My 5 mth. old Bobwhite Laid an Egg! Anyone eaten their BW Quail eggs before?

[QChickieMama]

Thank you for your post. How many do you get per hen/per day do you think? Slow Poke laid one yesterday and today....I know it's too soon to tell, but is it possible I will get one per day per hen?

I was reading about how the commercial coturnix quail egg farmer washes their eggs in a bleach mixture and all sorts of sanitizing practices, I was just planning on cracking em open unwashed. Do you wash them and in what? I don't want to use bleach.

I was planning on putting the quail eggs in some Japanese soup, can you share any other things you use them for? Thank you so much!

My hens probably lay every day or at least every other day right now. When fall comes, they'll slow down unless I put a timed light in the pen.

Some of the eggs will look clean; it's best not to wash those. However, many of mine come filthy. Those I put in a mild bleach solution just briefly and wash them with a scrub sponge. It's just SO easy to get bits of shell crumbling into the cracked egg, I want to make sure they're clean.

I've made quail egg appetizers (impressive & delicious), deviled eggs, etc. Mostly I use them scrambled for the kids' breakfast or in baked goods. I do have 1 friend who buys them from me once in a while b/c her son is allergic to chicken eggs and he can tolerate these fine.

 

[Fat Daddy]

I remember chatting about this bird. I didn't realize they were inside thou. I don't really think its your time zone as much as the light hrs she's getting. It could be as little as a desk lamp if it's close to the same everyday. If your wanting to " force" them to lay, set up a timer with a lamp, 14 hrs a day will work, up to 16 ish... The others will only start laying when they are ready. And then only if they have enough light hrs... This works fine for eating eggs, but for hatching, the fertility will be poor.... Harder to get Mr roo go'n good with artificial light... Good luck, Bill

 

[quailchick]

I remember chatting about this bird. I didn't realize they were inside thou. I don't really think its your time zone as much as the light hrs she's getting. It could be as little as a desk lamp if it's close to the same everyday. If your wanting to " force" them to lay, set up a timer with a lamp, 14 hrs a day will work, up to 16 ish... The others will only start laying when they are ready. And then only if they have enough light hrs... This works fine for eating eggs, but for hatching, the fertility will be poor.... Harder to get Mr roo go'n good with artificial light... Good luck, Bill

Yes, I have to have them inside where I live, so they will be getting some extra light, but I don't want to force them to lay, so I won't put a light on at night. I haven't heard that it stresses them out, but I don't want to take a chance on that. If we get eggs we'll eat them. At this time, I can't breed anymore chickies until we can move and have a larger enclosure for them, plus I think if I could have chosen which birds to incubate, I would have chosen Coturnix just because the eggs are bigger and they are more prolific, so when we move I will probably not get more Bobwhites, I will get Coturnix most likely.

At this time I have four birds. I have Slow Poke on her own in one 20"X40" guinea pig cage, and the other three are in another guinea pig cage the same size. In that cage I have the male (Little Chickie), the largest female (Sasquatch who is the bully), and another female (Nikola Tesla-my kids named the birds) inbetween the size of Slow Poke and Sasquatch. I am thinking of trying to put Nikola Tesla in with Slow Poke because I never saw N.T. peck at Slow Poke, I am thinking they might get along. Slow Poke was just so freaked out for so long, I just didn't want to stress her out again. Now she is laying, so I will probably wait until she stops laying before I put N.T. in with her.

I am feeding them Purina Starteena, the feed store said I could finish up this bag, which will take me a few months, then start giving them breeder food. Do you concur? I also give them millet sprays, mealworms, and crickets when we have them. Do you think they need anything more? I sometimes find some greens outside and I have tried giving them fruit. They do love grapes.

Thank you so much for your wisdom!

 

[Fat Daddy]

I feed all my game birds startena the whole of their lives.... I feel that the extra protein is good for a bird that is crank'n out eggs. Its rare that a feed store or pet shop employee, knows diddly squat about game birds! Treats are rare here on the farm, but we have different goals as well. Its been my experience that you can raise coturnix in a smaller area than bobs. And your right, coturnix lay big eggs and more of them as a rule. They are also much more friendly. I'v had some almost chicken tame. But they also eat twice as much and POOP twice as much.... If kept inside, cots are going to require alot more cleaning. What I'm trying to say is THEY STINK!

But in small numbers you sould be ok... I hope your plans work out the way you want! I think birds are a addiction, I dont know if there is a cure. If there is, I have yet to find it. Bill

 

[SiTran]

I think birds are a addiction, I dont know if there is a cure. If there is, I have yet to find it. Bill

No cure here, but I do know one thing.....the addiction is very progressive and if you hang around the right people it gets even worst!

 

[quailchick]

I feed all my game birds startena the whole of their lives.... I feel that the extra protein is good for a bird that is crank'n out eggs. Its rare that a feed store or pet shop employee, knows diddly squat about game birds! Treats are rare here on the farm, but we have different goals as well. Its been my experience that you can raise coturnix in a smaller area than bobs. And your right, coturnix lay big eggs and more of them as a rule. They are also much more friendly. I'v had some almost chicken tame. But they also eat twice as much and POOP twice as much.... If kept inside, cots are going to require alot more cleaning. What I'm trying to say is THEY STINK!

But in small numbers you sould be ok... I hope your plans work out the way you want! I think birds are a addiction, I dont know if there is a cure. If there is, I have yet to find it. Bill

You are so right, and I am definitely hooked! I love my four Bobwhites! The big female Sasquatch is a stinker, she was attacking the poor little Slow Poke a lot, but I think she just wasn't happy that the male had picked Slow Poke to mate with! LOL...isn't always the big girls who get left out? LOL I think the male may have mated with her a few times, but man he is calling out bob bob white! alot lately!

Thanks for the advice. I will keep feeding them the starteena. I had originally fed them Manna Pro Game Bird Feed, but boy it was expensive! So when the feed store couldn't get any in time for me, I just bought a big bag of the Purina Startena, and they haven't eaten it all!

I will wait to get cots until we get a new place where they can go outside. I can't take on anymore right now, no room in my house. I want to really know what I am doing before I choose to get more birds. (I don't know if you read I didn't choose the Bobwhites, although I am happy I have them and I love them to pieces, incubating eggs was the funnest thing I ever did!) Although, I will miss our Bobs cooing and whistling when they go outside! I just hope we can find a place we can afford that will let us have them outside!

I was wondering if you had an idea of a way I could take my birds outside to peck around in the grass for a few hours, safely where snakes and owls can't get to them and they can't get loose? There are lots of snakes and wild animals where I live. Just for a few hours a day to get some fresh air and exercise? I feel so bad they are cooped up in guinea pig cages! I thinking of some cage I could carry them outside in and set down on the grass, but won't let in monsters?

 

[quailchick]

Update: We have 6 eggs so far!

 

[Fat Daddy]

Are all the eggs from slow poke?

 

[quailchick]

Are all the eggs from slow poke?

Yep! She is in a cage all by herself, so I know they are from her. She seems upset every time I take her egg...could I just be projecting my guilty feelings, or do they normally get upset? (I'm an egg thief! LOL)

At first the eggs were in the morning, but then each day it got later and later, until yesterday no egg all day long, but she laid one in the middle of the night. I checked early this morning and there was an egg almost covered up by the wood shavings. So technically it was every day until this last egg. I am hoping there is a little jewel for me in the morning! So I have a half dozen! I am loving this, so fun! I am sure getting eggs is commonplace for most people on here, by right now it is a miracle for me! LOL

 

[quailchick]

So, I thought you would be interested to know we cooked the eggs, and they were so delicious! The first egg she laid, the bigger odd shaped one in the picture, was a double yolker! After that, they were all the same size and shape. Last Sunday we had 8 eggs, so we each ate two a piece. Well, actually my little boy got 21/2 because my husband shared the double yolker with him. LOL

I found that you can't just crack the egg open. You have to crack it, hook your finger in towards the round bottom, and peel off the bottom for the egg to slide out.

I just cooked them sunny side up in butter. We loved them so much, we went to the Asian market and bought a bunch of coturnix eggs and cooked them. They didn't even come close to be as good as my bobwhite egg, and they were about the same size. I think it is probably because the coturnix eggs from the market are from a commercial quail egg producer, probably not the best quality feed. We give our quail lots of treats! So far we have two more in the fridge. Ten eggs total as of right now. She is laying almost one egg per day. The other hens haven't laid any yet.