Mountain Quail, or Cortunix?

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

hello! I am preparing my aviary to get my first quail! I am mostly keeping and breeding them for meat, but I will probably try plenty of their eggs from time to time. My local breeder was helping me get started and suggested some "rainbow" Cortunix quail. They looked pretty big and he said they get pretty meaty. However he also has some other types of quail like California, Tennessee red, bobwhite, and a few more. I read online that mountain quail are the largest of all quail, so I figured this would be better for meat production. However I also read that more "wild, less domesticated quail are harder to raise and less hardy themselves. So, does anyone have any suggestions? I am still leaning on the Cortunix side of things but if anyone has a better suggestion for which quail species I should raise I would much appreciate it. Thank you!

 

[007Sean]

If you're raising them for meat, stick with Cot's. If your raising them for the fun of it, Bob's, Gamble's, Blue Scale are great. Tennessee Reds are a little on the cannibalistic side.
Mountain quail are big compared to the other New World species but they are harder to raise, nutritional and habitat requirements are completely different from other quail, need to be an experienced breeder....besides I don't think you would eat a $100 bird?

Best of Luck with your endeavors!

 

[Nabiki]

Check your local ordinances. Coturnix quail usually don't require a permit, but all of the others usually do.

Coturnix quail are hardy and easy to raise, so if you've never raised quail before, I would start with them.

 

[shrimpsilkies]

While I’m not sure how exact this is, Cornell Lab of Ornithology lists Mountain quail max weight as 262 grams, which might be the largest naturally occurring quail. However humans have bred jumbo coturnix to be over 400 grams, and some bobwhite breeds like the Butler can apparently get well over a pound. Coturnix are very fast to mature so if you want to raise them for meat, they’ll only take at maximum two months to get to eating size, whereas New World quail like mountains and bobs take up to 6 or 7 months and longer to reach sexual maturity. I would go with the Coturnix since they are faster breeders, easier to tame, faster growing, and quite meaty if you buy the right type. Also incredibly productive in terms of eggs as well, and probably need less room, are less territorial with one another on average

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

If you're raising them for meat, stick with Cot's. If your raising them for the fun of it, Bob's, Gamble's, Blue Scale are great. Tennessee Reds are a little on the cannibalistic side.
Mountain quail are big compared to the other New World species but they are harder to raise, nutritional and habitat requirements are completely different from other quail, need to be an experienced breeder....besides I don't think you would eat a $100 bird?

Best of Luck with your endeavors!

Thank you! Very helpful. I had NO IDEA they were 100 dollars!!!!! Where I live they run around naturally so I thought they would be a similar price to like bobwhites and stuff.

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

While I’m not sure how exact this is, Cornell Lab of Ornithology lists Mountain quail max weight as 262 grams, which might be the largest naturally occurring quail. However humans have bred jumbo coturnix to be over 400 grams, and some bobwhite breeds like the Butler can apparently get well over a pound. Coturnix are very fast to mature so if you want to raise them for meat, they’ll only take at maximum two months to get to eating size, whereas New World quail like mountains and bobs take up to 6 or 7 months and longer to reach sexual maturity. I would go with the Coturnix since they are faster breeders, easier to tame, faster growing, and quite meaty if you buy the right type. Also incredibly productive in terms of eggs as well, and probably need less room, are less territorial with one another on average

Thank you! I will definitely go with Cortunix then. I am doing all the research I can but I have not been able to find many books on quail. At least not any that give specifics on breeds.

 

[Nabiki]

Have you checked out the articles here on BYC? There are some good ones.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/quail.32/

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

Have you checked out the articles here on BYC? There are some good ones.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/quail.32/

No I have not, I will make sure to check these out. Thank you!

 

[quailheart]

I have raised and bred bobwhite quail for a few years. They are really fun! They make the prettiest calls in the Spring. They're eggs are, well... small, but that goes for all quail eggs. Bobwhites eggs are just plain white which was kind of disappointing when I thought they were going to be speckles. In my opinion they taste exactly like chicken eggs. We also butchered some and had them for Thanksgiving. 5 whole quail couldn't even feed 3 people! If you are getting them mostly for meat I would not get bobwhites. They sure are skinny little fellas!

 

[WallacetheKhakiCampbell]

I have raised and bred bobwhite quail for a few years. They are really fun! They make the prettiest calls in the Spring. They're eggs are, well... small, but that goes for all quail eggs. Bobwhites eggs are just plain white which was kind of disappointing when I thought they were going to be speckles. In my opinion they taste exactly like chicken eggs. We also butchered some and had them for Thanksgiving. 5 whole quail couldn't even feed 3 people! If you are getting them mostly for meat I would not get bobwhites. They sure are skinny little fellas!

Thank you! I raised one small batch of assorted Coturnix. A tiny strain though. So I ordered some jumbo wilds online that arrived yesterday. Just put them in the incubator!! I started a quail hatch-a-long if anyone is hatching any rn too: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/april-quail-hatch-a-long-come-join.1454834/



I have a aviary though that I might add some bobwhites or Californias just for ornamental purposes later. Im planning on having some mandarin ducks and ringed teal in there with them. It will be quite the show!!