? about breeding stock

[Kim_NC]

We started quail this year....thanks to Valley Quail Breeder and Mxpres for the stock! Currently we've kept birds in 4 colors for breeding in 2011 - Brown/Pharoah, Golden, Tuxedo, Tibetan.

So that we know where I'm coming from....they're not pets. We're a working small farm. We actually make our living farming. Animals have a good, natural life here, but all serve a purpose and pay their own way. It's no different for the quail. We sell their eggs, and sell them as meat.

Have a couple questions about the later 'usefulness' of quail kept for breeding ....

- How long will females lay efficiently? If they have a light over Winter and keep laying, how quickly do they "burn out"?

- How are the older birds for eating? For example....if used for breeding and kept for say a year or two, are they tough and stringy like heritage dual purpose chickens? Only suitable for long, slow cooking then...or what?

- Is there an optimal age for converting breeders to meat birds?

Thanks

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I'm sure your suppliers will be along to fill you in on the efficiencies of raising Coturnix.
Along with the information on how to breed for Tuxedo's.

We aren't being rude to ignore your questions. But have found it inadvisable to give any type of advice to customers of suppliers on here. This certainly is becoming a customer/supplier forum.

What a shame.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

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?

 

[Robo]

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Uhhh...... What?

 

[Wifezilla]

Yeah...what they said.


Huh???

 

[Robo]

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[Kim_NC]

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Don't know what you think your problem is with this forum. And honestly, I don't care either.

Please leave me and my questions alone so I can get decent answers from others. Thanks!
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Ditto, ditto ditto.

Thanks Robo for offering some helpful comments.

Anyone else?

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

- How long will females lay efficiently? If they have a light over Winter and keep laying, how quickly do they "burn out"?


Their first year is their best year in egg production. They really don't 'burn out', i have a two or three year old pen, each hen laying an egg a day through all the seasons, with no artificial light. They are even in a barn, so less light.

- How are the older birds for eating? For example....if used for breeding and kept for say a year or two, are they tough and stringy like heritage dual purpose chickens? Only suitable for long, slow cooking then...or what?


They are.... Okay. Not bad, but okay. Their flavor is more pronounced, like a chicken leg. Normal quail meat is supposedly half the intensity as a chicken leg, a older quail closer to three quarters. A little tougher, chewier? I guess you could say.


- Is there an optimal age for converting breeders to meat birds?

Not that I know of, I have so many breeders that any time I want some meat, i plug in the bator. After one year would be the best, the hens reaching the end of their peak, and the meat is not too far gone.



I hope this helps! (buttercup chill in, i don't quite understand? Every person ive met on the quail board has been more than helpful.)

 

[mxpres]

 

[Kim_NC]

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Thanks for the additional input.

I think we'll go with 1 year on the hens. We sell the eggs - so, I really want to keep them laying through Winter. LOL....we eat plenty of them too, and find them very tasty with great texture. I've found if you make a quiche or omlette out of all quail eggs, you get a really nice fluffy product. Also, they work well in baking. I just weigh them out to get the equivalent total weight of chicken eggs in recipes.

Anyway, with our current setup and the ideas shared here, 1 yr on the hens sounds most optimal for us.

Thanks again.