Coturnix Quail — Variety Guide
Coturnix — one of the 5 quail varieties owners look up by name.
Coturnix is one of the quail varieties people search for by name. This page covers what owners actually ask about it, then hands you the sourced quail care guidance that applies to every variety.
The space-efficient egg layer — start laying at 6 weeks old.
Quick answer: Coturnix is a variety of quail. Everything on this page is quail-level guidance — we do not invent variety-specific numbers.
The care below is quail-level guidance from our species hub, sourced to Merck Veterinary Manual — Poultry and RSPCA — Quail advice. It applies to Coturnix exactly as it applies to every other quail variety. We do not publish variety-specific temperament, lifespan or weight numbers that we cannot source.
Cage and pen design for a bird that bolts
Covered ceilings are mandatory — quail launch vertically when startled and a 2 m vertical burst clears most open pens. Plan about 0.1 m² (1 sq ft) per coturnix as a floor minimum, more is always better, with solid or fine flooring that protects feet, low hide shelters, and sand or wood-ash dust-bath trays. Bar spacing under 1 cm; quail are escape artists at every age. Buttons need even finer mesh and can live in tall planted cages as display birds.
Feeding and eggs
Game-bird or turkey starter (24–30% protein) is the standard for laying coturnix — chicken layer feed is too low in protein and laying stalls. Add crushed oyster shell free-choice, greens as treats, and clean water in shallow dishes or nipple drinkers (quail chicks drown in deep dishes). Eggs: expect nearly an egg a day per hen in season; at under 50 g each, three quail eggs roughly equal two small chicken eggs, with a richer yolk ratio.
What people ask about Coturnix
Coturnix quail?
This is one of the questions people actually type about coturnix. The sourced quail answer lives in our species hub, linked from this page — the same rules apply to Coturnix as to any other quail variety.
Coturnix quail for sale?
This is one of the questions people actually type about coturnix. The sourced quail answer lives in our species hub, linked from this page — the same rules apply to Coturnix as to any other quail variety.
Coturnix quail eggs?
This is one of the questions people actually type about coturnix. The sourced quail answer lives in our species hub, linked from this page — the same rules apply to Coturnix as to any other quail variety.
Coturnix quail colors?
This is one of the questions people actually type about coturnix. The sourced quail answer lives in our species hub, linked from this page — the same rules apply to Coturnix as to any other quail variety.
Coturnix quail sounds?
This is one of the questions people actually type about coturnix. The sourced quail answer lives in our species hub, linked from this page — the same rules apply to Coturnix as to any other quail variety.
Other quail varieties
Bobwhite Button California Gambel's
Sources
- Merck Veterinary Manual — Poultry — verified 2026-10-18
- RSPCA — Quail advice — verified 2026-10-18