Breeding Timeframes for Best Cycling

[Anglodrkns]

I am looking to start raising some quail for home use and am looking for the best timeframes and such of when and how many chicks to hatch? And how often to change out from young to old layers

I am new to keeping birds for meat and eggs and don't really know how many eggs to hatch and how many to use for food to keep a consistent rate of supply in both meat and eggs.

I intend on starting with 1 male and 4-5 females. What would be a good turnover ratio to keep the numbers low while still maintaining a lower population?

 

[Nabiki]

How many eggs do you eat?
How much meat do you eat? Each quail (standard) is about 4 oz of meat, which is one USDA serving size of meat.
How often do you expect to eat eggs? Meat?

If you're getting eggs locally, expect to hatch about 75-100% of the eggs. If they're getting shipped, hope for a 50% hatch rate.

You will hatch on average 50/50 male/female. The ideal ratio is one male to five female, but that can vary depending on the individuals involved.

It takes about 8 weeks from hatch for your males to get to eating size, about 6 weeks for your females to start laying (though this depends on the season they hatch in).

For best fertility, you will want to cycle your males at about a year, your females at about 18 months.

This should give you a general idea of how many eggs to set and how often to get your needs.

 

[Anglodrkns]

How many eggs do you eat?
How much meat do you eat? Each quail (standard) is about 4 oz of meat, which is one USDA serving size of meat.
How often do you expect to eat eggs? Meat?

If you're getting eggs locally, expect to hatch about 75-100% of the eggs. If they're getting shipped, hope for a 50% hatch rate.

You will hatch on average 50/50 male/female. The ideal ratio is one male to five female, but that can vary depending on the individuals involved.

It takes about 8 weeks from hatch for your males to get to eating size, about 6 weeks for your females to start laying (though this depends on the season they hatch in).

For best fertility, you will want to cycle your males at about a year, your females at about 18 months.

This should give you a general idea of how many eggs to set and how often to get your needs.

Thanks for the reply. Our meat and egg use varies depending on the week so thats hard to say. The info of best fertility is definitely helpful as well as eating size for the males.

 

[Nabiki]

You can always freeze extra meat, so you can adjust down if you find that you are getting more meat than you need.

If I were relying on the quail for my eggs and meat, I would probably do a hatch every two months.