I have about 40 quail left over from gun dog season - 30 hens/10 males and noticed eggs out there this week. Then heard several local restaurants crave quail eggs. Hmmm. So, I want to produce quail eggs for the restaurants. What sort of carton do you store them in? I found at Walmart a package of 6 icetrays for small cubes for $1 that looks to be the right size. I think it holds 20. I read to use Game Bird Starter and mix in some of my chickens laying mash. Also to hang a light so they get 14 -16 hrs of daylight. We are putting in straw and they are pairing and sitting together in the nesting boxes (this used to have pigeons in it), seem very healthy, get good food, oyster shell, diatomaceous earth bath, fresh water. The state of SC doesn't list quail as requiring a "license to distribute eggs" Should I sell them by the dozen or by 20s? How much should I ask for them. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Love Backyard Chicken. We are starting chicken eggs too. Elena Lamberson
If you want to produce eggs, coturnix are much better at that. Bobwhites usually wont lay eggs until the first spring after they have reached 6 months of age. Without artificial light a bobwhite hen will lay less than 100 eggs a year. With light this can be pushed to 200 eggs a year. Coturnix will lay 300+ and if you run a light in winter they'll lay even more. When your bobs start breeding you will want to pair them off and separate the pairs, unless you are giving them a ton of space (like a flight pen). They'll go to fighting once they start breeding and fighting bobs kill each other real quick. Try to feed them regular gamebird flight conditioner or laying formula. Chicken food usually has infused calcium and that is bad for your quail roosters. You probably don't have to have a license other than a resell license to sell eggs, but selling them may invite scrutiny from public officials and you are supposed to have a license for your birds, so make sure that you have that. Its just a form you fill out and a small fee you pay the state. Ask the cook at a japanese place or a sushi place what they pay for eggs, thats about your best bet to find a good price to start with.
