The quail's reproductive capacity is large and their mating behaviors are impressive.
The nesting season is long, lasting from April to October.
Hens lay 12 to 18 eggs per nest.
Chicks are precocial, being able to follow adults soon after hatching.
Their breeding behavior is classified as both monogamous and polygamous, with the females sometimes leaving their mate and chicks to find another mate and start another nest.
With the females being so promiscuous, males end up incubating about 25% of the nests.
All of the above behaviors allow one hen to produce up to 3 broods of 10 or so chicks per brood. The end result of this is a tremendous ability to rebound from high mortality during winter. Make sure you provide good nesting habitat on your farm. Nesting cover consists of grasses such as redtop, timothy, orchardgrass, little bluestem, and broomsedge. There should be adequate litter from the previous year for the hen to build the nest.