The irony with CX is that they are some of the sweetest birds I’ve raised. Sure they get frantic about eating and drinking but they can also get quite zen and have an undeniable presence to them if you take the time to get to know them.
Maybe it’s looking especially good because it’s the only one. They tend to get pretty soiled when grown in groups. In any case, I’ve heard of people keeping them alive for prolonged periods. I don’t recommend it per se but that’s not to say if you are seeing a reasonably decent quality of...
I’ve raised hundreds of CX and for that bird to be doing this well at 3 months makes me wonder, maybe it’s not a true CX, or maybe you got lucky. Now that you’ve bonded with it, you could just see how it goes. I personally would not limit its food, they are miserable when they can’t fulfill...
None of the current breeds of farmed chickens are found in the wild. Humans have been selectively breeding them and crossing them for thousands of years. I don’t know of a single breed that would last more than minutes on its own if placed in the wild.
Ok, as promised I’m reporting back. I have gone further down the rabbit hole of quail since my last big post and have some new insights to share. The popularity of quail seems to be on the rise, in particular, the development of jumbo quail or even what some folks are calling super jumbo...
Hello all, I’ve been dipping my toes in the realm of quail… I just have to say, I had no idea there were so many types and that there is a super jumbo version that people breed for meat that tops out at about 1 lb! This is a game changer for me. The only viable source of Cornish cross that...
I bought jumbo cortunix via e-bay. It was my first time hatching them, the hatch rate was terrible, 5 out of 29 eggs. The shipping was surely the main reason but my incubator might not be calibrated properly, and it is designed for chicken eggs. I was lucky that I got one mail out to the...
100%, That is putting it in the most straight forward terms. Everyone I know who has gone free range eventually has losses, might take years but often adds up quick when the predators finally get the hankering. I’ve decided not to and instead use deep litter, maybe 8” deep, giving them plenty...
I have ordered jumbo quail hatching eggs and they just arrive yesterday. They originated in Ohio and were shipped to Seattle wa, a fairly long journey, so I’m concerned about hatch rate, since I’ve had bad luck with shipped chicken eggs.
I’m letting them rest but I’ve read they need to be...
Trying to quantify the effect of micro plastics is very very difficult, there are so many uncertainties. I feed only organic feed to avoid bio-accumulation of toxins. I eat mostly grass fed, free range and or organic meat because most of our exposure comes from meat and dairy. Seems to me...
Ridgrunner, I’ve cooked CX without resting and the meat was not as tender as a 3-5 day rest close to freezing. With quail, maybe it’s that it’s smaller and more of a game bird, maybe I expect it to be more chewy, not sure but with the ease of prep, how much cleaner they are, dispatching as a...
Well, this year, much to my chagrin, Jenks hatchery no longer carries Cornish cross. I did give a decent look for a new source that was still close enough to allow a quick overnight shipment with low mortality and just have not been successful. This, combined with how my wife and daughter no...
Hello folks. A friend keeps “crowing” about his coturnix quail for eggs and meat. I’ve had such a hard time finding Cornish cross close to me in Seattle WA that it’s made me rethink how I’m going about meat. The recession, economic turmoil and fanatical run on chicks at local co-op has made...
The biggest defense against mites is going with the deep litter method with some sand in the mix. For roofing, I really like the sun top brand corrugated roofing panels over plywood.
Yes, they eat chickens and as people have said, are clever with their hands. I went with the two locks advice, two different styles of locks, one up toward the top corner and the other toward the lower corner. If they are the same, they will be more likely to develop a technique for opening...