Coturnix Quail (as pets)
Beyond their farm reputation, Coturnix quail make surprisingly endearing pets - calm, quiet, quick to tame from chicks, and full of personality once they trust you.
🗓️ Last reviewed: July 2026
Overview
Beyond their farm reputation, Coturnix quail make surprisingly endearing pets - calm, quiet, quick to tame from chicks, and full of personality once they trust you. Kept for companionship rather than production, a small covey of hand-raised Coturnix will run to greet you, take treats from your fingers and dust-bathe with comic enthusiasm.
Natural History & Origin
The domesticated Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), kept for centuries; increasingly popular as gentle backyard and even house pets.
Appearance
Small and rounded (150-300 g) in browns, and many pet-bred colours - white, tuxedo, golden, silver; hens are speckled, cocks plainer with a rusty face.
Temperament & Noise
Gentle and calm, especially when raised from chicks; they don't bite meaningfully and settle into laps and hands. Cocks give a soft crow; hens are quiet - overall a low-noise bird suited to gardens and even indoors.
Housing & Flight
Ground-dwelling: a predator-proof hutch or aviary with lots of FLOOR space (not height), soft or low ceiling against startle-jumps, dust-bath, hides and cover. House quail can free-range a quail-proofed room with a substrate tray. Never on wire alone - they need solid, bedded flooring.
Diet
A game-bird crumble (higher protein than chicken feed) plus seeds, greens, mealworms and grit; constant fresh shallow water and abundant calcium for the prolific hens.
Health & Lifespan
Average lifespan is 2-4 years. Short-lived (2-4 years) but hardy; main issues are startle head-injuries (pad the ceiling), egg-binding and calcium depletion in heavy-laying hens, and predators. Keep them dry, sheltered and well-fed.
Training & Enrichment
They learn to come for treats, tolerate gentle handling and recognise their keeper; true tricks are limited but the tameness is genuine. Enrichment is dust baths, foraging, cover and live-food treats.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Calm, quiet and quick to tame
- Small footprint - even apartment-possible
- Endearing personalities in a covey
- Cheap and easy to keep
Cons
- Ground birds - need floor space, padded top
- Short-lived
- Hens lay heavily (calcium/egg-binding care)
- Cocks crow softly; keep few cocks
Best Suited For
- Backyard keepers wanting gentle pets
- Apartment keepers (with a quail-safe setup)
- Families wanting a calm ground bird
- People who find chickens too big
Coturnix Quail (as pets) - frequently asked questions
Aren't Coturnix quail just farm birds?
They're farmed, but hand-raised Coturnix are affectionate, tameable pets with real personality - many keepers keep them purely for company, not eggs or meat.
Can they live indoors?
Yes, in a quail-proofed space with solid bedded flooring, cover and a padded low ceiling - some keepers house-keep small tame coveys successfully.
How many should I keep together?
A small covey with one cock to several hens is happiest; too many cocks fight and over-mate the hens.
🧠 Test yourself: guess the bird
Three clues from our quiz bank, each about another of our birds. Can you name them?
Clue 1.Bred for centuries into 'song', 'color', and 'type' varieties, this seed-eater can be yellow, orange, white, or even reddish.
It's the Canary - read the full profile →
Clue 2.Demanding loud companions, the scarlet and blue-and-gold kinds of this bird need very large cages and space.
It's the Macaw - read the full profile →
Clue 3.One brilliant orange-and-yellow species in this group is now endangered in the wild despite being common in captivity.
It's the Conure - read the full profile →
Social Needs
Covey birds - keep several together, ideally more hens than cocks (one cock to 3-5 hens) to avoid fighting and over-mating. Hand-raised groups tame beautifully to people.