Hello Reddit! My name is Liam and I'm a quail breeder! AmA

Ever consider wearing a belt on your head and underwear over your cargos and calling yourself quail man?

Yes I want to do it, I need to teach one to stay on my shoulder so I can walk around with him downtown.

I keep jap quail to keep my parrots cage clean so that mice are not attracted to seed fallen on the ground. I have one male and 3 females. Cute little birds, very friendly and they all have little personalities.

Yeah I absolutely love how social and friendly quail are.

Do you breed multiple types of quail? Also, what are some interesting quail facts you have learned?

I do in fact breed three different types, bobwhites, button, and corturnix. I would love to start on Californian quail or gambles quail.

Fact: quail and chickens do not mix, chickens cause quail terrible Infections that do terrible things I won't go into too much detail but its just sad.

Ive kept my bobwhites in the same coop as my Road Island Reds for years and have never had a problem. I think it depends on what you feed them and how clean your coops are.

Yes that could be it I never read about the fact much as it disturbed me, but I love bobwhites!

Question for you, how do you handle bobwhites and is there anyway to stop them from flying away besides from clipping?

how many of the quails kinda look like you?

I would like to say they looked like me but I'm a bit on the chubby side.

What is the main purpose for breeding quail? Eggs? Meat? Pets?

They have many uses, I mainly keep them as friends! But they can be used for meat or eggs.

Do you make a job out of it, then? Supplementary income? Or just for funzies?

I'm still young but I'm almost certain I would want to do this for a living, I would sell the more basic ones a 5$ a piece, and he fancier ones at 10$ I would get a basic job, save up, quit, cash out on all supplies needed and then start building and selling. I would love for all my heart to do that for a living

What constitutes a fancy quail?

Depends, I consider most fancy quail to be more wild ones

Do people buy them as pets or food or something?

Either

You said you raise them as friends, but also as food. Do you have separate ones for comradeship and eating?

Where did I say that I raise for food, I don't recall saying that, if I did it was a mistake I only raise them for friends I'm going to be selling them as pets soon.

• Why quails rather than any other species?
• What are your quails like?
• What advice would you give to those considering keeping quails?
• What do your family members and friends think about this?
• Favourite ice-cream flavour? :P

Was going to start on pheasants but they take a bit more, so I subbed for quail.

In terms on people they're pretty nice and friendly.

Make sure nothing can get to them in their cages of course I made a custom version of this cage it works very well. http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-pets-accessories-Quail-Coops-Rabbit-Hutches-W0QQAdIdZ505386235

It was my parents who got them and my younger siblings adore them

I like pistachio or chocolate & pb.

Pistachio, the unsung hero of the ice cream world.

Pfft.

Do you have a quail named Dan?

Sadly, no

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I would keep 1 male and 4-5 female in a cage male tend to be very dominant, and on the point of your dog, I've never seen my quail do that to my dog, if they're huffing up that's a natural defence to make themselves look big, and feeder wise if you do solid floors hide some simple grain and chopped up meal worms and a top and bottom feeder, most co op grain mills sell them.

And on their stress that is pretty bad because they start loosing they're feathers and they will get aggressive just leave em alone and only change their food and water.

http://i.imgur.com/FutXDOz.jpg I might as well ask: is this a type of quail? I've lived in Sweden all my life, and I've never seen a bird like this. It just sat there in my open kitchen window for about an hour, completely unfazed by my being there. I sent the picture to my mother who dusted of the old ornithology handbook, and she says it might be a quail.

It is indeed a quail I'm not sure of the breed though, I haven't sent that one, its very pretty though, could be a blue scale.

Edit: no it isn't must've been the angle I was looking at it from, still a beautiful bird

Might I ask, how did you get into quail breeding? Do you have any specific pairings/breeds you want to work with oneday?

I would absolutely love to start on a gambles/blue scale/California valley quail, I love their colourations and the gambles quail have a comma on their head.

I started a little while back when my family started me of with three brown corturnix because I had been talking about having a pet pheasant we subbed for these cute little guys.

Quail are so sweet. We had a huge enclosure and we have a couple of quail with our rabbits and they were all best friends, untill the rabbits dug a hole under the fence and let the quail escapes. :(

That's gotta suck my family pretty much owns a hobby farm so we have rabbits, I put wire on the bottom of the cage for this reason.

We had wire going into the ground about a foot deep, and the rabbit was a little dwarf so we didn't think she'd be able to. Needless to say we kept an eye on her after that.

I meant as keep the outdoor part a wire floor and a floor in the enclosed part

Funny, we eat quail eggs here. But don't get me wrong, I love quails, I love petting and holding them when I get the chance. Those things are just ADORABLE!

I don't mind so much eating they're eggs they're a delicacy to some people, and yes they're adorable.

What's your opinion on people eating quail meat? I'd like to hear a professional perspective on the matter.

I wouldn't say I'm a professional but in my opinion I would never dream of doing it or watching someone doing it, I love mine too much

I am looking into buying a few quail for my smallish yard in the city. There are cats and oppossum around though...would this be a good idea?

Well, about doing it in a city look at your by-laws depend on where you live might be illegal to own backyard poultry, doesn't matter though I'd still do it, here's a picture of my design or corturnix cage. I stole my design off this, it's small, easy to clean, and safe from urban creatures I mean if something pushes them over, they're going for a ride but they're still alive. http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-pets-accessories-Quail-Coops-Rabbit-Hutches-W0QQAdIdZ505386235

Pretty good design. Looks rather small though. Where and how do the birds sleep? How many do you keep in there?

I keep 7 in one and I modified it to have an enclosed area instead of the roofed area open, I put a piece of plywood with a hole, and the cage is 2 feet by 4 feet if your wondering, I fill the sleeping area with shavings and grass

Think you could get us a picture of your set up?

Not much right now I'm still building the bobwhites and the buttons cage here's the corturnix design I use http://i.imgur.com/bxEdNKJ.jpg

We have bobwhites in our back yard. I hear them all the time. We live in the middle of no where with rural farm land all around us. What can we do help them "stay safe" in the wild? We have avoided even weed eating the yard near where we think they are for fear of scaring them off. I have to threaten my husband over them. He wants to eat them....I just want to find the nest so I can steal an egg or two.

I'm jelly of your farm, they're eggs are pretty small though so you would need 6 or 3 Per person to get a full sized chicken egg type of thing, and on the point of your husband if he doesn't know where they are, he can't get them, just keep an eye on him.

I wouldn't know how to keep wild bobwhites safe, you can feed them though they love greens and berries/grains

Berries make sense, we have blackberry and raspberry growing everywhere. I just want to try an egg once, they look so yummy when the chef's on tv use them. No one else in my house eats eggs. We have foxes and coyotes that live around us and I worry about one of them finding the quails too, but I guess that's just nature for you! If you are ever in Southwest Va, shoot me a PM and we can go quail spotting on the farm :) Thanks!!

Well, unlike other quail, bobwhites fly pretty far before crash-landing and can run really fast I would assume they would fly into a tree, worst case possible their ground nest gets destroyed.

I would love to go quail spotting sadly I'm only in Ontario, Haha.

Are they really super friendly? Will they come up and let you pet them and what not?

They're friendly in the point when they won't run away from you unless they're bobwhite, they tend to be really timid.

What do you do with them in the winter?

Haven't owned them long enough I started this year, but I'm going to put a tarp over them and some bedding on the inside

Where do you live? I have been thinking about keeping Corturnix for eggs, but I'm in the north east US and I hear they're not as hardy as chickens in the cold. I've read about people heating their coops in the winter or bringing them inside. Any insight?

I live right next to the border of US and CA but if you heat them they lay eggs all winter but that shortens their life span by a lot they will die of exhaustion I would just put a tarp over em or bring them inside

Just putting a tarp over chicken wire is enough? Does that keep their water from freezing? If you bring them inside, how do you handle keeping them and cleaning up after them?

ASK ALL THE QUESTIONS! sorry, but I'm having a really hard time finding a good resource on keeping them. And I would just keep chickens, but I can't keep "barnyard fowl" in the town I live. Quail, however, are game fowl :)

Well depends, they should be fine with some bedding and a tarp because if you didn't quail sleep in heaps to keep each other warm.

In terms of water freezing I'm not sure about that one

Here's a pic of the design I use for corturnix http://i.imgur.com/bxEdNKJ.jpg

I don't really have questions I just wanna see endless pictures of quail please.

I have a lot of them not uploaded I'll send you a few when I get home.

Yessss, thanks <3

Are you a Barbie is my question

No, I was built in a laboratory.

I'm going to pretend I didn't see that rubbing eyes

My username is based off a Japanese song of the same name by a band called capsule. Here are the lyrics in English.

I see

how does quail taste in comparison to chicken? how about their eggs? is quail more nutritious and healthy than chicken?

Er, I'm not one for eating them or they're eggs, but they're supposed to be a delicacy.

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Never. Ever.

You should try one, they're really quite delish.

God damnit, Terrence get outta here

Any good Quail recipes

Sorry, I can't bring myself to eat them or cook them.

Do they make good pets?

Very good pets, I have em around for when if eel lonely.

Are they as soft as they look? Do they let you hold them?

Most of the time they don't mind, and yes they are very soft.

Did you like Jurassic Park? Is working with quail like working with little dinosaurs?

Yes and yes

How many do you have? Also how did you start doing this?

My parents started me out few months ago I started out with three and I've done 2 hatching egg batchs and sold a few of them I have 16 of my own corturnix.

How do you keep your's from scalping each other? I kept anywhere from 2-20 for a few years and besides giving them their own cages entirely, they would go on random murder rampages and I'd end up with one healthy lady walking around as normal and the others cowering in the corner bleeding. They were kept in 4'x2' cages, in trios.

Also, I'd like to see pictures of your cage set up if possible. :c)

Depends, if they're stressed out quite a bit they will start doing that

There was never any difference that I could tell. They had their own little building, no extreme weather/temps. It only seemed to be the laying females that did it, as I kept the males in a different location.

They're weird little critters, so kudos for raising them!

That's odd maybe they'll stop if you add a male mine don't do that and I keep a male and 4 females in one cage.

The coop design I use http://i.imgur.com/bxEdNKJ.jpg

How good are they as pets? Do they crap all over the place? do they gtet along with cats to the best of what you know?

I keep my birds outside and my cat is an indoors cat. I would assume they aren't a good mix

In your opinion, would quails do well as pets?

They are amazing as pets I lie them m

They are amazing as pets I like them, also why did that go through twice '._.

Is the ability to misspell potato a common trait?

Topater, nor sure.

Is it true that you cannot eat quail for a month straight? The old-wives tale I've heard is that your body get oversaturated with something in quail and you start throwing it up after a few weeks. Do you know anything about this?

Like I've stated before I don't eat quail so I wouldn't know :p

Can you do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around?

That's what it's all about!

And yes I can.

There is this Colombian restaurant by me that serves quall eggs, I just want to say your awesome for breeding them...even though I'm eating them sadly...they are just delicious and they are one of my favorite foods...god bless quail breeder where ever you are and may you win the lottery

I wish, to be honest with my lottery money I would spend it all on maxing out on a property for my quail and whatnot

I've alway wanted to have a large aviary of tones of different birds, including quails! Tell me, how we'll do they get on with other birds that mock them for being flightless?

I know that someone keeps them with his parrot I'm pretty sure they should do well if there isn't just one of them.

Would you say a pet quail is an outdoors-only kind of pet, or do they do well indoors (i.e. not pooping everywhere)?

Outdoors for sure, I can't wait to just make them an area around their

Outdoors for sure, I can't wait to just make them an area around their pen for them to kinda free range.

How does one go about breeding quail? Do you just put two of them in a cage and dim the lights? Do you control who's boning whom or is it just some kind of free-for-all and you're just there to look approvingly at the eggs?

Well usually if you want them to lay eggs or get "boned" you give them 12-14 hours of light every day so say have an automated light if you can get one

Top five movies??

I don't really watch a lot of movies I'm just gonna say every Star Wars movie except for the phantom menace.

What's your opinion on Dan Quayle?

< doesn't know who that is. But I'm going to say cool.

Mmmmm quail........drooollll

Eh...

How hard(if not impossible) is it to find a woman who is interested? Most women I've ever known are fucking horrified of birds/flapping wings. Thanks!

Haha, most women I know adore birds, I'm mostly just friends but I think there one for me. There is for everyone!

How long have you had your breed of bird they'll get used to you and stop flapping if you don't scare the crap out of them.

No birds here! Just from experience! I've taken women to a literal "swallow cave" in the area. To see them come and go, women hate that shit so I get all protective and not let those terrible beasts get them..... Great first date idea.

Wow I might have to steal that if I ever have to, Haha!

Do you have to use timed lights to imitate the light schedule for mating season?

12-14 hours ^{_^}

I came here to ask you about hunting quail.. I see now that's not what you intended them for. Whoops.

Haha, I do hunt but not for birds I hint for moose with my father and pop it's pretty fun.

I'm definitely a wingshooter,I like having the dogs with me. But unfortunately I've never hunted bigger game like deer,moose,elk etc. I've always wanted to give it a try. What kinda rifle are you using for a moose?

Not sure I just know they're my grandfathers if you want I can ask him next time I see him.

OMG...im so glad your here. Remember when BOY'S LIFE had those "quail egg" hatchery sets for sale. I bought them twice and none of them hatched. Did they really think quail eggs could survive in the mail?

I bought a dozen gambles today and they made it here, he set them wrapped in cloth nothing bad happened.

via regular US postal mail? did they hatch?

Yeah and they're near the end of the cycle just two more days.

I wish you luck. I didn't have any luck with mine. :(

Thank you, what breed of eggs were they

Hi! One of the best and most loving pets I've ever owned was a male Bobwhite quail named Klepto (Who lived up to his name when it came to dinner plates). If I could, I'd own another quail in a heartbeat. I don't actually have a question, just wanted to send my respect from another quail lover/previous owner.

I currently have a male bobwhite and a female one their names are maleena and Aidan, they're still pretty scared of me I just got them I can't wait to start breeding that type of quail, if you want I could probably hook you up with a quail seller in your area.

How cute. I don't suppose you have any pictures of them? As much as I want one, I'm not in a position to have one. I plan to later on when my living situation allows for it, though!

There's one of Joel giving me the stick eye in the description/jabber section here's the cage http://i.imgur.com/bxEdNKJ.jpg

I'll get a pic of my bobwhites later.

That's awesome.

Thanks

Do you breed them as your own pets? Or do you sell them as pets, food, or anything like that?

I'm breeding them as pets right now, I'm going to sell them to people as pet soon.

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Yes?