Keeping quail as pets

[ChickenPaws]

We had chickens a few years ago, but we don’t have the room here.

Ds2 would quite like quail, but we don’t know what they’re like as pets. I know they don’t have as much personality as chickens.

Can anybody offer any insight?

Also, would they be able to live indoors over the winter period?

I'd like to know too. They can fly. Also, wouldn't they be vulnerable to cats?

We have pet quail. They can fly so need to be kept enclosed. We have a two tier rabbit hutch with a 6 foot by 4 foot run permanently attached the the front. You can keep just females but if you want hatching eggs you will need a boy (they are noisier than girls but no where near as noisy as a cockerel. If you do keep boys you need at least 5 or 6 girls per boy otherwise they pester them to death. They are fun to watch mooching away in the run and they do have little different personalities, I have a few who will eat from your hand but also a few who don't really want anything to do with me.

Oh the cat thing. We had one quail taken by a cat but that was because we had a whole in the run we had fixed with netting rather than wire as a temporary measure and the cat got it through that area. Now everything is fixed we have no issues. Sometime there will be a cat in the garden watching them but they can't get them and the quail (notoriously stupid birds) don't seem to view them as any danger. We don't have foxes around here though, if you are prone to foxes you might need to go more hardcore on the quail housing to stop them getting them.

I have cats so would need to keep them enclosed at all times. I was thinking of a rabbit hutch with a run underneath then bring them indoors over the winter, in a large guinea pig cage.

We were thinking of getting 3-4 females as we’re not planning on breeding them.

Sounds fine to me. You don't necessarily need to bring them in over winter. Ours have stayed out all winter despite the snow this year. As long as they have an area where they can shelter from rain and wind they are fine. Although mine stand out in the run during all weathers and have all been for one over winter. Mealworms are fantastic for plumping them up to withstand the cold.

Thanks for this info, it’s really useful.

We have cat fencing up, so other cats and foxes can’t get into the garden.

What do they eat? My chickens used to eat layers pellets and kitchen scraps.

Will they tear up the grass if they’re in a run on the lawn?

If you want eggs from them you need to feed high protein, most people feed game bird feed or turkey feed with meal worms added. If your not bothered about the eggs you can just feed them any sort or grain etc. Mine are just on wild bird food from the weigh and save over the winter as they don't lay in the winter anyway and it's cheaper. They still get meal worms as well. You can also give suet cakes you get for wild birds to keep their weight up over winter. They will eat kitchen scraps but they are a bit hit and miss as to what they will eat, I would just try them and see what they like.

Our run is on concrete with some straw etc on the floor for them to scratch in so I'm not sure about the grass I'm fairly sure they would make it pretty muddy in there though.

Hi I am aware this thread is from a few years ago. However I am looking for any suggestions/advice on an outdoor hutch and run for quail.

First time having them and I have eggs in the incubator just now. I have a largish guinea pig cage for indoors while they are just chicks.

But I am looking for a nice hutch and run for outside once they get bigger. And I am particularly nervous about picking a good secure one because I've seen a weasel in our back garden before.

So if there are any quail keepers around who can offer any suggestions or advice it would be very much appreciated.

We have what is effectively a rabbit hutch with a run attached for our quail. Ours is moveable so we move it around the garden which saves the grass getting too wrecked! We read a lot of advice saying quail don’t like climbing up things so we got something that was all ground level but actually they would be fine with having to climb up a ramp to get to their bedroom if needed.

Good luck with your eggs! We hatched ours last year, they’ve just turned one. Because our quail have been handled since day 1 they are very tame and love cuddles and being stroked!