Coturnix quail are very sweet, docile birds that are so easy to keep, grade schoolers can manage them as backyard pets with a little grown-up help. Their naturally gentle-yet-quirky personalities are a lot of fun! Let me share all the reasons why Coturnix quail keeping for kids is absolutely delightful:
Coturnix Quail Keeping & Care for Kids
Coturnix quail, whether standard size or jumbo, are about the size of a large russet baking potato. They are very easy to keep and children seem to enjoy participating in their care and relish the daily egg gathering.
The Coop is the Hardest Part
Getting a predator-proof quail coop that will safely house your backyard covey is the hardest part of ownership. Big box stores do not sell ready-made quail coops. This means you are going to have to build something, which is intimidating if you do not have any carpentry experience. I’ve got a number of free quail coop plans and after building a few coops for ourselves, my husband and I designed this adorable cottage coop with detailed instructions for Beginner level builders. Do not let this step intimidate you! Building the quail coop can be done with a few common tools (saw, drill, staple gun) and is usually completed in 3 days, even if you’ve never built anything before.
Selecting Egg & Feather Color is the Next Hardest Decision
Coturnix quail come in Standard size, which lay the classic brown-speckles-on-cream egg, and Jumbo which lays an even larger sized egg of the same color. Standard quail can have a stunning array of rare feather colors. Celadon quail carry two copies of the blue egg gene and lay solid blue or brown-speckled-blue eggs. (We have even bred birds who lay shades of green and mint chip ice cream tones!) Our article on standards vs. jumbo – with pictures – can help you decide which to keep.
Special Note: If you want exceptionally friendly quail, I have found hens in the feather color Pearl to be almost universally friendly! This is a specialty color made by breeding the Fee color gene into birds with Italian feathering. You typically must order Pearl hatching eggs from a breeder.
Quail Do Not Bite!
These gentle birds were domesticated over a thousand years ago in Asia and simply do not use their beaks for defense. Instead they flap rather wildly in the hopes they are dropped so they can run away. Individuals who are handled from a young age become docile and tolerate petting and handling. Some hens will even rush to greet your children when they open the coop door in the hopes they have brought meal worm treats! (Affiliate link)
Endless Source of Outdoor Creativity
Coturnix quail are ground birds, which means they live their lives on the ground and do not roost. Quail enjoy hiding in fresh cut, non-toxic leafy tree branches and ducking into “hide boxes” which are a bit like a bird house with a wide opening that sits at ground level. If you have children who love to build fairy houses, stick mazes, bird huts or other types of creative structures, the quail will absolutely thrive with such enrichment added to their enclosures! Naturally they will use, poop on and eventually trample the creation but this is what supplies the never-ending need for more handicrafts to be made for the quail!
Feeding the Quail is Entertaining!
Did you know you can craft homemade blends of scratch treats for quail? Simply mix healthy whole grains and natural seeds for a treat they love! The hens will learn to come to your hands when they see you have a jar of their favorite seeds.
Gathering the Eggs is Fun
Children tend to love this task best of all! Collecting the quail eggs in a small basket is a delightfully wholesome activity. It puts them in touch with animal care, the cycle of the seasons and backyard food production.
Cooking & Baking with Quail Eggs
Fresh quail eggs coming into the house will beg to be eaten. Operating the sharp quail egg scissors is fun for older children and everyone will be eager to use the miniature eggs. This is a great way to get a superfood into their bellies and encourage your children to learn to cook using basic ingredients – a skill they will need before they enter adulthood. (Afflink) Learn how quail eggs taste, bake and how easy they are to prepare for kitchen use!
Kids Love Quail Breeding, Too
Letting your children watch teensy, tiny quail chicks emerge from their shells is a delight that should not be missed! An incubator with a quail egg turner insert and quail chick supplies will be an upfront investment that serve you for many years to come. You could help other families get involved in quail keeping, host a hatch at your child’s school or empower your children to set up their own side-hustle selling quail eggs for others to try or started quail chicks. (Affiliate links.)
Vacations are No Problem
Does your family like to travel? One of the best things about quail are their ability to learn how to use automatic feeders and waterers. I use a 2 liter waterer for my covey that keeps up to 12 quail hydrated for 2 days in hot weather and 3 days in temps below 90°F. The no-waste quail feeder I use came from 2B Creations which only needs a refill every 2-3 days. Long weekends away typically won’t require a pet sitter and even week-long vacations would only need a trusted neighbor dropping by a couple times per week to refill the feeder, waterer and collect the eggs. (Afflinks)
Amazon Makes Quail Keeping Ridiculously Easy
Local feed stores and Tractor Supply sell commercial game bird crumble feed. If you don’t have a feed store nearby, Amazon will deliver the crumbles, waterer and Sweet PDZ odor control your quail need right to your front door! Sweet PDZ is granulated zeolite, a naturally occurring mineral, that when sprinkled on quail droppings absorbs any odor instantly! Zeolite is garden safe and actually good for the soil so quail poops can still be composted and used. Sweet PDZ in larger bags is marketed as “horse stall refresher” but it absolutely can be used on quail and chicken poops and is the exact same granules you find in the smaller bags marketed for poultry.
Your Front Flower Beds will Love Quail, too!
Coturnix quail create droppings about the size of blueberries and some of them will be liquidy like wild bird poop. Most of them will fall through ½ inch hardware cloth flooring and into a catch tray or onto the ground. The poops need some minor care, which usually involves sprinkling them with Sweet PDZ to absorb any ammonia odor and then shoveling them away once a month. Quail droppings can be applied in a very thin layer to your front flower beds “fresh” (not composted) and it will not harm large established bushes and trees. Annual flowers may be more sensitive to the high dose of nitrogen so use them sparingly. Your yard grass will LOVE any droppings you care to sprinkle it with. You may be shocked at how rich and lush your front yard landscaping becomes thanks to the quail fertilizer!
Do It for Your Children if You Can
I hope this article on Coturnix quail keeping for kids has encouraged you to consider these very easy, food-producing backyard pets! When I was raising my son in the suburbs, before we moved to the country, I did not know Coturnix quail existed. I so very much wish I had learned about them and begun keeping them when he was younger. Childhood is such a short, fleeting time. Seize every opportunity you can to teach your children something wonderfully useful and enriching!
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