Thank you for the information .

Coturnix quails and a raised pen for me.
I get 100 straight run chicks every year.
Sex out the males when its time.
I've read its good to keep a few males mixed in?
No expert but the feed to egg and meat was impressive to me.
Eggs all summer and then butcher when weather turns bad.

Pickled quail eggs are high on the request list from family.

Just like with chickens, if you don't need fertile eggs, you don't have to have male Cotunix quail present to get eggs. The cleanest quail eggs come from quail raised on wire. You get better feed conversion rates using the deep litter method, especially in cold weather. In wire cages, quail throw out and waste a lot of feed.

Keith

Keith, how do you keep your quail? Do you gave a picture of a laying pen?

I have 4' wide by 8' long by 2' high, plywood boxes with 2 piece, hinged, wire lids. I put pine, wood shavings on the bottom for the initial bedding. I have good concrete floors underneath. I then let the manure build up covering any wet spots with wood shavings. It's called the deep litter method and works well.

I keep 70 hen Coturnix to 20 males, which is a 3.5 to 1 ratio. I've experimented a lot and that ratio gives me the best fertility rate for the eggs, while keeping the hens in decent shape. I sell mostly chicks, adults and eggs that didn't hatch after incubation.

I can't find my pictures. I'll take some more.

Keith

Thank you so much for the input Keith, the boxes are directly on the cement or elevated? Could you could take some pictures of the boxes to use as an example? Id think id be more interested in the deep box if it helps eliminates waste.

how many quail in a 4x8x2 box?

Im looking at a minimum for a family of 4 actually, between meat and eggs.

I usually keep 70 adult Coturnix Hens and 20 adult cocks per box. You can give them more space, but they will produce okay without it. The boxes sit right on the concrete floor. I open one side of the lid, which is hinged long ways and bend in to collect the eggs. Higher up would make the pens easier to collect eggs out of, but harder to clean, less stable and more expensive to build.

A few years ago, Dermestid beetles showed up in my quail colonies. They greatly reduce the build up, so that I only need to shovel the pens out about once a year.

I use stainless steel bowls for water and rubber bowls for feed. Stainless is easier to keep clean.

Keith

This pen was made by my friend James's mother, back in the fifties or sixties, long before I was born. It was originally used to brood chicken chicks. He gave it to me in 2012, when I bought my farm. It's been in use for around 60 years. All my other quail pens are modeled after it.





Just some inside shots of some of the other pens. They are not pretty or fancy, but work well. I have 5 pens in current use. I have 9 more that will go into use soon, for the Spring rush. The other pens were made in 2012.







As you can see i have some young chickens in the 1 quail pen. They'll go to another barn soon. There's the last guinea of the year to hatch in there too.




Keith

When I used to raise some quail I had them in wire pens that the eggs would roll out to collect, is there anything wrong with that method? I want to raise quail again for eggs and thought ide go back to that setup.

Rollout pens are fine for most people. You get much cleaner eggs and the quail are less likely to break the eggs and learn to eat the eggs.

Rollout pens cost more to make. Your feed conversion rate goes down with rollout pens because quail throw feed out, often more than they eat. Deep litter pens are easier and cost less to make. The quail waste much less food in them. The pens last longer than wire pens. The manure throws heat, which keeps the quail laying longer and in better condition, during cold weather. Eggs are more likely to get soiled and cracked with the deep litter method. Egg eating can become a problem.

Since I mostly sell chicks and adults, I use the deep litter method. If I was selling mostly eggs, I would keep my quail on wire.

Deep litter is much less maintenance. The trays between the wire levels, of the battery roll out systems, need frequently emptied. Deep litter is less smelly than keeping quail on wire. Wire can cause sore feet and lameness. Deep litter can cause poop balls on the toes, which need to be removed. Both systems have their good and bad points.

Keith

Keith, I'm looking to start raising quail this spring, How far apart from my chickens should they be & can they winter outside. Thanks, John

Thanks for all the info!

I grew up raising chickens commercially and they used deep litter, it does work really well but I just want easy, clean eggs so I'll go back to the wire cages.

Rooting for this guy

Coturnix quail do fine around chickens. Coturnix quail don't have the disease issues Bobwhite do. I frequently keep chicken chicks, guinea keets and pheasant chicks, with Coturnix chicks if I don't have enough chicks to make running another brooder profitable.

Once feather hardened by exposure to rain or misting, you can keep Coturnix outside without shelter as long as there is 25 or more in a group, in areas with weather like Central, Ohio. I think deep snow and extended periods below zero F would be to much, but don't have any experience with conditions like that and Coturnix.

I would keep Bobwhite, the Southwestern Quail species and Chukar Partridge in a separate building, if possible, from chickens, pigeons and other poultry. If outside, 150 feet is probably sufficient distance as long as the wind doesn't blow towards them and the water doesn't drain towards them.

Keith

I have access to 4 different breeds of Coturnix quails around me. Do they all taste the same and same egg size?

The different colors of Coturnix quail all have meat and eggs that taste the same. Diet can change the flavor some. For a long time there was 4 colors available. Now with the new patterning genes and modifiers, there is a very large number of different appearances for Coturnix. I get well over 60 variations in my Coturnix.

Unlike chickens, there are no fixed breed standards for Coturnix. Even the word Jumbo, in referring to Coturnix, has no agreed upon, set meaning. Most Coturnix hens will weigh from 11 to 16 ounces now and most males are about 1 1/2 ounces lighter than the hens.

What people call jumbo browns, which are a size selected version of the wild type, were the first bigger Coturnix. Now most of the colors have the same potential size, if selected for it.

Smaller to medium sized Coturnix lay better than the really big ones. Eggs average 14 grams.

Keith

Lots of good information

Thanks Keith! You answered everything and more!

For all who thanked me, you're all welcome. I am glad to help.

Please feel free to ask if you have any more questions on quail.

Keith