
Quails are classed as a game bird and belong to the pheasant and  partridge family.  There are many different breeds, strains and colours  of quail.
 
hey are bred for meat as well as for eggs.  They make great  pets, provide delicious and nutritious miniature speckled eggs and are  very curious and flighty in nature.
In the wild, common quail live in small groups and scratch for insects  and seeds.  Quail migrate to central Africa near the southern edge of  the Sahara desert for winter and return to England in spring.  
The most common breeds kept for eggs are:  
Japanese Quail or Coturnix japonica 
They are known as the migratory quail.  They grow to 20cms in height.   This breed is ideal for aviaries and is proven to be less flighty if  enough cover is provided for nesting.
Button Quail or Turnix sylvaticus
Button Quail come in a large variety of colours and mutations.   Choose from buff, silver, barred, spotted, blue, and many more.  They  are smaller and flightier than Japanese quail.  They produce smaller  eggs too.  Their lifespan is three to five years.  Hens have a slightly  shorter lifespan as it depends on how many eggs she has laid in her  lifetime and if the required nutrients such as calcium were readily  available.  Button Quail chicks are very cute and look like bumble bees  due to their striped heads.  
Chinese painted quail or Coturnix chinensis
These are often thought of as Button Quail due to their size, but are  a different strain as shown by the latin name.  They are the original  aviary cleaners.  They are half the size of Japanese quail.  Their  lifespan is five to seven years.  Females are usually light brown with  speckled feathers.  It is possible to tell which are cocks as they have a  painted white bib under their chin.  
Domestic quail are timid creatures and if spooked, fly straight up into  the sky.  They can easily fly over six foot fences, so it is important  to house them carefully.  If they escape, it is almost impossible to  catch them.
Delicious eggs
Quails are prolific egg layers and lay tiny speckled eggs that are  the size of an olive.  Quail's eggs are a delicacy in some countries.   They are much richer in flavour due to the higher yolk to white ratio  and have a strong, gamey flavour unlike chicken eggs.  They are rich in  vitamin D and high in antioxidants.  You only need to eat two quail eggs  per day to reach fifty percent of the recommended dose of vitamin D.   Quails start egg laying at six weeks old and are into full egg  production at fifty weeks of age.  Expect two hundred to two hundred and  fifty delicious eggs per year.
Breeding Quail
Always keep quails in pairs or at least one male to three hens to  prevent fighting.  Quails nest on the ground and lay six to twelve eggs.   They sit on them for thirteen days and if the amount of eggs is too  large for the hen, the cock will join her on the nest.  Chicks are tiny,  but are able to feed themselves straight away.  If you wish to breed  quails, provide a secluded area for them.  Cover a corner of the run  with greenery, as they like to hide.  Keep a close eye on the cock when  the chicks hatch.  If he attacks separate him.  It is more likely he  will find special treats for the hen and bring them to her.  Provide a  small water dish filled with marbles for the chicks to prevent drowning.
Button Quail eggs hatch after twelve to thirteen days and the chicks are  able to fly after two weeks.  Choose extra small gauge weld mesh, as  the chicks are tiny and can jump through the holes in the wire.  Seven  millimetres is ideal.
What type of housing do quail need?
It is ideal to keep quail in an aviary with budgerigars, doves or  cockatiels, as they will clean up the dropped seed.  If the quail fly  up, they will have plenty of headroom to do so and will not bang their  heads.  
They appreciate secluded corners, as they like to nest on the ground and  hide behind plants and greenery.  Place small, cut branches of conifer  around the edges of the aviary for the quail.
Wood chippings or soil on the aviary floor will encourage natural  foraging behaviour.  A mixture of wood chippings and soil would be  perfect.  They enjoy dust bathing in soil or sand.
Quails do not need much space, therefore a rabbit hutch or a small weld  mesh run with an attached coop, such as a broody coop that you would use  for a hen, is fine to keep a trio or two.  It is best to put the rabbit  hutch inside another run as quail are flighty and may escape when you  change the food and water.  Put wood shavings on the floor for them and  provide a sand bath, as they like to dust bathe.
Feeding Quail
Quail eat the same food as chickens; layers pellets, chick crumbs or  layers mash.  If you don't have chickens, purchase mini quail pellets in  small sacks.  It is best not to buy 25kg sacks if you only have a few  pairs of quail, as the feed will go off before you can use it all.  
Supplement their main diet with kitchen scraps such as left over  vegetables, sweet corn, chunks of apple, grated carrots, lettuce,  broccoli, chopped cabbage and peas.  Millet or mealworms are ideal as a  treat.  The cock will not eat mealworms.  He will usually present them  to his hens to show his appreciation.  
Quail are fussy eaters and you will soon learn what they do not like.   Do not feed any cuttings from the garden, as it is all too easy to mix  in a poisonous plant.  Do not feed avocado or chocolate - they are  poisonous to all birds.  Quails need grit to help digest their food.   Always provide clean, fresh water.