Quail for Sale — Coturnix & Celadon Live Birds for Arizona
If you are looking for quail for sale, you have found one of the most practical little birds a desert keeper can own — a quiet, compact layer that gives you fresh eggs without a rooster, a big yard, or a six-month wait. The quail we sell are Coturnix quail (also called Japanese quail): our dual-purpose Jumbo Browns and our blue-egg Celadon line, grown from clean, NPIP-tested Arizona stock. This page covers what you get when you buy live quail from us, how to choose between the two varieties, how the birds ship and arrive alive, and how to keep a small covey thriving through an Arizona summer.
Key Takeaways
- Coturnix quail mature faster than almost any other poultry — the first egg can come as early as 5 to 8 weeks, versus roughly six months for a chicken.
- A Coturnix hen lays without a rooster. Her eggs run about 10 to 14 grams each, so it takes roughly three quail eggs to equal one medium chicken egg, and a productive Jumbo Brown lays in the neighborhood of 300 eggs a year.
- Celadon quail are a Coturnix variety carrying a recessive blue-egg gene; our Celadon line lays blue 100% of the time. Jumbo Browns are the dual-purpose line, reaching up to about 14 ounces by 8 to 10 weeks.
- Quail keep in small spaces: 3 to 4 birds per square foot, in a cage 8 to 10 inches tall — never between 12 inches and 6 feet, where a startled bird can hurt itself flushing straight up — or an aviary 6 feet or higher.
- Quail need more protein than chickens: a 28 to 30% game-bird starter for chicks, stepping down to about a 20% layer ration for adults.
- Quieter and more compact than chickens, and in a shaded or cooled desert setup more forgiving of Arizona heat — a fit for a patio, a small run, or an HOA lot where chickens are a stretch.
- Live quail ship USPS from our Arizona flock under a free 48-hour live-arrival guarantee; availability is seasonal and limited, so check the current listings.
How much do quail cost?
Live Coturnix quail are one of the more affordable ways to start keeping poultry, because each bird is small and reaches selling age in weeks rather than months. Price moves with the variety and the age you buy — a blue-egg Celadon line usually sits above a standard Jumbo Brown, and older, closer-to-laying birds cost more than young stock. Check the current listings for real numbers. For most new keepers the bigger startup cost is the housing — a proper low cage or aviary, a no-waste feeder, a clean waterer — not the birds themselves.
Do quail need a rooster to lay eggs?
No. A female Coturnix lays on her own schedule whether or not a male is present, the same way a hen chicken lays table eggs without a rooster. You only need a male if you want fertile eggs to hatch, and the usual guideline there is about one male to five hens. For a keeper who just wants fresh eggs on a patio, an all-female covey is the quiet, simple choice — and quieter matters most in a backyard close to neighbors.
Are quail legal to keep in your backyard?
Often, but you have to check. Many city codes and HOAs classify quail differently from chickens — sometimes as game birds, sometimes as small cage birds — and because they are quiet and compact, keepers frequently find them easier to fit within local rules. The rules genuinely vary from one address to the next. Read your city code and your HOA CC&Rs before you order, watching for limits on flock size, enclosures, or game birds specifically.
How many quail should you start with?
Quail are social and should never be kept alone — a single bird is stressed and noisy. A trio or a small covey is the practical minimum, and many keepers begin with a handful of hens for eggs plus one male if they plan to hatch. Six to a dozen hens gives a steady bowl of eggs for a family without crowding a modest cage. Size the number to your cage rather than the other way around.
When do coturnix quail start laying eggs?
Coturnix are famous for how fast they come into lay. Some hens start as early as 5 to 6 weeks, most are laying by 6 to 8 weeks, and a few take until around 12 weeks — dramatically faster than a chicken's roughly six months. Once they start, laying leans on daylight and nutrition: a proper game-bird layer ration and consistent light keep a hen producing, while a sudden move or the peak of desert summer can slow her for a stretch. That is normal.
What to Look For When Buying Live Quail in Arizona
Any seller can list "quail." These five things predict whether the birds settle in calm, stay healthy, and lay well.
The Right Coturnix Variety for Your Goal
Decide what you want the birds to do before you pick a line. Jumbo Browns are the dual-purpose standard — a solid layer that also reaches a usable meat weight. Celadon quail are the choice when the blue egg is the point. Both are Coturnix, so care is identical.
Calm, Selected Temperament
Wild-type Coturnix can be flighty and scrappy, so temperament is worth buying for. Look for stock from a breeder who selects for calm birds and culls the aggressive ones. A settled covey is easier to keep, quieter for neighbors, and better suited to a family or a child's project.
Clean, NPIP-Tested Stock
Ask whether the source flock is tested and clean before birds ever ship. Ours is NPIP TX-4601, Pullorum-Typhoid (PT) Clean, and Avian Influenza (AI) Clean — testing that protects your setup and is required to move live birds across state lines.
Age and Sex at Purchase
The age a bird ships at decides how soon you see eggs. Our live quail are sold as adults, which shortens the wait and lets the sex be clear — useful whether you want an all-female covey for quiet eggs or a set ratio of hens to a male for hatching.
A Clear Live-Arrival Guarantee
Shipping is the riskiest stretch of a small bird's trip to you. Ours is a free 48-hour live-arrival guarantee on every live bird — the only guarantee we make, because we would rather keep one promise than list a page of them.
Features That Set Our Live Quail Apart
100% Blue-Egg Celadon Lines
The blue egg comes from a recessive gene, and not every Celadon-labeled bird carries it. We select our Celadon line so it lays blue 100% of the time, some eggs lightly freckled, so the trait you pay for is the trait you get.
Dual-Purpose Jumbo Browns
Our Jumbo Browns earn their keep two ways: around 300 eggs a year at about 12 to 16 grams each, and a frame that reaches up to roughly 14 ounces by 8 to 10 weeks for keepers raising meat birds. The workhorse line for a homestead that wants both.
Bred and Grown for the Desert
Our quail come from stock we raise here through Arizona summers, so the birds you receive are already accustomed to desert conditions rather than shipped in from a mild climate and asked to adjust.
Real Help After the Box Arrives
Every order comes with access to Arizona-specific help by phone, text, and email, because the questions come after the covey settles in — how to read a hen that has gone quiet in July, when to step feed down from starter, how to cool a cage through a heat wave.
Jumbo Browns vs. Celadon Quail: Which Should You Buy?
Choose Jumbo Browns If
You want the most all-around value from a small bird — a dependable layer that also grows to a usable butcher weight in 8 to 10 weeks. The homestead bird that feeds the family both ways.
Choose Celadon Quail If
The blue egg is the reason you are here. Celadon quail lay and eat exactly like any other Coturnix, but their shells carry the recessive celadon gene and our line lays blue every time.
Either Way, the Care Is the Same
Because both are Coturnix, housing, cage height, density, and feed are identical — the only real differences are egg color and the Jumbo's larger meat frame. You can even keep both in one covey.
Benefits of Keeping Quail in the Desert Southwest
Fresh Eggs Without a Rooster or a Big Yard
Hens lay without a male, and a covey fits where a chicken flock never could — a patio, a shaded side yard, a corner of the garage. A daily bowl of eggs from a footprint measured in square feet, with none of the crowing that gets chickens banned.
Quiet and Compact for HOA and Urban Lots
Quail are markedly quieter than chickens and take up a fraction of the room, which is why keepers in tight neighborhoods so often land on them — a bird your neighbors never notice.
More Forgiving in Desert Heat, When Shaded and Cooled
Their small size and indoor-friendly housing make quail more forgiving of Arizona heat, because a low cage is easy to place in deep shade or in front of a fan. Water is the number one killer of birds here, so cool, clean water within reach at all times matters more than anything else.
How to Set Up for Quail in Arizona
Pick Your Variety, Sex Mix, and Quantity
Decide on Jumbo Browns, Celadon, or a mix; choose an all-female covey for quiet eggs, or add a male at about one to five hens if you plan to hatch. For the full desert playbook, start with the $47 Desert Flock Field Guide. A portion of every purchase, even the Field Guide, helps put free chicks in the hands of local 4-H, FFA, military, and teacher families.
Get the Cage Height and Density Right
Give standard quail about 3 to 4 birds per square foot (3 for jumbos), and get the height right: a cage 8 to 10 inches tall, no more than 12, or an aviary 6 feet or higher. Never build in between — quail flush straight up when startled and can injure themselves hitting a ceiling in that middle range.
Set Feed and Water Before the Birds Arrive
Have a 28 to 30% game-bird starter ready for young birds and a roughly 20% layer feed for adults. Quail drink at least twice as much water as they eat in dry feed, and more in the heat, so keep a clean waterer full at all times. See our Flock-Tested Picks for the game-bird feed and heat-season electrolytes we run.
Shade and Predator-Proof It for the Desert
Keep the cage out of the noon-to-five sun — deep shade, a cooled garage, or a covered patio. Build with hardware cloth, not chicken wire, and account for the smaller threats quail attract: snakes and rats, on top of the usual cats, hawks, and raccoons.
Receive Them Calmly and Use the First Days
Open the shipping box in a quiet, shaded space and let the birds find water first; electrolytes for the first few days ease travel stress. If a bird arrives in distress within the 48-hour window, photograph it per the guarantee terms and reach out.
Read also: Quail Hatching Eggs · How to Keep Birds Alive Through an Arizona Summer
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of quail do you sell?
How many eggs do quail lay, and how big are they?
What do quail eat?
Why does cage height matter so much for quail?
Can I let quail free-range like chickens?
Can I keep quail and chickens together?
How do quail handle Arizona heat, and what are the warning signs?
When do your live quail ship, and how do they travel?
Can I buy live quail near me and pick them up?
What if I would rather hatch my own quail?
Sources
- National Research Council. (1994). Nutrient Requirements of Poultry (Ninth Revised Edition). Washington, DC: National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/2114
- Mississippi State University Extension Service. Raising Japanese (Coturnix) Quail. https://extension.msstate.edu/publications/raising-japanese-coturnix-quail
- Penn State Extension. Small-Scale Poultry Production. https://extension.psu.edu/small-scale-poultry-production
- University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. Managing chickens in extreme heat. https://extension.arizona.edu/news/managing-chickens-extreme-heat
- Wasti, S., Sah, N., & Mishra, B. (2020). Impact of Heat Stress on Poultry Health and Performances. Animals, 10(8), 1266. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10081266