Coturnix quail are also known as Japanese or Pharaoh. The ancient ancestors of these birds came from Chinese quail that were exported to Japan, where they were bred in captivity for centuries, to become the Coturnix quail of today. Read more: https://www.heritageacresmarket.com/coturnix-quail/
Due to being raised as captive birds for so long, coturnix have lost almost all of their abilities to raise young. Other species of quail are known to share chick raising duties between both the male and female, while some will build two nests, lay two clutches of eggs and parent the broods simultaneously with the father taking care of one and the mother the other.
Quail are granivores as opposed to chickens which are omnivores like us. Quail predominately eat grains, some fruit, and vegetable matter and insects.
Pharaoh and Italian can be sexed from the color and patterns of their chest feathers, other color variations cannot.
Italian coturnix
A male coturnix quail has a distinct screech-like call (Kenny ?)
Quail have something of a reputation when it comes to being aggressive towards their flockmates. Certain situations make this problem far more likely and the birds will fight to the death under certain circumstances. Young males attack each other and shouldn’t be kept together. It’s best to keep a minimum of four females to one male. In established flocks, there are only occasional spats, but be careful when introducing new birds into a flock, as quail are quite territorial and this can cause problems.
Males not being kept for breeding, and any quail raised only for meat, should receive a maximum of eight hours of light exposure per day. This amount of light is not enough to initiate sexual maturity, which prompts quail to waste energy fighting and mating. Quail will fatten quicker with light reduced.
