When I asked Rachael what she would like to design into the garden eco system she asked if she could keep Quails! Random. I was going to say no. But in the spirit of being open and adapting to possibilities I said that if she could go and find out what they could offer to the garden as a whole, not just as a cute pet, I would consider it.
So she went off and found out that they would be good at eating the greenfly and bugs in the garden, were good to eat, laid lots of eggs, were quiet and unobtrusive.
However, the clincher was that they are ideally suited to greenhouses because they would keep the bugs at bay and keep it warm, not to mention be a really lovely addition to the diversity of the greenhouse. They would also fertilize the ground as they went. Jo, Grace and I were sold.
So, two hours after making the suggestion the answer was a unanimous yes! She was over the moon.
It is so totally out the blue for us all, but it fits in so well. I stayed up that night working out how we could hatch them in an incubator and have a bit of a multiplication cycle going. Unfortunately they don’t get broody. 70 Quail could easily fit in our greenhouse. Maybe we could hatch 12 a week and eventually harvest 12 a week? We could eat them and sell them to passers by.
The next day we made some calls and found 4 for sale. In the photo we are holding them.
We have put them in the children’s old playhouse until the greenhouse is built.
One of the things we have noticed is they are very good at flying but don’t have a clue about landing! They just bash into things till they stop. But they are cute.
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