Hello, all! I posted this in the quail forum, but I figured I would bring it up here since the such a wealth of local knowledge here. I am thinking about getting into quail. I am struggling to find a local source though. I don't need to buy them tomorrow. I can wait until spring if needed. I just want to know who sells quail. Ideally I want to get chicks, not eggs. I don't have an incubator and no experience since second grade with incubating eggs. I can do a brooder. Anybody raising quail, are you willing to share your source or part with some chicks?
I considered getting quail before. Further research indicated I would need one of 2 things. A LARGE AVIARY, or a set of small cages. Cant free-range them since they will fly away first chance possible.
If you are set to get some, then you know the prior needs. I did find a source on local Craig's list. Your Craig's list is pretty much same as mine. (location/area)
The size of cage is important for the safety of the quail. Short enough so they do not attempt to fly. Or,,,,, tall enough so they do not hit top ceiling and hurt their neck in process. Large aviary ideal. Do you have room for one???
We have/had some quail. They were OK. Lay like crazy & then NOTHING all winter. We eventually built a rabbit-like cage (looking to the future when the kids will want rabbits some day). The extra height never seemed to matter.... but short cages = more volume. I like their little noises & if we couldn't own chickens, then quail is a good back up poultry. I prefer chickens for their personalities, but those little quail eggs are cute. Over the years I found many uses for the eggs. I think the people who raise them in little tractors have the best tasting eggs; my quail didn't get much grass time, so our chicken eggs definitely tasted better.
Since the quail are seasonal layers, we were eating most of them before winter. (The meat is delicious, processing is fast & easy, but it takes several quail to make an entree.) We saved mostly females & were deciding if we'd keep a few or have one more last, big meal. Another 4H family had only 1 male, so we gave our remaining ones to them. In exchange, they'll give us some fertile eggs next spring .... if we want them. Win/win! They got free quail & we have less beaks to feed.
Although the quail were part of DD's project, it is DS who wants to hatch more. We'll see how he feels in the spring. If we do hatch some, I'll let you know. Ours were nothing special. Basic Coturnix & Texas A&M. I had a few that layed interesting blue eggs but we were not breeding for it. Just ate the eggs.
I know there's someone out there on CL who sells the very large quail. You may also find some pretty colors.
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The 1st quail were our favs. The kids played with them & the quail were very tame. We could even tell them apart.
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DD's fav was a male named "Albert." She spent so much time with him, that he stayed by her side when outside. (Most quail simply wander away.)
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As you can see the design of the "quail cage" can be used for a chicken hospital, broody area, or rabbit hutch.
So I jumped off the deep end today...
I went ahead and order 50 quail eggs and an incubator. I am so excited to start incubating/breeding!
We really cannot breed our chickens due to being restricted to just 8 hens by local ordinance. There's not a restriction like that on quail though - they are a pet bird essentially.
I plan to cull the flock annually and breed the best of them for the next season. ideally I will work out a system where I can collect meat annually, but allow each bird to lay eggs for 2 years.
Incubator is due to arrive in 2 days - Amazon sure is amazing. Eggs should arrive between Friday or Saturday. I sure hope that the incubator shows up with no problems.
If anybody wants a few eggs for a dollar a piece I should have 8 or 9 extras since the incubator holds 42 eggs I believe. Let me know if you are close by and interested. nudge nudge
@Faraday40 DS Christmas presents.
I see you got yourself an early Christmas present! Congrats. Hatching is very fun but also addictive. What incubator did you get? I'm sure there's a way to fit more eggs. I recommend setting all of the eggs - even if it means turning by hand for the 1st week. After a week, candle & discard any clears. Then you should be able to fit the remaining developing eggs in the turner. Most sellers will add extra hatching eggs because it helps cover any losses due to shipping. Shipped eggs have a lower hatch rate but still worth trying. DD had some very good hatches, one hatch that gave us 0%, and many hatch rates in between.
- Unpack eggs as soon as they arrive & let them sit (air cell up) for at least a day before putting them in the incubator. (also warm them to room temp before setting.
- If air cells still look detached / jiggly, you can skip turning them the 1st day or two of incubation.
- Use a bright flashlight & some aluminum foil to make a narrow beam candler for those tiny eggs.
One of my ideas to fit more eggs to fit more eggs is to use quail egg cartons. Cut out the bottoms for air circulation & prop up one side to tilt eggs. Then to turn them, move the block (or whatever you used to prop it up) to the opposite side. Boom! You just turned 18 (or 12) little eggs at once.
At "lockdown" keep the egg carton flat. The chicks will climb out but the carton prevents them from rolling all over the incubator.
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Quail are lots of fun! Mind if I ask where your eggs are coming from?
We have had quail since Faraday40 hatched them the first time. Let's see was that 2 or three years ago now.
I will say our experience with quail has not been ideal all the time. And I think they're more suited to being processed and switched out every year and a half. Ours have layed through the winter when in our unheated porch and a little in the coop. Of course supplemental light would help that.
I know a local breeder and he usually switches out his breeders every 6-13 months. His quail are huge but like mine did start to have problems without the addition of new blood.
We built a raised run in the coop that doesn't take space from the chickens but allows us to have a safe space for the quail. However we also built a small chicken tractor that become our quail tractor that allowed our quail to be on grass during the months that weather allowed. They did wonderful in there the biggest thing is predator protection and we did lose several to a raccoon. If we built it over we would make it hardware cloth from the start. We went with chicken wire for the area of the tractor that wasn't covered and didn't have a floor. The part of the tractor with a cover and floor is hardware cloth and so is the door.
I will mention we didn't get to finishing this tractor this year which just involves our plans to put two more doors on it. Both hardware cloth. One into the run so we could lock them in the covered part at night or for safety and one in the back of the covered part which is currently solid plywood for safety.
Unfortunately at 2 or more years old this year we lost all of our original quail but one. This one is currently in our porch but will be going to the freezer. We plan to begin again next year with quail.
The quail love being in the tractor and adjust amazingly! They are also surprisingly cold hardy in the covered part. Last year they stayed out in the tractor until approximately middle to late December I believe it was.
It also makes their egg's shells much stronger and the eggs themselves more flavorful. In the past our quail and silkies have gotten us through low egg times when the big birds weren't laying.
I love their noises and yes they can become somewhat friendly if handled a lot. They're not exactly bright and can be highly aggressive with their own kind so keep an eye out for that. Sometimes they just don't get along no matter how much space there is.
I have had both blue and green laying quail and wanted to breed for it but of course lost those girls. If you get some colorful layers let me know.
Also if you're looking to keep them for meat make sure you get Jumbo's as the size difference is crazy! As is the difference in egg size.
We didn't use the eggs as often as I feel we would have if we had gotten some quail egg scissors. Something we will get this spring for sure. They make great snacks and a few of them make 1 large or XL egg.
They're also higher in protein and vitamins and minerals I believe than chicken eggs and supposed to be hypoallergenic for people who are allergic to chicken eggs. Traditional medicines used them to treat asthma and a host of other problems. They're also not supposed to carry salmonella from my research when I first got them. That's why quail eggs are used in certain types of sushi or uncooked dishes.
They're adorable and I love making little eggs in a basket with their eggs.
As for adult quail we haven't eaten nearly as many as Faraday40. And I'm excited to try her quail soup next spring. We may try it with our lone little one. We have some in the freezers but well if you saw our packed freezers you'd understand why we can't find them lol.
DH2B didn't care for them much but to be honest I'm not sure we cooked them correctly. He's hard to convince to give foods another shot. Personally I think they would make great little appetizers for our wedding. They would also have a novelty factor to them.
I also know Faraday has brooded some with chickens just fine. Ours didn't work and ended up with several scalped and dead quail when a chick jumped in with the quail. The chick was larger so maybe that's why. We've also experienced some of our chickens attacking and even killing quail that got out. Other than a few freak things and predators our quail have proven hardy and fun. I really enjoy them and to be totally honest I'll be the reason we get more next spring. Lol
One thing if you want to keep them economical be sure you process the juveniles at 6-8 weeks I wouldn't recommend any later. We got overwhelmed last year while we waited to try and sex them. While of course some younger ones need to be kept for future breeding it's best to process the majority right away. Especially in large numbers.
They pop like popcorn when startled so watch for that as well.
They're cute funny little birds and can be very economical to keep and sell. For us they are also very rarely ever susceptible to Marek's disease so they have that bonus as well.
We have found the best way to process them is with heavy duty scissors or we use tin snips set aside for the job. This way their never needs to be hesitation of if it will do the job correctly and humanely.
Once the head is off we sling them out. Many people use the killing implement to then take off the wings and feet but I prefer a knife for this as there are less bone shards to contend with and they are less likely to puncture the bag or vacuum sealer bag. The shears are also used to cut down either side of the spine and the spine, guts and vent are removed all in one. It's cleaner and easier. I'm sure not getting my hand in a quail to gut it.
Hope this all helps let me know if you've got any questions I'll try to answer them.
My wife doesn't know that part just yet.
I am already feeling the incubation itch. I'm talking to my wife about building 4 8'x3'x2' quail pens resulting to two 2-tier hutches with breeding chambers, coop/indoor chambers, and a whole production system that would provide a eggs, meat, and future generations of quail to keep the cycle going. She thinks I am absolutely bonkers!
Who knows, I may be able to grow the majority of our protein in our suburban backyard. If only I was allowed to have pigmy goats or a small breed of pig... One day I am going to buy a piece of ag land and go livestock crazy.
