We recently bought some quail, and they are so cute, and today they started laying their beautiful, tiny eggs!

They are gorgeous, and quite friendly, though we need to keep them in their cage as they get very easily startled and fly straight up!

Their cage has a wooden floor covered with some dirt and shredded hemp. There is a shelter (including some strategically placed branches), their feed container, water container and a diatomaceous earth/sand dust bath, which they LOVE!

We are still learning about what garden treats they like, but have discovered they love flowers (rose, chives, society garlic) and chopped up lettuce. We have had them for a month or so, and today they gave us four eggs, the first of many!

We bought the quail egg scissors off eBay to make it easier to open them, as their shells are quite tough.

Next to the quail cage, we also have another cage for chicks to grow out before they roam with the laying hens. This has a divider down the centre so we can grow out two lots at once, either ducks or chicks (currently we have two lots of chicks each with their mama hens).

We have a wooden floor under this cage also, after trialling with just dirt and not succeeding! The mother hens are so energetic with their scratching around that they made holes for chicks to escape, and the food and water were constantly getting dirty. With a wooden floor and a layer of straw as the bedding, it all stays cleaner and is easy to clean out and refresh.