I bought some late last fall to do some remedial dog training. I still have a half dozen on hand that will be going away once the bag of food is gone. I knew going in that this breed of quail sucks for dog training but that was all that was available at the time.
I keep some barn pigeons for dog training too. I catch or buy some in the winter and keep them penned until May. They readily home back to the coop from the training field. Once they prove themselves to return, I leave the door open and they fend for themselves. I have a couple that have been around 3 years and it is not unusual for a stray to join my flock. I've had two flocks abandon my coop, I'm pretty sure a hawk or owl visited and spooked them off. I had to start over afterward but one of the escapees from the last flock still visits but will not go into the coop.
Don't bother with rabbits, I don't like cleaning up after them and free ranging them would not work as the wife has enough problems with wild ones in here gardens. I don't care to clean them anyways and am not particularly fond of eating them.
We have a few chickens, they seem to keep the bugs down and are just enjoyable to have around. The egg production is nice but not a priority. They are also great waste food disposal units and that feature has helped keep garbage smell down a bit.
