Coturnix or Japanese quail are a delight to raise, their space requirements are small, they don’t eat a lot, convert feed into protein efficiently, and are much more congenial creatures than even the sweetest-tempered chicken. These engaging fowl have been raised under domestic conditions since the Pharos ruled beside the Nile. The modern Coturnix has been bred to begin producing eggs when less that two months old. Once she starts laying, the hen will produce an egg daily for at least a year. The males are equally rapid growers, being ready for the table at six to eight weeks of age.

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Coturnix eggs are nearly identical in taste and nutritional quality to chicken eggs. Coturnix hens, however, need less than two pounds of feed to produce a pound of eggs. Chickens need almost three pounds of feed to make that same pound of eggs. You can use the eggs yourself or sell them in gourmet markets. Because of their small size, they are especially attractive as hors d’oeuvres, either pickled or hard-cooked. Five Coturnix eggs equal one chicken egg. Quail eggs are all different in appearance, being speckled and mottled.
Coturnix are very easy to prepare for eating, also. Because of their small size, three can be beheaded at the same time. Bleed the birds and then dunk them into scalding water briefly. After scalding in 148º F water plucking should be easy. Chill after plucking, remove the entrails (reserve giblets) and either cook or freeze. Recipes for quail are easy to find, they can be prepared any way chicken is cooked. Two birds are considered a serving.

Quail meat is delicious. Even the breast meat is dark, as is true of all birds that fly. The taste is nearly identical to chicken but really needs to be tasted to understand the difference. The meat is tender and can be broiled, baked, roasted, stir-fried, or stewed. Stewing would be a good way to used old hens that are no longer laying eggs every day.

There are three ways to get your first birds, you can either buy adult birds, chicks or hatching eggs. If you are only interested in keeping a few dozen birds for eggs, buy young hens. However, to get both meat and eggs you will need to purchase young chicks or hatch your own eggs. The hatching rate for Coturnix eggs is about 60% and generally half of them will be young cocks. The same ratio usually applies to day-old chicks, as it is impossible to sex them before they are at least two weeks of age.

At this age, most males will start to show their distinctive color differences. The males have reddish breast feathers and the females are speckled and grayish. Separate the cocks and hens as soon as you can determine their sex. If you are going to keep your own eggs to hatch for replacement birds, it is a good idea to get a few males from another source so that your gene pool remains varied. If you keep breeding related birds back to one another, you will weaken your flock and recessive abnormalities will begin to show up. At the very least, you will soon have hens that do not lay daily and fertility will decrease. Because of their small size, Coturnix can be kept in small pens. Plan on a square foot of space per bird.

When startled, quail tend to fly straight up and can gain enough upward momentum to break their necks when they hit the top of the cage. If your cages are high enough to allow flight, make the tops of burlap, nylon netting, or canvas, otherwise you will be removing dead birds as they smash themselves on the solid cage tops. Cages can be raised or rest on the ground.

Many quail breeders favor raised cages because they are easier to keep clean. The droppings fall through to the ground and can be raked up and removed to the compost heap without disturbing the birds. In raised cages, the birds will never be standing in manure and the eggs will remain clean. A nesting or brooding box is necessary if you want to get eggs. This should be a solid box with a small opening for the hens to enter and leave by and a large door for you to collect eggs and change bedding. You should be able to get into the nesting box from outside the cage. You can keep 40 birds in a cage three feet by three feet by seven feet. The nest box should be 16 inches by three feet by three feet.