COMMON NAME |
LATIN NAME |
INCUBATION PERIOD |
CLUTCH SIZE |
EGG COLOR |
NOTES |
| Bobwhite | Colinus virginianus | 21-23 days |
7 to 28 |
White |
Circulated Air incubators: 99 3/4 degrees F; 84 to 86 degrees F wet bulb, reduce during last week of incubation. |
| California Valley Quail | Callipepla californica | 22-23 days |
10 to 14 eggs |
Buff/cream with brown spots |
Incubation as in Bobwhite. |
| Gambel's Quail | Callipepla gambelii | 21-23 days |
6 to 19 eggs |
Pale buff to white with moderate pink/brown spots |
Lower humidity than two above species, wet bulb of 83 F; hens will lay several clutches in captivity, reports of 50 eggs per hen are not uncommon. |
| Scaled Quail | Callipepla squamata | 22-23 days |
8 to 14 eggs |
Pale Buff to cream, light spotting. |
Humidity: 82 to 84 degrees F wet bulb. |
| Elegant Quail | Callipepla douglasii | 22-23 days |
8 to 12 eggs |
White |
Humidity as in Scaled; chicks may not start eating on their own. Also known as Benson or Douglas Quail. |
| Montezuma Quail | Cyrtonyx montezuma | 24-25 days |
6 to 16 eggs |
White |
Keep wet bulb at 82 degrees F; chicks will need help to learn to eat. |
| Mountain Quail | Oreortyx pictus | 24-25 days |
6 to 15 |
Pale buff to cream, no spotting |
Wet Bulb of 82 to 84 degrees F. |
| Chinese Painted Quail | Coturnix chinensis | 16 days |
4-7 |
Brown, mottled with black |
Very tiny chicks, can slip through 1/2 inch hardware cloth; better known as the Button Quail. |
| Coturnix Quail | Coturnix coturnix | 16-17 days |
8 to 13 eggs in the wild; captive hens known to lay over 100 eggs in a season. |
As in above species. |
Also known as the Pharaoh Quail and Migratory Quail; commercially raised for meat and eggs. |
Chart compiled from information provided by Terry Smith in the November 2000 issue of Heartland News Additional sources: Grouse and Quails of North America, Paul Johnsgard 1973; Upland Game Birds, Their Breeding and Care, Leland Hayes, Ph.D. 1995.