Which quail

I am a complete beginner to bird keeping and I have fallen head over heals for the chinese painted quail due to the striking markings and size.

However, reading through the forum I have noticed that they are not the easiest to keep due to their tendency to fly straight up when spooked and so causing themselves some quite nasty head injuries. Is this the main reason they are more difficult?

Also what else would you reccommend for a beginner. I will only be able to have one setup due to time and was looking to have around 3-4 birds depending on their housing requirements.

The space I am looking at is enough to house a two tiered hutch (4 foot by 2foot) and a run (4 foot square). The other thing to bear in mind is I have a rotty dog who is very curious, she is well trained and will be taught how to behave around the new additions but think this may have a bearing on the breed I decide on.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Hi,

I would alway suggest for the complete begininer to alway get Japanese quails coturnix japonica

These birds are very easy to keep, they almost look after thenselves. The housing you have will hold 6 birds easily, 5 females and a male........or 6 females.
These quail come in an assortment of colours and patterns.
They become very tame, and mine don't bother when the dogs are around, ( but if they escape they'll be chased and caught by two "evil" whippet puppies,lol.)
The eggs can be either incubated, given or sold to friends/family or eat by yourselfs.They make very little noise.

You don't live that far from Emma or Sarah, so they may have surplus stocks at a reasonable price.

Food is easy to purchace in Rugby, There used to be a small petshop near Netto that sells poultry foods. Not sure if it's still there, but it was very popular.

Derek.

To be honest my OH states that Japanese quail would be more in keeping with the koi pond and plants

Will need to do some research on the varieties available - thanks for your help.

Also yes think the pet shop is still there and only a mile from my front door!

I've got oodles of jap chicks right now, Nads. You're welcome to pop up and visit me so you can see what keeping japs would be like.

Sorry i've got to ask what does OH stand for i keeping reading it!

sorry jsut twigged Other Half.

Took me a while to work it out too lol

Lol - sorry I'm a bit of a pain for the short hand

Thanks for the offer internet_nobody would love to pay a visit - will be in touch when I have a spare minute but should be free a week on sat if that's ok.

I raise CPQ Button Quail.. Honestly.. I can agree with Ironsun they are a real pain when they fly up straight to the top and get head injuries. One of my four weeks did that today and has no feathers on his head now and blood stains. However, Ironsun is wrong about one thing. CPQ are very easy to take care of. They will easily take care of themselves with no problems. I generally just put a towel covering the front of the aquarium. However, they will fly up sometimes while cleaning out the poop. Mine have bashed there heads so much they generally wont do it now. However, my 4 week old ones still will do it.