Laying Hens: Quail

Diversity.

That’s one of the most important aspects of permaculture, and one I’m striving to achieve on our farm.

This was a big factor on why I decided to bring another breed of laying birds onto our farm. AND the fact that our ducks mostly lay during the springtime and chickens had gone on a 3 month laying sabbatical.

After doing some digging, I found a family that sells adult quail who were relatively local. They are a homesteading, homeschooling family. One of their sons ran the qail business all by himself – how could I not support them?!

Everyone immediately things of chickens when they want to start growing their own eggs, but I do want to highlight quail as a good option for beginners!

Why Quail?

I personally feel that quail may be a good option for families who are not able to raise chickens on their property.

Lack of yard space, HOA regulations, or lack of confidence can definitely prevent many families from raising chickens. Quail; however, can be raised in a much smaller space, can be easily concealed, and are generally less of an investment than chickens.

Here are some more of quail’s bonus points:

Smaller bodied, so they’re easy to handle.

Safer around children.

Fast development (anywhere from 6-8 weeks until maturity).

Dual purpose for egg laying and meat production.

Easy to butcher and don’t require expensive equipment to process.

Require less coop space (about 1 sq foot per bird)

They are very quiet, and don’t attract attention.

Can be kept indoors in a shed, barn, or garage (although we do prefer our animals to be on fresh grass, keeping them penned *is* an option for those who cannot keep farm animals on their property).

Downsides to Quail

There are always cons to every addition to the homestead. Overall, I love these additions to our farm, I wouldn’t be doing you a service if I neglected to mention the downsides to them.

Their size, while a pro, is also a con.

For our family, we generally use about 12-18 chicken eggs for breakfast. That’s anywhere from 36-48 quail eggs needed to meet the normal needs of our breakfast.

The small size of the bird can be a downside as well. They can weasel their way out of the smallest spaces and are very good at hiding! We had an episode where the coop door was left slightly open and spent almost two solid days searching for them! (They were hiding in woodpiles, the garden, and tall grass.)

Quail are easy prey for most animals from coyotes, foxes, birds of prey, and even barn cats.

Getting Started

I found a great family who’s son raises and sells quail on his own. This 12 hear old entrepreneur had a breeding schedule, butchering schedule, filled egg orders, and sold adult birds for his own business. Not only did I want to venture into quail, but I wanted to support his journey as well!

We picked up several male and female coutuenix quail. They were a myriad of colors and their eggs were absolutely adorable! Some had Caledon lines, so we had some lovely blue and blue spotted varieties.

The plan is to breed and hatch our own eggs. The general ratio for males to females is recommended 1:5 to get good hatch rates.

We found two great options for quail houses that allows us to keep them inside during the winter months and can move them outside on fresh grass during the summer

Due to the egg size, special cartons are needed when selling or transporting.

Do you have any fowl on your farm? Would you consider raising quail?