we can get in with them now and they will eat out of your hand whereas before they would panic and try to escape if we went anywhere near them.

No idea how to sex them though i'm afraid, the people at the poultry place have always just done it for us! =)

[ANHBUC]

Found this information on sexing the coturnix quail which includes the Japanese quail and the differences are really clear to see.  It can be done from 3 week old birds so should be of help.

http://quails-in-essex.co.uk/sexing_coturnix.html

www.freewebs.com/quailsrus/sexingquail.htm

Found this very helpful to watch especially about the foam gland in the male (2min 10 seconds point) and that it is only apparent when the bird has 14 hours or more of day/artificial light.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfTv831gilc

Mulberry will be able to tell us if her female birds have the same feathering.

[ANHBUC]

Well I just couldn't resist seeing as I won't be getting any Welsummers possibly until next spring.   

They are Italian quail aged between 5 and 7 weeks as they were from 2 broods.  Will be able to tell their sexes at about 8 to 10 weeks by their plumage.  Hoping for 3 hens and 1 cock bird, but have the option of changing them if we have too many cock birds.

Here are a few photos of the new brood, one is a little camera shy but they are settling in well.  Have adapted the Ark joyfull kindly swapped me.  They will be living in it until I can make up my mind what housing will fit in the garden best. 

[ANHBUC]

More pictures. 

[shetan]

i'm so envious! best of luck with them and do let us know how you get on.

[daisy1990]

pleased you got some! If you have room our Quail like the cat litter box we put in their aviary.  They can jump in it and I think the sides give them a bit of shelter and make them feel secure.  Are they laying yet? They can start very early

[ANHBUC]

Have given them an old pot fruit bowl and put kiln dried sand in which they love.  They have a broken clay flower pot to shelter in and with it being an ark it has a covered coop area.  Have also put some conifer branches in along with a thyme plant which they love pecking at.  Haven't checked for eggs today so will have a look tomorrow.  Not sure of their sexes as they are different from Japanese quail and need to be between 8 and 10 weeks old to tell by their plumage.  They seem to chirrup to themselves so seem really happy.  Just crossing fingers they are not all cock birds.