Thinking of raising Quail for meat

[ChickieBooBoo]

What breed do you suggest, how do you keep Quail. ANY information would be GREATLY appreciated!!! Thanks!

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Well, I would reccomend Coturnix quail.

They mature in 8 to 10 weeks, get fairly big ( I don't have a number, but they hold a bit of meat!

), are quick to incubate, easy to brood, you get lots of eggs from the hens, the list goes on and on!

You can't beat 8 weeks maturity!

 

[emvickrey]

I agree Cortunix. They lay everyday year round and not only are they big enough to eat at 8 - 10 weeks they will also start to lay then also. But be careful as to how many you have laying. ONly have enough that you can keep up with your bator. I have had to toss eggs because they got too old waiting for space. I ordered another turner but the person never sent it. When I got my refund after having to go through pypal to get it I turned around and bought another one from the same person on Ebay. It should arrive tomorow. It will get put right to use. I fill up 2 trays at a time and I really need the extra space.

Anyway. Cortunix is the way to go if your looking for meat birds and fast. Bob Whites are great also but they take longer to incubate and mature. They also stop laying in the winter. Texas A & M's which are cortunix are all white meat. But hard to tell the sex of. I have a bunch I got from a BYC'er. They hatch next week.

Cortunix hatch in 17 days, Bob Whites are 21 -22 days. Mine almost always hatch in 22 days. They have almost stopped laying. My grower pen is full of them and I have a brooder full of cortunix and I just put 36 more eggs in the hatcher.

For us, we eat 2 birds per person but could easily eat 3 each. I package them 4 to a bag. If you need to know of a quick easy way toprocess them just PM me. Also somebody placed a video on a thread that shows how and it is so simple and fast. I can process 1 bird in about 3 minutes. I couldn't kill anything before so that's saying something for me. lol

 

[wpalmisano]

Jumbo Coturnix is the way to go. Fast growing, hatch in 17-18 days, Buttons are for pets, Bobwhite are for hunting, except for Butler Bobs, but they can take forever to mature compared to a Cottie

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

Jumbo courtnix are the best, but Wisconsin jumbo bobs get HUGE!!!

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Can they be kept in chicken tractors? They would have access to grass then too. I was reading on google on it said that you should have a soft roof because they jump straight up when they get freaked and can break their necks. Has anyone had any problems with this?

 

[Attack Chicken]

The quail I have (pets anyways) I'ver never had any of my jumbos jump up and hit the wire, but when i had a Bob hen oh boy she was another story! I gave her away. But jumbos can fly, but I've never seem them do it in their cage.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

How many would you suggest getting if you wanted a constant supply of meat? I dont want to have so many that we cant eat them all and dont know what to do with them! But I suppose you could always sell them.

They cant be kept near chickens right? They would be in their own tractor but I heard they can get deseases and stuff. How far away do they need to be?

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Quote:
I love math!

Well, they lay an egg a day once they reach 8 weeks, so hatch a hundred, keep the 25 hens and 8 males, and eat the rest. Then you will be able to continually keep hatching from 25 eggs from one days collection to 175 from a weeks, or you can eat the eggs. If you have that first batch, youll have 70 quail for the freezer, which is enough for a meal of 3 quail each for 21 meals, plus freezing and selling.

Like I said, if you hatch that initial batch.

Will update later! on my phone.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Thanks! That sounds like a reasonable number to start with, I think I know where I can get eggs here for next spring.

Do they winter very well?