Q&A for How to Determine Sex of a Quail

There is no specific breeding season for domesticated quail, though some people believe quail tend to become broody during March. Quail breed all year-round and also lay eggs al year-round. All eggs are fertile as long as a male is kept with a female.

You can easily keep one male with one female and they will lay fertilised eggs. But many people like keeping a ratio of one male to every three or so females to reduce stress of too much breeding.

A game-bird feed is most suitable for quails.

You can't, really. They need to be at least six weeks old.

Quail start laying eggs at 6-8 weeks old and then stop at about a year old.

It really depends. Most likely yes, but it is possible they will be friendly. Try putting them in the same cage and watch their behavior. If they don't seem to be acting violently towards each other, keep doing this every day and slowly increase their time together until they are together 24/7. But make sure to keep an eye on them.

Possibly, but quails rarely go broody.

They should reach maturity, which is at 6 - 8 weeks.

California quail are easier sexed by their marking and coloring rather than their plumes. Adult males are a rich grey and brown with a black face with white facial markings. The female, on the other hand, lacks the facial markings and is a plainer brown color. The female may also have a shorter plumage, but this isn't evident in all birds.

Younger quail should still have fluff on them rather than feathers. Older quail have all of their feathers.

It's best to keep them under heat until they are feathered, at about 4 weeks. 24 hour light does not seem to bother them. Mine go to the grow-out pen at about 4 weeks. I separate males and females at the first egg. Select the breeders at 8-10 weeks.

No, you cannot. You'll have to wait until they hatch!

No. There is no way to find out the gender of a quail just by looking at the egg.

Disinfect the incubator and make sure it's the proper temperature for the hatchlings, and avoid handling them and their environment as much as possible.

Ideally, no. This is primarily done on chickens (especially young chicks) when they first start to sprout wing feathers. The most accurate way to sex a quail is by looking at the underside. Feather-sexing is a second option to confirm the sex of the quail.

This depends on the breed of quail you have. Do you have button quail or coturnix quail? If you have small button quail, females are white all over while males have black coloring around their face. If you have coturnix quail, then both the male and female should be white all over.

While it is possible for quail to lay two eggs in one day, it's very unlikely. Unless your quail have been hiding their eggs, have their sex reevaluated by a professional, as males cannot produce eggs.

No she won't. The only risk factor is the possibility of either hen eating or breaking the egg. However, this bad habit is only adapted if they've been fed raw eggs or taught by other hens in the cage.