Japanese quail are farmed intensively for eggs and meat in systems with welfare challenges similar to commercial poultry; feather pecking, cannibalism, and dust bathing deprivation are common problems.
Farmed quail occupy a welfare oversight gap: they are produced in large numbers under intensive conditions but receive less regulatory attention than chickens and fewer welfare research resources. The welfare problems they face — feather pecking, beak trimming, dust bathing deprivation, and social stress from crowding — are similar to those in chicken production but occur in a less scrutinised regulatory environment. The absence of quail from much EU poultry welfare legislation is a regulatory anomaly that advocates are working to address. Building the evidence base for quail welfare standards requires research investment comparable to that applied to other commercial poultry species.