Better tasting Quail

[Denninmi]

When I was really young, late 1960's, I distinctly remember that both the flavor and color of the milk changed twice a year, in the early spring and again in the autumn, as the cows were put out on pasture to eat grass and then taken back in to eat feed in the winter. Now, of course, they're all fed the same processed junk all year 'round, except for those from boutique dairies that might actually pasture their cows.

I don't know why the same wouldn't be true of quail.

You are what you eat, they say.

 

[_Randall_]

I admit this could be legitimate observation. Not having done a feed-changeover before processing my birds, I can't testify this to be true......BUT, using Catfish as an example of what the diet does for the taste of the processed meat, I truly could taste the difference in Mississippi Farm Raised Catfish compared to regular river or lake grown catfish that fed strictly on natural prey, and to me, the taste of the feed would be a dead give-away in the farm raised catfish. And to me, that "grain-fed" taste is what sold me on wanting as much of the fish as I could get my teeth in. This, however, is right opposite of the subject of this thread....but just a note that the type if food ingested does make a difference in the taste quality of the finished goods!!!

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
THE TASTE WOULD BE QUITE DIFFERENT ON THEM EVEN WITH THE SKIN AND BRINE TREATMENT.... AS GADWALLS AND WOODIES ALSO HAVE VERY DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT FLAVORS TOO...

woodies are good too I do not see many of them we are covered in mergansers here mostly hooded

 

[chickenwhisperer]

So I just got one of those kitty litter buckets full of cheap rabbit food, the kind with bits of stuff in it like dogfood and dried fruit and such . . .
Im gonna spend the next hour grinding it up, 1 blender-full at a time.
Then Im gonna take and mix EQUAL parts of the ground rabbit-food and Purina Gamebird Conditioner.

It will not be as chunky as the birds are used to, but I know thy will eat it and it will make them taste better.

I know that processed feed is the best way to go for raising the birds(quail AND chukar) but it makes them taste like the feed.
I cannot feasably raise them on the ground/grass here, so this is the next best thing I think.

Most cheap rabbit pellets are made out of alfalfa anyways, which has alot of calcium for eggshells and the lowest pellet I seen had 16% protein, which when mixed with my 22% gamebird should be more than enough protein to get-to/maintain weight/meat.

I wish my lawnmower cut grass into small enough pieces, but Ive had problems with that already.

This is my version of processed-grass-fed quail, and it works wonderfully.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Eagerly anticipating results!