#161 mini-chooks
Japanese Quail
Smaller than bantams but bigger than the little quails, this is the breed used commercially for both egg and meat production. Can they be kept like mini-chooks in the suburbs?
I set out to investigate.
My mini-chook checklist included the following;
1. Will they be productive?
2. Can I feed them at least partly on our kitchen and garden leftovers?
3. Can I keep them in a chook tractor type enclosure so they can contribute to fertilising our small garden, with weed control around the edges?
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Comments (15)
I have other questions: Are they noisy? Can they fly away?
Mostly, though, how awesome is this experiment? Answer: Really awesome.
Hey thanks John. Believe it or not the quail sound like frogs or crickets quietly chatting amongst themselves. Apparently the males can have a noisy call (like a rooster has his crow) but we don't appear to have one of those amongst our three. They are not very flighty, but can fly, so the enclosure certainly needs a roof. Some people do clip the wings. Ours are quite happy to be cuddled, which is a bonus!
It's a boutique chicken! Have you any quail egg recipies?
Hi Heidi
I reckon quail eggs are the best ones for salads - like cherry tomatoes, the perfect size to pop in your mouth. I'd love to have them but the dog, pythons and hawks would be too interested. Hope your brood prospers!
Boutique chicken! He he. Thanks guys. I've looked at recipes online, but so far I've only used them boiled & shelled on salads, like Clare does, and as a mini-omelette. I'll post the directions for the mini-omelette in the next couple of days, cause it is a bit quirky and cute!
i am SO gonna do this if i have a garden one day. along with my vegie patch. have u got a pic of the enclosure? interested to visualise how much room it needs
Good point about the size Vaike, as this experiment is all about scale. I reckon 1m x 1m is a good size for three or four birds. Half a metre in height seems plenty; they can fly, but like most chooks, they aren't really built to do much of it.
Several weeks and no news about the quails! It's like missing an episode of Mad Men. What is happening with the quails?!
I need a garden to do this but can't wait until I do! I don't think they're going to go so well in a flower box off an apartment window:)
Hi Heidi,
Love your mini-chooks experiment.
I just got word from my neighbour that the strata has ok'd the vedgie patch proposal for our block (out with the bushy hydrangeas). Yay! I reckon now's the time to warm them up for phase 2: a trio of cute little quails. ;-)
Just in case they ask: have you had any trouble with rats lurking about trying to poach their feed?
I also have Japanese Quail, also called Pharaoh Quail or Coturnix Quail.
I'm in Georgia, USA. Mine were raised in a rabbit hutch, 2' x 4' x 2' high. They did well, and we got many many eggs. I brought them inside for the winter, not because of the cold, but more because their cage was out of the way when I get home after dark.
I actually found your blog while looking up 'quails sound like a frog'. Tonight was the first night I heard this sound.
Good luck with your chooks.
Hi, I have talked with alot of breaders that have suggested japanese quails should be kept indoors out of any drafts at all times. I live in a cool area and in summer can be around 20 to 40C. Wo you think they would be ok to leave outside during the day in these temperatures?
Good point. I have put the cage in a shady spot under the verandah and that has been great for the hot days we have had this summer. They also like a dish of water to splash in if it is warm. I would just say shade and water are important...maybe inside on a really hot day if there is nowhere suitable outside. Also a frozen drink bottle near where they sit can be helpful.
And out of strong winds is good too. My enclosure has a covered in area. Suggesting they should be indoors though I would say is unnecessary. A shady courtyard, or even verandah, would be just fine.
Hi, sorry I missed some of those other comments before, and they are all interesting, like Katy and her American quail and Radica and her new veggie garden. The quail are well, although I am sad to say Sally passed away through unknown cause a couple of months ago. She is now fodder for a lemon verbena (there's some drama for you John Mac!).
The other two have been helping me with my gardening and providing me with some eggs, although some weeks they aren't laying..I'm not sure if its the cooler weather, but I do find if I let them out in their scratching cage for a couple of days they often reward me with eggs. I had to get a more finely meshed cage as we had a curious and quite small goanna hanging about. But as a result, the girls weren't scratching about so much and eating insects, which I think is a real boon for egg production (as well as just the fun they must have!). So I have just a topless (but inverted) metal crate which they can scratch about in while I'm nearby. I also have created a deeper litter within their cage from sawdust or mulch, which I then dump on the garden with when I clean it out. They get to scratch more, but I don't think it has the same density of insect population within the cage as when they can scratch in the dirt. I could try a vitamin and mineral supplement to be sure they are getting what they need. I would also like to give the cage a bottomless extension in addition to the goanna proof bits..kind of like a day yard in addition to their secure area, like you do for chooks.
Yes, we did have a rat that was tunnelling under the cage and catching anything that fell through the mesh. I just had to keep it tidy, feed the girls in the morning (the rat seemed to visit at night) and move the cage every week or so so the rat's tunnels and highly sought after privacy were compromised.
Apologies both for lack of postings earlier this year, and massively long posting this time. Hope it balances out :-) It is lovely to hear people talking about quail!
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