Anyone who follows media reports about factory farming usually has no appetite for poultry, and eggs (even barn eggs) don’t really make the sympathetic conscience happy either. But living without eggs and poultry, without breakfast eggs and delicious grilled pastries? A sad idea, and that’s why chicken farming is currently experiencing a tremendous upswing. “Private chickens” on the extensive country farm are no problem, in the smaller garden a chicken coop quickly looks oversized. Here quail can be the alternative. The little chicken birds take up little space, the eggs are small but delicious. Many quails are so pretty that they are kept only for ornament and pleasure.
Table of Contents
Description and classification of quail
Quails belong to the class of birds and order Galliformes, of which there are an astounding 250 species, in 5 families and 70 genera. In two of these five families there are animals called quail:
- Of the approximately 50 genera of pheasant-like species, there are 11 genera of quail, 8 of which are rare or (almost) extinct and at most are occasionally kept by humans in their homeland. The three remaining genera contain quail, which are more often found in human husbandry. Some of the 8 species of ground quail, Coturnix, and the 4 species of francolin quail, Perdicula, and the ostrich quail, Rollulus rouloul, the only one in its genus.
- The toothed quail evolved independently from the pheasant-like quail, in America and central Africa. They have 32 genera of quail. A few of them made it to us.
Quail for the garden
You can’t keep all quails that are (or can be) kept by people in your garden – or maybe you could, but we assume that you don’t want to pick up your quails in Madagascar, but from a dealer near you. At a well-stocked dealer you will come across the following quails, right through the families:
- Chinese pygmy quail, Coturnix chinensis, formerly own genus Excalfactoria, the first dwarf quail were kept in Europe in 1794, the first offspring succeeded in 1873 in France.
- Japanese quail, Coturnix coturnix japonica, has been kept as an ornamental bird in Japan since the 14th century and has been bred to lay eggs for a good 100 years. Meanwhile, the domesticated Japanese quail differ significantly from the wild, and three types of quail (confusingly) also known as Euroquail have emerged:
- Japanese laying quail: light line, with a body weight between 110 and 150 g, high laying performance, until the 1960s the only breeding form: laying quail or fattening and laying quail: high laying performance + sizeable carcass from 160 to around 250 g AND meat quail or fattening quail: special breeding with body weight from 300 to over 400 g
- Harlequin Quail, Coturnix delegorguei: Native to tropical areas of Africa, where it lives on open grasslands. The first harlequin quail in Europe found its new home in London Zoo in 1869, and the first night breeding was successful here in Germany in 1905.
The other ground quail are rare, have already been eradicated by us or have not yet been domesticated. For example, our native (real) quail Coturnix coturnix, which is subject to hunting law and is not kept by humans.
Other quail species
The other quail among the pheasants raised for home keeping:
- Ostrich quail, Rollulus rouloul: Coming from Burma, Sumatra, Borneo, the first imports landed in 1871 at the London Zoo, where the first offspring succeeded as early as 1876.
- Frankolin Quail, Perdicula: Rarely kept, but available. The quails from India and Sri Lanka have a pretty pattern and are said to be very easy-going small chickens. From the toothed quail (also called New World quail because many are native to the USA) you could find the following at well-stocked retailers:
- Californian Crested Quail, Callipepla californica, popular ornamental birds that do well in aviaries with arboreal bird species. Keeping together with other gallinaceous birds is not recommended.
- Virginia quail, Colinus virginianus, come from North America and are one of the most common quails in Germany. Toothed quail for beginners with a chic head design.
- Montezuma Quail, Cyrtonyx montezumae, rare toothed quail from the southern USA and Mexico with magnificent plumage and crested feathers.
- Mountain quail, Oreortyx pictus, comes from the western USA, came to the Zoological Garden in Amsterdam in 1846, and the first offspring succeeded in 1909 in New York’s Bronx Park.
- Gambel’s Crested Quail, Callipepla gambelii, also from the western USA, where it lives in deserts (steppe) and mesquite bushes, since 1872 in the London Zoo, 1874 first offspring by French breeders.
Die Wachtelhaltung
So there are many (home) quails to choose from if you just want to keep quail for fun and ornament. If as many quail eggs as possible are to fall off, it is advisable to purchase a Japanese laying quail, which is probably the most common quail kept by humans. The Chinese pygmy quail are the next most common, their eggs (like all other quail) are edible, but they’re really tiny.
If you are also looking for tasty, healthy meat, it will be the Japanese fattening quail, or the “combi quail” which can be fattened and laid eggs. However, this requires a little more preparation. Maybe you want to butcher yourself. For this you need a certificate of competence (course on proper slaughtering according to § 4 Animal Welfare Slaughter Ordinance Domestic Poultry). As well as the right equipment: knife, hatchet and butcher block, a fire pit and more. And, of course, the portion of cold-bloodedness inclined to the facts, which consumers who are used to “supermarket slaughter” do not always show, but unfortunately fried quail does not fly into the mouth by itself.
The same applies, by the way, if you want to propagate/breed your quail yourself. When it comes to offspring, there are often too many cocks that cannot always be sold in classified ads. Then at some point you also face the problem of slaughtering.
A way out for several future healthy poultry eaters could be a kind of small cooperative: you team up with several quail keepers, plan and inform yourself beforehand and find a knowledgeable and experienced person who will do the slaughtering for you.
The Quail Pen
To keep quail, you need a species-appropriate stable or aviary. What is species-appropriate depends on the quail species. Check with a breeder or knowledgeable veterinarian once you’ve decided which quail to get.
Basically the following applies:
- Rabbit hutch is unsuitable
- much too small for most quail
- In the rabbit hutch with a basement, the birds can seriously injure themselves if they startle in a way that is typical for their species
- Because of this startle, a low but long cage with a padded ceiling is recommended.
- Especially during the migration period, quail are said to be very restless and often fly up, so memories of the migration are obviously still there.
- Quails can be kept in a small chicken aviary in an almost species-appropriate manner.
- can be purchased as a kit at a reasonable price.
- For many quail, 2 x 3 meters will fit, with a small pen and an aviary for exercise.
- Plant the spout densely, quail need hiding places
- All sorts of perennials and small bushes offer hiding places/privacy protection
- these should not be toxic to quail
- Quails are also happy about a piece of lawn/meadow
- Scatter beech wood granules on the floor in the stable
- does not have to be replaced every week
- In such a coop fit from 5 to 8 medium-sized quails, always a rooster with hens.
- Many quail are not very sensitive to cold and can stay outside during the winter.
- Then line the quail hutch with a wooden floor, insulate it and protect it against draughts
- must be tight at the top
- Quail don’t like snow or rain
- Litter must remain dry
- Attention at temperatures around the freezing point: quail waterers need special observation or a water heater
- The quail’s sensitivity to cold should be checked with the breeder, depending on the species
Otherwise, each species of quail has its own particular preferences that you should find out about before you start building the enclosure.
The quail feeding
With regard to feeding, it is of course also the case that you should contact the breeder directly to find out about the special requirements and preferences of the species. Today, ready-made quail feed is usually given, with corn as the main ingredient. If you don’t want it to be GM corn, you need organic feed. The groundbait should also contain many other seeds, millet, poppy seeds, etc.
If a small aviary is attached to the quail house, the quail can peck grass and feed on ants, worms and other insects. The quail diet should also be supplemented with fruits and vegetables. Quails should also be happy to eat leftover rice or pasta (whole grain).
A mixture of grains and seeds supplemented with some protein food (meat) and greens is recommended for Coturnix. Grains and seeds, fruit and greens from turnips, poppies, safflower , plantain, corn, hemp, millet, ant pupa, insects, earthworms, ground meat, mealworms, chopped cockroaches and maggots, fruit shreds, hard-boiled eggs, chopped kale and brown cabbage were all fed . Just everything that the farm gave away.
Rollulus should be fed primarily “fine vegetables” such as chopped peanuts, cooked rice, sweet fruit, and ripe pears. With the addition of some meat food, such as large amounts of living insects, mealworms and grasshoppers, plus careful vitamin supplements, grains only as a supplement.
Frankolines, on the other hand, should not be given any soft food and a predominantly vegetarian diet: Lots of lettuce, millet, sunflower seeds, lightly soaked grain. But also mealworms, young mice or as a substitute meat cubes, which you can sprinkle with ant puppets and hard eggs.
Colinus and relatives should look forward to chicken feed with millet and buckseed, ant pupae, mealworms, meat and alfalfa meal, as well as mixed forest birds and maggots.
Callipepla and relatives get the same as Coturnix, lots of legume leaves and seeds.
The chicks were given special food, but that’s part of the quail breeding theme.
Conclusion
Quails are exactly the right small chickens for the home garden. Whether you want to eat your own eggs, raise healthy meat, or just want to see a little life in your garden, there’s a quail for every purpose. Quails can be kept without taking up much space and should become quite trusting.
