Any cons about raising quail?

[chickenshet]

I'm thinking about raising some quail for eggs and I'm really getting excited about the possibility. I would love to know before I get in too deep, what are the cons? Are they higher maintenance then chickens? If so, in what aspects?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Denninmi]

Well, they're awfully addicting. You will find yourself stuffing large quantities of eggs into an incubator, and then wondering what in the blazes you're going to do with 50/60/70 baby quail at one time?

If you're talking about Coturnix, they are fun and easy little birds -- I can't really think of any serious "down side" to them. Not much different from raising chickens, except that they can't "free range" because they would just take off.

I guess you could consider the cost of the high protein gamebird feed they require a "down side" -- 26% gamebird crumbles run me now $17 a bag, up from $15 earlier in the year. A bag of 20% chick starter is about $14 a bag now.

 

[wolftracks]

Quote:
Funny out here the chick starter is $2 more than gamebird crumbles.

I have quail and I'll tell you my only downside is processing. They're so darn cute, but then again they are very tasty too.

My 5 yr old grand daughter will rarely eat a chicken egg any more. She loves a few quail edds over easy with all the tiny yolks.

 

[magicpigeon]

The downside for me? They only live for 2-3 years in my experience

 

[saddina]

Quail are the easiest poultry I raise. Downside, they're just 2 mouthfuls when it comes to eating them (and if you hatch them, you'll need a plan for the males, they fight to the death if given the chance).

 

[joe125]

The upsides are...Quail (COTURNIX) needs less space than chickens, scientifically speaking, they produce more pounds of eggs per pound of feed.

The downsides are: The feed is often more costly and/or harder to secure than chicken feed, and NO SPECIES OF QUAIL are the free ranging garbage disposals that chickens are.

Now...once you know Quail (Coturnix) then 6 properly fed and lighted hens can replace a 1-2 persons egg requirements. It depends on your requirements/egg consumption, and YES, THEY ARE SMALL EGGS

I don't know of any quail species that will lay an extra large chicken hen class egg. They are small compared to any weight class chicken, however they are prolific layers, and if properly fed/watered/lighted will produce about one egg a day until they die....Hopefully at the ripe old age of 4+ years. (YOUR RESULTS MAY VARY).

I started my labor of love about 5 years ago, with the intent of replacing grocery store eggs with my own coturnix eggs. That goal was achieved! I have since tested other models, and the results are not applicable here.

When raising any animal for any reason....There are upsides and downsides. There is no dead ringer, but IMHO coturnix fits my bill, and the bill isn't cheap by any strech of the imagination.

 

[MobyQuail]

Well said ya'll!

 

[7L Farm]

Go for it!!! If you want quail eggs I suggest coturnix they lay eggs . These buggers can lay eggs. Their neat little birds. But get ready for the feed bill they eat non stop.

 

[CarriageStone]

The only complaint I have is that they are messy eaters. Quite wasteful to tell the truth. If I could find a way around that, I would have no complaints at all. They ARE tons of fun to hatch.

 

[mhwc56]

Quote:
i use cat litter or Kitten litter pans for the feed with mine.It keeps the loss of feed to a minimum.
i also feed mine lots of kitchen clippings which they LOVE. even my neighbors save clippings for them