Coturnix Quail Flock Calculator (Eggs, Meat, Feed & Cage Space)

How it works

hens = eggs per week ÷ (7 × lay rate) · males = hens ÷ 3.5 (if breeding) · space: cages 0.55 sq ft, floor 1 sq ft per bird · feed ≈ 24 g/bird/day · 1 chicken egg ≈ 4.5 quail eggs · replacements: hatch 1.1 × hens; eggs to set = 2 × chicks ÷ 0.75 hatch

Coturnix quail are the fastest poultry there is: eggs hatch in seventeen days and the hens begin laying at six to eight weeks, then produce an egg nearly every day for about a year under long daylight, so a small flock in a few square feet of cage supplies a household with the equivalent of a laying hen's output per four or five birds. The trade-offs are a high-protein diet and a short productive life, which means the flock is renewed by hatching its own eggs — a reason to keep a male for every few hens — and the surplus males from each hatch become the meat birds, dressing out at a few ounces each around eight weeks.

Worked example

Thirty quail eggs a week at an 80% lay rate takes 6 hens; with 2 males for fertile eggs that is 8 birds in about 4 sq ft of cage — one 2 × 4 ft tier. They eat around 155 lb of feed a year (about 3 bags, $87), roughly $0.50 per dozen quail eggs; the 1,560 eggs a year equal about 350 chicken eggs. Fifty extra meat birds dress to about 17 lb for around $30 of starter, and hatching 7 replacements means setting about 19 eggs.

Frequently asked questions