For anyone not allowed to keep hens and wanting some fresh eggs, why not keep a few quail..
They are quiet, easy to house,easy to look after and lay for quite a few months of the year.
can you keep them in the coop with the chicken?
I have never had quail egg before. Are they any different in taste to Chicken eggs?
Aren't they really pigeon eggs?
aren't they smelly so i've read. I'm thinking of hatching some.
Quail eggs are not pigeon eggs and neither do they smell. The quail themselves make a hell of a noise though. They're members of the pheasant family and make a similar sound, very loudly.
I used to keep them in an aviary with budgies for many years. I've got my hens on my plot and I told the allotment manager I was thinking of getting some quail. She said as long as I didn't get a rooster, if only she knew quail are just as loud!
My daughter keeps quail (and chickens). As Growmore says, they are easy to look after.
To answer some of the questions:
No, you can't keep them in with the chickens. They'd be killed.
They're not smelly, but they do poo a lot, so you have to change the straw pretty often.
The eggs are indistinguishable (to me) in taste from chickens eggs.
The thingy birds do make a noise, not as loud as a rooster, but annoying if it's just under your window.
You do need at least three hen birds to each thingy bird. Their mating activities are a bit violent, and if there's only one hen she will have her feathers torn out by her over-amorous mate.
If you have ever eaten minature Scotch Eggs from the deli chance are they are quail eggs XX Jeannine
You can't dip soldiers in a quails egg :)
Quote from: Funky Farmer on April 29, 2010, 15:21:51
You can't dip soldiers in a quails egg :)
Perhaps you could use cheese straws or Twiglets or something similar.