Which quail breed is best?

[nayeli]

I'm glad I read this thread before purchasing the eggs! I wonder where all the misinformation comes from. Anyway thanks all! Dc I might be pming you in a couple months for recipes +

 

[cstronks]

Go with the coturnix quail. I have found them easy to handle, relatively calm, and highly productive birds. If you are processing for meat, then you will have no trouble hatching out your own after you establish a flock. If you have extra females, they lay an incredible amount of eggs, so you get the best of both words. A lot of people here like bobwhites, and I am sure they are a great bird, but this is my experience with coturnix quail.

 

[teradragon]

Oh well... they all eat I guess...

 

[Westcoaster87]

It sounds like a very tasty meat- white or not. One of the things I dislike about some dark meats is the greasiness. Considering that, it's another reason to confidently get coturinix quails to learn from and enjoy first and then move onto the bobwhites later. For me anyways

 

[dc3085]

It is it's own class of dark meat. No comparison between these and a greasy chicken leg. Disregard the fat in the pictures, these are older birds (8 months+) that someone gave me, and I don't bring live birds home (I stop at a friends house and process the carcasses so I'm not bringing any potential disease home). Anything under 3 months wont have any fat on it. lightly oil or butter the flesh if you remove the skin it keeps them from sticking to the grill. Braising is my favorite way of cooking them though, I just use a braised quail or braised lamb recipe from the internet. Always comes out tops, be sure to make your own stuffing if you stuff them. Just some white wine, fresh italian herbs, and bread crumbs mixed up will blow any store bought stuffing away and when you braise them stuffed its about as good as cuisine gets.

 

[dc3085]

I just made myself hungry.

 

[teradragon]

that looks AMAZEBALLS!

 

[Westcoaster87]

Oh, that sounds totally delicious!

It looks like you get quite a lot of meat in comparison to the size of the bird. Having said that, I still haven't seen them 'in the flesh' (lol) to know.

Thank you for the pics