Butchering Quail Without Beheading

[le_bwah]

I was taught to do it that way by my dad when I was a pup. Been killing adult quail that way for 40+ years. Fast and easy but I suppose doing it so often makes it become second nature.

But hey, what do I know. Just a dumb ol farmer. LOL

Shoulda made it clear that was for OP, not you. It's not uncommon to hesitate with a new method and injure the animal instead of kill it—I've seen people do that to frailer animals than quail. Trying to avoid some heartache.

 

[coyotelaughing]

Thanks for the tips, everyone, and especially le_bwah's comment on being decisive. That's my biggest fear is hesitating, and I learned that the hard way when I picked up frog fishing last summer (shooting them in the center of the skull between the ears dispatches bullfrogs best).

Fire370, just to be clear, you're just using pressure to separate the head from the spine? No bending back, just kind of like nipping a bud or seedpod off a plant? This appeals to me most but that hesitation or question of 'what if I do it wrong' is dogging me. It's always hardest the first time though, eh.


I've been drying the wings of the quail my bad rooster killed. I prefer to use salt in all my dry preserving as it dissuades pests more than air drying, and lets the feathers/fur 'lock in' to the skin a little better and quicker. Using borax is a good alternative, as well. I'm planning on just drying the skin flat, salted, with wings and feet, like a museum specimen. I've got a couple other birds in my freezer I'm planning on doing proper taxidermy mounts with (all legal and including, oddly, a roadkill chukar) -- too much on my plate to add the quail to the mix.

A study skin would be really interesting if one has time for it, though. The skull is left in the skin, cleaned out thoroughly, of course, and the skin is stuffed with cotton and sewn up. Dry preserving, especially with the borax or a pesticide included, works for this. If the bird is bloody or dirty, the skins can be easily washed with dishsoap and then blow-dried. It might take a little work to sort out some of the feathers, but it's not too hard, just make sure all the soap is rinsed out first.

 

[fire370]

You’re separating the vertebrae in the neck below the head. And yes you need to be swift.

 

[Fishkeeper]

I've actually found that small animals (small rats and smaller) don't need to have the skull cleaned for taxidermy, as long as you put lots of borax around the skull. Everything just dries out in situ. I know you're not supposed to do that, but it seems to work okay. Posing is a bit trickier than a loose skin over a form, but when I did taxidermy it was mostly rogue taxidermy, and I made a lot of zombies. You want meat on the skull for that, strip a few patches of skin away to show what's underneath.
(I was 14 and really into zombies at the time. And they turned out pretty well, I think.)