Quail - white or dark meat?

Hi, I'm interested in raising a few quail for personal use. My question is which varieties have white breast meat? From my younger years I hunted bobwhite quail in Western Tennessee and really enjoyed the taste of the white meat of the bobwhite breast meat. Once I tried quail meat at a restaurant and I was expecting white meat but the quail was all dark meat and was not very good to me. I'd appreciate any information anyone can provide.

Toolcheckr said:

Hi, I'm interested in raising a few quail for personal use. My question is which varieties have white breast meat? From my younger years I hunted bobwhite quail in Western Tennessee and really enjoyed the taste of the white meat of the bobwhite breast meat. Once I tried quail meat at a restaurant and I was expecting white meat but the quail was all dark meat and was not very good to me. I'd appreciate any information anyone can provide.

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Coturnix is all dark meat. Yes even the white A&M color phase is all dark meat despite what falsehoods abound on the internet. If you want white meat get bobwhites, they have white breast meat. They still have dark meat elsewhere like chickens so hopefully you know someone who likes that, or dogs that do. Hope that helps your decision!

Toolcheckr said:

Hi, I'm interested in raising a few quail for personal use. My question is which varieties have white breast meat? From my younger years I hunted bobwhite quail in Western Tennessee and really enjoyed the taste of the white meat of the bobwhite breast meat. Once I tried quail meat at a restaurant and I was expecting white meat but the quail was all dark meat and was not very good to me. I'd appreciate any information anyone can provide.

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Sorry... I don't know.

Wowsers! I did not know this!
So which type of quail is easier to raise I wonder? (Cortunix are pretty darn easy!)

Coturnix, hands down. Bobwhites have to be split into pairs during the breeding season so they don't kill each other, and are much more flighty. They haven't been domesticated for long and haven't really been heavily selectively bred. Coturnix, meanwhile, have been selectively bred for their docile natures and tolerance of confinement. You could practically keep them in a shoebox. Plus, they're flock birds, they don't need to be kept in pairs.

Toolcheckr said:

Hi, I'm interested in raising a few quail for personal use. My question is which varieties have white breast meat? From my younger years I hunted bobwhite quail in Western Tennessee and really enjoyed the taste of the white meat of the bobwhite breast meat. Once I tried quail meat at a restaurant and I was expecting white meat but the quail was all dark meat and was not very good to me. I'd appreciate any information anyone can provide.

Click to expand...

I had the same experience hunting quail growing up. White breasted meat tasted a lot better than dark breasted quail meat. Dark meat had an odd taste.