Better tasting Quail

[chickenwhisperer]

So Ive noticed, maybe its just in my head, that I can "taste" the processed food I feed to my quails when I eat them.
Personally, I dont like it.

So I been feeding my quial a bunch of the cheaper rabbit food I have been getting with rescued bunnies.
It has just enough protein in it for the adults, and when ground up makes a nice feed for them.

Tonight, I ate 3 quail that had been fed rabbit pellets for a month or so, and they tasted phenominal.
The high alfalfa content of the cheap pellets really makes them taste better.

I might run the mower over a pile of orchard grass and give them that too, grass/hay really just makes them taste soooo much better.

Seriosly, they were startin to taste the way that food smells . . .
I fed/feed Purina Gamebird Conditioner.


Just food for thought . . .

 

[joe125]

You may be onto something here. Even if it's psychosomatic, it probably wouldn't hurt, but I'm no feed expert.

I haven't eaten many bobwhites lately but there is a difference in taste between (true wild) and pen raised bobs. We are what we eat, and all that.
I may try something like that with 2 small pens of roos that need to be culled as soon as they grow out. Unfortunately, I don't have a month to play around with

 

[aprophet]

the local mergansers eat lots of minnows if you do not skin and brine them they taste a lot like fish not everyone enjoys this if I find a coupla mallards eating in a corn field the taste is quiet different

 

[JJMR794]

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...

 

[warmfuzzyfeeling]

What an animal eats absolutely affects the flavor of the meat and probably the flavor of the eggs as well. In lactating mammals, the diet has a major impact on the flavor of the milk. Andrew Zimmern of the television show Bizarre Foods is famous for saying that most animals taste of their diet and environment. This is why wild game tastes so much different from domesticated animals, or even farm-raised elk, bison, etc. This is why beef is sometimes advertised as "grass-fed" and why Irish Butter is a delicacy in the United States.

Trying out a different feed for your birds was a great idea that could really be expanded on!

 

[swizz37]

I feed my quail some processed gamebird feed but they don't eat much of it. They prefer the parakeet-finch feed I get from WollyWorld. Even if I mix it with the regular feed, they'll pick through it to get to the seeds and grains.

All I'm saying is they may notice something off about the chicken or gamebird feed.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

At what age did you start feeding them rabbit pellets?

 

[pascopol]

I am always open to unortodox ideas, although my quail meat tastes great, but perhaps rabbit pellets will imrove taste of eggs which is kind of bland.

How do you grind rabbit pelles? specially in larger quantities like whole 50 lb bag?

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Wow, never thought of that! I may have to try it with a bunch of eaters!

But personally, I will try it out on a bunch destined for the freezer, as my layers I want some high-protein kicking around. Maybe it'll improve egg taste, who knows?

Oh, and they have hand grist mills and stuff online; pretty pricy! I wouldn't know if it was worth it...

 

[Jstall]

Broiler chickens are put on a finisher feed that is very high in corn, the last seven days. That is where you get the yellow color and they say it improves taste. It also puts a lot of fat on the bird. Maybe it would work on quail. Rabbit pellets mixed with a lot of ground corn.