I read through a few of the posts, but I want to say how awesome quail are. I chose quail because I didn’t want my birds to bring any attention to our yard. The hens are quieter than crickets. I had 17 quail in my garage in the brooder (almost fully grown) and the cricket in there was exponentially louder.
I have a few males. One in particular was quite loud when he crowed. He has since gone to freezer camp. My other males crow much softly and much more melodic- more like the wild birds. Plus most people have no idea what quail look or sound like.
As far as feed goes, I believe my 40lb bag of feed lasts at least a month for 23 quail— maybe longer. They’re much more bang for you buck as far as feed goes, imo. While their eggs are 1/3 the size, you can keep 3 times as many quail in a tiny space, roughly 1sqft per bird, but mine like to be all up on each other anyway.
They’re super easy to dispatch and butcher too. No special equipment needed. Just a sharp pair of scissors.
