My wife has dreamed of having a chicken coop. I am under no illusions that this will save money or anything. It would be a fun thing for the kids to grow up with, and she can use eggs in her baking, etc. I know it's going to be work for me.

For some reason, I started thinking about quail instead. They seem to be a little hardier than chickens, and a lot quieter (which isn't a big deal). I just think they are cool, and I like eating them much more than chicken.

Does anyone have any experience with a small backyard flock? I would probably build them a pretty decent sized aviary, and add some plants/bushes in there for a bit for of a natural environment. I understand the challenges of predator-proofing. What other advice would you give? How do you approach having some for eggs, some for meat, some for fun? What breeds do you recommend? Do the shorter life-spans (compared to chickens) let you experience the fun of chicks more often, or is that incorrect?

Also- my daughter has it in her head that she is going to be in a magical land where farm animals follow her around, sit in her lap, and eat from her hand. I've told her this isn't the case with birds. But- would any quail be more docile and amenable to some kid's attention? Or are they too wild to really tolerate interaction? Are chickens any better? I know they can be gamey too, especially roosters.

Is my best course of action to turn tail and run away from this idea, and distract everyone with a puppy?

TIA for any and all thoughts!

Talk to WaldoWings

Quail

Also Todd Smith in Lockhart. He is an Aggie. Raises commercial quail for restaurants. Knowa a lot about raising quail.

We have been raising backyard quail for about 6 months. We went with quail to hide them from our HOA.

Here are some observations. The eggs are really good. It takes about 3-4 to equal one large chicken egg. We get 1 egg per day from each female. We house them in a 3 level coop I built and keep 5 females and 1 male in each level. Hatching eggs can be finicky but have averaged about a 75% breeding rate so far. They drink a lot of water and make a mess. They attract flys. They are dumb and find creative ways to die. I assume 50/50 male to female so 10 quail will yield what I need and then I dispatch all but 1 male. So far they taste great on the grill although the portion is small. They are docile by nature but can get aggressive if a new one is introduced. It is not cost effective but kind of fun. I think I'm at about $1 per egg now.

We have regular coturnix from a local breeder and some large white ones we bought off the internet.

I'm located in N. Texas and so far they are tolerating the heat. Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions.

I raised coturnix late spring through summer last year from eggs to freezer. I had the space and my 10 yr old had the interest. It was ok.

If you do laying chickens you don't really have a meat source. If you do meat birds, you don't have an egg source.

You can do quail and it fits the bill for both if you are so inclined.

I prefer to do 1 set of meat chickens in the spring to last me all year and have layers the rest of the time.

We tried the quail with our leftover show bird feed. They were easy & fine but prob wont do them again.

I have never raised coturnix but my friend has them. They are very tame. Your kid would probably love them. The bobwhite eggs I have bought and hatched have all resulted in pretty tame birds too but not like a coturnix.. Aside from that I can only speak to the california quail. They are too wild and flighty to keep like a domestic bird.

Also be sure to run chicken or welded wire on the ground along the perimeter of your pen about z6 to 8 inches out. A predator is not smart enough to back up to dig the hole behind that wire. So they won't be able to dig in.

Too many of any bird will kill the plants in the pen. Just fyi.

And one last thing, get a pair of hog ring pliers to put the chicken wire together. They are game changers. I have the dewalt ones.

Burdizzo said:

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Also Todd Smith in Lockhart. He is an Aggie. Raises commercial quail for restaurants. Knowa a lot about raising quail.

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Check him out at TexasQuail.com

Martin Cash said:

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Burdizzo said:

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Also Todd Smith in Lockhart. He is an Aggie. Raises commercial quail for restaurants. Knowa a lot about raising quail.

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Check him out at TexasQuail.com

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That site is unregistered. I found him at texquail.com though. Thanks!!!

Great tips, thanks so much!

Thanks for the info so far gents! Greatly appreciated

There is a poster here that lives in Wharton County who raises bobs. Haven't seen him post in a while though

cupofjoe04 said:

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Also- my daughter has it in her head that she is going to be in a magical land where farm animals follow her around, sit in her lap, and eat from her hand. I've told her this isn't the case with birds. But- would any quail be more docile and amenable to some kid's attention? Or are they too wild to really tolerate interaction? Are chickens any better? I know they can be gamey too, especially roosters.

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Chickens will come close to that if they have regular human interaction, some breeds especially so. My mature hens are very fond of me, because I'm the guy with the feed bucket. I'm also the guy who will hand out treats or the hash browns from my Whataburger meal if I don't eat them. That said, they are also competitive, so handing out those treats can end up in getting a finger yanked on or pecked at pretty hard, so I would be very careful with that and small children.

My son raised some bobs in confinement years ago, but they never reached the level of trust. If they escaped they were quick to be standing at the door to be let back in, but they were always skittish and never came to him in the manner these chickens do me. I will admit though, I have cultivated this relationship.

I have only recently introduced roosters and I think that can and will change the dynamic. So we will see how it goes. I can't speak highly enough of my speckled Sussex hens. They're beautiful birds and they are as close to having Labradors with feathers as you can get.