Great addition to your homestead Arya!
The quails eggs are smaller than chickens but on average a good quail will lay about 300 eggs a year , so almost twice as productive as a good chicken.
Also i think quails eat less than chickens (?) ...and quail tend to produce eggs after just 6 weeks!!!👍👍
They're like the rodents of the bird world ! 😄
From birth to maturity just 6 weeks 😵...
That is great, as it means you can keep a easy and steady quail meat supply, for it has a fairly quick turnaround time 😉
And they stop producing eggs at 1year old ...
I hear those things are tasty too ! 👍
Also, as a bonus... their poop is like brown gold used as compost! Save it and use it for your flowers and forest garden!!!👍👍
The only thing with quails is that they are much better at flying than chickens ... so clipping them wings may have to be done if they're kept outside.
Or ...If in a big cage , maybe fit some wheels around the bottom (old supermarket's shopping trolley wheels) so you can move them around your fields ... Change of scene is good for birds too....😄
Saying that , is probably too cold there for them....
Either way , I'm sure you probably knew all that anyways , so apologies for the rant.😉
Just wanted to say , Congratulations on your first egg !
May it be the first of many!!!
Happy spring!!!
👍👍
PS- here are some links related to your new venture ...
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/coturnix-quail-zmaz81sozraw
Small ebook:
http://greatlakespermacultureportal.../2013/12/BD-Ebook-quail-for-meat-and-eggs.pdf