Using Every Part of your Quail

If you hate waste and you already have quail or are considering getting quail for meat and eggs, this article is for you. Some of these parts aren’t traditionally used in the USA, but are in many other parts of the world.



Eggs:

What part of the eggs do you use? This sounds pretty obvious, and most of the uses are.

Inside of the egg:

The inside of the egg, is of course, edible. You can fry them, boil them, poach them, bake with them, pickle them, make a quiche or frittata, use them in eggnog, or feed them to your animals. Anything that you would use chicken eggs for, you can use quail eggs for. One large chicken egg is about ¼ of a cup. You will use 4 to 5 quail eggs for one chicken egg.

The egg shell:




The Bird:

You think that only the breast is worth eating? You can use every part of the bird from head to tail! Let’s start with:

Meat:


If you follow my instructions in the article “How to Process your Quail (Including Gory Pictures)”, you will end up with a dressed quail that is ready to cook. But what about the rest of the bird?

Feet, head, and spine:

If you cut the spine out, don’t forget to save it. The feet, head and spine can be simmered into a broth that can be a flavourful addition to soups, stuffing, mashed potatoes, or anything else that you would use chicken or turkey broth for.

Once you’ve made your broth, the remnants can be put into your compost.

Offal:

Heart, liver, gizzard, lungs, kidneys, crop, intestines, reproductive organs, etc. are all considered offal. The only parts that you really shouldn’t eat are the green parts of the gizzard, the reproductive organs of a hen, and the crop. The testes are sometimes fried and eaten or they can be used for pet food. The intestines, while edible in theory, are probably not worth the effort of cleaning out because they’re so small. No quail sausage casings!

The most common parts that are eaten are heart, liver, and gizzard. There are plenty of recipes online to be found, such as this one for chopped quail livers. They can also be used for pet food. My cat loves quail hearts and livers.

Bones:

Quail bones are quite tiny, and the smaller ones can be eaten if you don’t mind a bit of crunch. Larger bones or any that you don’t want to eat are more candidates for the stock pot for broth. Small birds such as ormolu were traditionally eaten whole, bones and all.

If you are the crafty type, you can also use the skull for crafts.

Feathers:

There are many uses for feathers. Many quail have beautifully coloured and/or patterned feathers. You can make masks, decorations, jewelry, and any number of crafts with quail feathers. You can stuff cushions, pillows, or quilts! You are only limited by your imagination.

Feathers should be sanitized before use. There are articles to be found on how to wash them, but at the least, they should be frozen for two days, let to thaw for two days, then frozen for two days again.


Blood:

There isn’t a lot of blood in a quail, but if you collect it, along with the intestines, lungs, and other pieces you aren’t going to eat, it can be composted for use in your garden.

Here is a great fact sheet with information on how to compost your poultry offal starting on page 2.

Manure:

Let’s not forget the part of the quail that they excrete. Don’t put fresh quail poop directly onto your plants because it is very rich in nitrogen and will burn the roots of your plants. Quail poop makes fantastic compost and should be aged 6 months before being applied to your plants.



As you can see, every part of the quail can be used, even parts that you may not have thought of!