The moment a light crisp can be felt in the early fall air, a slight panic sets in.

New backyard poultry enthusiasts want to know what they can do to prepare their quail for winter. 

Preparing quail for winter is rather simple. Make sure at least 3 sides of their enclosure can keep out the elements, give them small areas to hide and cuddle together, always have fresh water and food, and put in extra bedding. 

For more details on how to care for your quail in winter, keep on reading. 

Where to Keep Quail During Winter

Quail are hardy birds, and don’t need to be brought inside during cold weather. However, not all breeds of quail can handle the extreme cold. The best quail for low temperatures is the Coturnix quail.

Coturnix quail are very hardy birds and can tolerate temperatures down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit, if given the proper housing. They don’t require heat lamps or other heat sources to keep warm.

However, juvenile quail need to be kept inside until they’re 4-5 weeks old, depending on the weather. Though they can be taken off the heat lamp at 10 days to 2 weeks old. (If you keep them in a garage that has similar temperatures to outside, you’ll want to keep them on the heat lamp until both their bodies and head have feathers.)

For more information on moving juvenile quail outside, read my blog here.

How to Winterize a Quail Coop

To prepare quail for colder weather you'll want to winterize their coop. The best way to do this is to ensure that three sides of their coop are enclosed to keep out the elements.

It’s also a great idea to have a solid roof. A roof over their shelter will keep them from getting soaked when it rains and prevent them from being buried in the snow. They’re tiny birds after all, and the snow can get deeper than they are tall.

Providing them a roof also makes cleaning up easier. Not only do you not have to shovel out snow during winter, but the bedding stays cleaner for longer when it isn’t constantly getting soak during rainstorms.

Quail do best in winter when they’re also given a small area for them to nestle in together and cuddle for warmth. You could use a bucket, planting pot, a little hide house (affiliate link), or build your own nesting box out of plywood.

To ensure my quail stayed warm during the cold months I wrapped three sides of my aviary with greenhouse plastic. (affiliate link) The fourth side was nestled close to my house.

Not wrapping the fourth side, but blocking it from the wind, helped keep some of the cold out but allowed good air flow. Using the plastic as a siding also allowed the quail to get plenty of sunlight. They would often huddle together in the open to enjoy the sun.

I placed buckets and potting plants throughout the aviary and filled them with pine needles and straw. Often, I'd find several quail cuddled in there, sometimes packed in so they were stacked two layers high.

Best Bedding for Quail During Winter

Add extra straw to their enclosure and their little houses as well. Straw is very insulating and provides a great way for them to burrow down, nest, and stay warm. Straw is sold at many local feed and hardware stores.

While the best bedding is straw, you can use many different types of material and employ a deep litter system.

For example, I put 3-4 inches of a mixture I rake up from my woods- leaves, dirt, pine needles, and grass. This not only allows them to the create deep nests that help them get further out of the wind, they’re also able to use it as a dirt bath to maintain their feathers.

Quail Needs During Winter

Coturnix quail are rather easy to care for, and it doesn’t get much more complicated when the snow begins to fall.

Water during Winter

During winter it's very important to ensure that your quail always has access to clean, unfrozen water. To keep waters from freezing, you can buy a heated rabbit water bottle (affiliate link). If an outlet isn’t nearby, you could use an extension cord.

However, if you’re like me and don’t have a way to get power or have way too many waterers to connect to an outlet, empty their water right before they bed down for the night. Or keep a small amount of water and pour hot water over the frozen water in the morning.

If you choose to keep the water, I'd recommend having no more than half the container full. That way there's room for the hot water in the morning.

Food during Winter

Make sure they don't ever reach the bottom of their feeder. Not only do quail become territorial when they don't have food and water they need the calories to help keep their body temperature up.

(If you would like to know more about the nuances of keeping quail, check out my blog 7 Cons People Wish They Knew Before Getting Quail.)

In winter, I like to give my quail pellets or whole grain feeds. (affiliate links) The process of breaking down the pellets keeps them warmer. A great feed is a Scratch and Peck or Kalmbach non-GMO pellets.

It might seem like pellets are way too big for quail, but my quail do just fine with them, and they eat way less then when I give them crumbles.

If you can only have access to crumbles, I like to add black oil sunflower seeds, millet (affiliate link), and non-GMO cracked corn.

I also like to add cayenne pepper or crushed red peppers to their feed. The heat of the spice helps keep them warm in winter by helping raise their body temperature. Other "warming" spices that are good for quail are turmeric and ginger. 

Light during Winter

Quail are seasonal layers and will slow down egg production during winter. In order for them to continue to lay during the shorter daylight hours, they will need at least 14 hours of light. They tend to lay best with 16 hours of light.

If supplementing their light is the way you want to go, a simple light source will work fine. I have three different ways to supplement light.

Since my aviary is against the back side of my house, I use the porch light. For my chickens, I use a string light in the coop with solar, and camping lights in my pallet coops. (affiliate links)

As long as these simple rules are followed, your quail should do just fine in winter.