09/27/2026
🐣 QUAIL 102: HOUSING & CARE
Yesterday we talked about some of the lessons we learned raising quail… so today, let’s talk about where these tiny little chaos nuggets live and how we care for them. 😂
Quail might be small, but don't let that fool you—they have some very specific needs!
🔥 HEAT MATTERS
After hatching, babies need a warm, draft-free brooder. We learned this one the HARD way. Our first batch hatched beautifully, but our original brooder setup with a heat plate just didn't work for us.
Once we switched to a more enclosed brooder with a heat lamp, we had much better success.
💧 WATER CAN BE DANGEROUS
Baby quail are ridiculously tiny and apparently have absolutely ZERO concern for their own safety. 🤦♀️😂
They can drown in surprisingly shallow water, so we put small rocks in the waterer. They can get their little beaks in to drink without being able to climb in and get themselves into trouble.
🏠 THE BROODER
We keep them somewhere secure, warm and protected from drafts. As they grow, they need more room—and trust me, they grow FAST!
🧹 KEEP IT CLEAN
Quail may be tiny, but their ability to make a mess is impressive. 😂 Clean bedding, fresh water and a dry environment are a big part of keeping them healthy.
🐥 AS THEY GROW
Eventually they graduate from the brooder into appropriate quail housing where they're protected from weather and predators and have enough space to move around comfortably.
One thing we've learned after keeping and hatching quail for a few years:
Just because something works for chickens does NOT mean it's going to work for quail.
They're their own little adventure. 😂
So tell me…
👇 Do you want QUAIL 103?
We can talk about feed, when they start laying, eggs, males vs. females, and some of the weird things nobody tells you about raising quail.
And if you know someone thinking about getting quail, share this with them! 🐣
If you Google quail setup- there are so many ideas out there, from simple to complex. Just a friendly reminder, remember your weather 😊
We keep our quail indoors, sometimes in the quail setup the farmer built and sometimes in 300 gallon troughs.
☀️ Sunshine Acres Farm
