Processing quail, what tools do you use?

[dianneS]

I had to process my first quail this morning, reluctantly. She broke her leg and it was bad. I put her out of her misery and processed her. She's in the fridge for dinner tonight.

I used a pair of kitchen shears to snip her head off. I didn't like that too much. I felt a bit too much resistance at first, and took two firm squeezes to get the job done. It only took a second, but I was hoping for something swifter.

Are game shears much better for this job? Should I use a knife or an ax instead?

 

[brewer12345]

I use a pair of game or kitchen shears. It might be worth buying new ones or having them sharpened. When dealing with quail or doves (when I am hunting and knock one of the latter down but they are still alive), I try to make a clean cut. It the cut wasn't quite right or the shears are duller than they should be, I just yank and get it done quickly by pulling the heads off. It is just about instantaneous and that is what we are after.

A knife or axe might work, but it is kind of a small target for an axe and I feel like it would be tough to get them to hold still for a knife.

I suppose if you are super squeamish, you could buy a "rat zapper" and just stick them into it. Zap!

 

[dianneS]

Thanks. I was thinking the same thing about the ax, it's too small of a target. I've thought about making a small cone to hang them in to use a knife??

I ended up processing a second bird yesterday. That one also had a leg injury. Not broken, but she still needed to be culled. I used garden shears this time since they have a curve to them to hold the neck in one spot. I'm still not thrilled with the process, but I will give the game shears a try when they arrive.

My mother has a kosher poultry knife that is so ridiculously razor sharp! Maybe I'll try one of those with a cone some day?

These are the first birds I've ever processed. Well, the first anything I've ever killed with my own two hands. I've just been contemplating a lot since then...

 

[brewer12345]

These guys are so small that anything other than shears is tough to use. A razor sharp knife is a good thing, but be careful not to cut yourself. A friend raised a few meat chickens along with his layers this spring and when he was ready to process them he made a loop out of string and nailed it to his chopping block. He put the bird's head through the loop to keep the head in place and then swung the axe. This might work for quail (maybe with a cleaver rather than an axe), but it also might still be really tough due to size. I had my shears professionally sharpened and will be sticking with them.

This is not the fun part of keeping quail (or hunting), but it is necessary and I think it is more honest than going to the supermarket and buying meat on Styrofoam trays. I have 38 chicks coming up now and out of the 15 pharaohs only 5 turned out to be hens (don't know about the A&Ms yet). I will try to keep the two biggest pharaoh roosters, but the rest will be culls simply because I have limited space and I am really interested in eggs more than anything else.

 

[dianneS]

I just got my game shears today. Boy are they sharp! They have a nice deep notch too. Hopefully they will make the process a little easier than kitchen shears. I'm not looking forward to doing this again, but I also have too many birds right now and need to cull some.

I also had my first meal of quail on the grill last night. I had no problems eating it. It was delicious, but that doesn't make the killing process feel any easier at this point anyway...