A domesticated quail is a small fowl that lives in the wild and nests on the ground, absent human interference. Thousands of years of breeding and domestication have guided the bird's evolution. Humans domesticated quail for its meat and egg production. Additionally, quail can be kept as a pet. Domesticated quail are commonly kept in long wire cages and are fed game bird feed. The most common domesticated breed is the Coturnix quail (also known as the Japanese quail).
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Breeds
Twenty types of wild quail exist along with 70 domestic breeds/strains, including laboratory and commercial lines. Due to their large size, Coturnix quails are kept for meat and egg consumption. This breed contains more meat and produces more eggs than the others. Button quails (also known as King Quail, Chinese-Painted Quail and Blue-Breasted quail) are rarely kept for food production because they are smaller and produce fewer eggs. They are kept in large aviaries to clean the leftover seeds that fall to the floor. California, Gambel, Bobwhite, Scaled quails, etc. are less common and are rarely kept as pets.
Quail breeds
Both Button and Coturnix quails have different feather coloring due to years of breeding. The common and wild Coturnix quail color is the Pharaoh breed, which is a brown feather color. The Button quail has a red breast, blue body, black and white head, and a brown back all in one (only present in males; females are a brown color all over). The Manipur Bush quail can be found mainly along the river Brahmaputra, in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and West Bengal in India.
Coturnix (Japanese) quail feather coloring
Other colors seen may be mutations.
Button quail feather coloring
Other colors seen may be mutations.