Make sure your brooder has a solid floor and 4 solid walls. The chicks will need enough space to move around and not get crowded. Leave at least 1⁄2 sq ft (460 cm2) per chick in the brooder. Make sure the quail cannot escape from the housing. Measure the space between the wiring, see if there are any gaps about and check that the housing is secure. Try using a 10 US gal (38 l) aquarium as a brooder.

Quail often fly upwards when they are scared or startled, so it’s best not to use wire because they can cut themselves or get caught in it.

As long as the area is warm, safe, and free of drafts, it is suitable for your quail chicks. Make sure your chicks are safe from any pets. The main threat to quail are dogs and cats. Smaller pets such as hamsters, mice, or fish are no harm to quail so they can be kept in the same room as your quail.

Wood shavings are the most absorbent material and will keep your chicks dry and warm. Avoid cedar shavings, which can be toxic for the quail’s lungs. You can also try lining the bottom of the brooder with paper towels. Use at least three layers. Paper towels provide great traction for the chicks.

To easily make a deeper water bowl shallower and safe for quail chicks, put stones or marbles at the bottom of it. You can also buy a special quail water feeder at your local pet or bird store.

If you are going to separate the chicks from their mother, it is best done when they are fully grown and can thrive on their own. Give chicks with a hen a heat lamp for very cold days. Though the hen will keep her chicks warm naturally, if it is a really cold day or if winter is approaching consider giving them a heat lamp as the hen can get cold as well.

The chicks should have enough room to maneuver closer or farther away from the heat lamp to make themselves comfortably warm. Try leaving the food and water on one side of the brooder and the heat lamp on the other. Be sure to look for signs that the chicks feel too hot or too cold. If the chicks feel too cold, they will pile on top of each other. If the are too hot, they will pant. You will also see the chicks trying to get away from the heat source if they are hot and trying to keep under the middle of the heat source if they are too cold. Use an infra-red heat lamp to keep the chicks calm and not disrupt their sleep patterns. [8] X Research source

This also goes for a hen with her chicks. It is especially important if the hen and her chicks are housed with other quail or aviary birds (finches, budgies, etc. ) as they will attack or peck at the chicks.

Find special chick starter feed at your local pet store or online. Don’t substitute starter diet meant for chickens. It doesn’t have enough protein for growing quail chicks. [11] X Research source If you cannot purchase chick starter, use your normal quail feed and grind it down so that it is edible for the chicks. For the first week, you may want to place paper towels over their bedding and sprinkle crushed starter diet all over them to help the chicks find and eat the feed.

When they are older than 8 weeks, consider experimenting with different mixtures of food and begin to feed them adult quail food.

It can help to individually dip each of the quail’s beaks into the water dish as soon as you transfer them to the brooder. This will keep them from getting dehydrated right after they hatch, and it will show them where the water in the brooder is. [13] X Research source If the water is too cold, the chicks could become chilled and die. If your chicks have a more messy bedding such as wood shavings or sand, clean the bowl every few days, or even every day if you see there is a lot of dirt and bedding in the bowl.

Depending on the amount of chicks you have and how old they are, it’s important to clean the brooder often as the waste can make your chicks sick.

When baby quail are hand raised, they become less skittish as adults. You may find that quail you raised and interacted with often as chicks will readily let you pick them up and even scratch them under the chin as adults!

You can also put parrot toys or small mirrors inside the brooder. Just be sure there are no parts small enough for them to swallow.

If you’re not watching them, put a tarpaulin on top of the cage so no birds will attack/scare them. Make sure to weight down the blanket with something heavy (like bricks) so the wind won’t blow it away.

Dust bathing also prevents mites, lice and other nasty parasites.

The chicks will need twice as much space at 3 weeks: about 1 sq ft (930 cm2) per chick.