Coturnix Quail Basics- Information and Pictures Galore

[Fat Daddy]

Soaking them in vinegar a few hrs eats the shell almost gone. Then wash and peel the membrane off like a grape skin..... You will still tear a few where the yolk slid to one side of the white, but your percentage of untorn will go way up.... wash well again after you peel them to tame the vinegar.... for pickling let them sit over night and no shell at all will be left. Just the grape skin. For some reason it does not work with chicken eggs.... Shells too think i guess.

 

[JaeG]

My Nan showed me a trick she'd seen on a cooking show. You tap the skinny end, then the fat end, then you lie the egg on its side and roll it to break up the shell and loosen the membrane. Then peel from the fat end (where the air cell is). Works a treat. And I believe older eggs are easier to peel than fresh ones.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My Nan showed me a trick she'd seen on a cooking show. You tap the skinny end, then the fat end, then you lie the egg on its side and roll it to break up the shell and loosen the membrane. Then peel from the fat end (where the air cell is). Works a treat. And I believe older eggs are easier to peel than fresh ones.

This is how my daughter and I do it. Rarely have a problem, but if too fresh they stick on occasion. We have a race to see whose peel is the longest

 

[Sill]

HOW DO YOU PEEL AND GET THE YOLK OUT WITHOUT BREAKING THE EGG WHITE? I TRIED DEVILING THEM ONCE AND IF I DIDNT BREAK THE EGG WHITE WHILE TAKING OFF THE SHELL I TORE THE EGG WHITE WHILE SCOOPING THE THE YOLK OUT.

I want to know how you are able to peel them without destroying the egg? I have no luck with that. Are mine just to fresh? Should they sit in the fridge for a week or more?
GIVE US YOUR SECRET!!!!

To avoid the yolks breaking through the whites when you peel them you need to boil them a bit differently. As you add the eggs to the already boiling water stir them well with a plastic spoon for the first 30 seconds to help center the yolk, then continue boiling for three more minutes before putting the eggs in an ice water bath and peel as usual. You will have way fewer break throughs.
Also, if you store the eggs you plan on boiling with the big end up before boiling it won't settle to one side as easily, keeps the yolk more centered. Much easier to peel!

 

[jeepster]

I have a new birth in the family. One baby Coturnix just hatched.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I have a new birth in the family. One baby Coturnix just hatched.

Congrats! They are sooo tiny, every hatch I still am amazed at how little they are.

 

[jeepster]

This morning there are three more, for a total of 4 so far. Ones a buff colored one like one of the females. YAY!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

This morning there are three more, for a total of 4 so far. Ones a buff colored one like one of the females. YAY!

Congrats, is it a golden? I love their color! They don't seem to get as large as the browns but are just beautiful little birds. This lil girl, Speckles wound up being a pet, she is just exceptionally friendly. My mom (she is 80) adores her, she keeps her in a birdcage indoors. Don't let my hand fool you on Speckles size, I am a really small person less than 5ft tall lol. Speckles is about a pound, but she is 2 years old so is a large hen.

 

[orumpoultry]

This morning there are three more, for a total of 4 so far. Ones a buff colored one like one of the females. YAY!

Awesome!!! I can't wait, I've got a few hundred set but some bad storms knocked power out a short while. I hope they made it through, we blanketed the incubators.

 

[dc3085]

If you work at it enough you can get Gold speckled/italians to carry some size. You'll never see a 14 ounce bird at butcher time but 10-11 ounces is reachable with selective breeding. Manchurians are stuck small because crossing them with any of the large bodied birds creates another color phase.