Quail - efficient meat source?

[Caprice_Acres]

I'm interested in finding links or books about raising quail. I'd like to do so for several reasons - for our own meat use, to sell hatching eggs/eating eggs, and also for raw diet feeding our dogs/cats as well as selling some as raw diet meat.

I'm considering Jumbos, how are they for meat production efficiency.

I'm also considering getting a custom grain mix made for them, Like I have for my other poultry. I'm thinking we'll go with a 25% protein - is that sufficient? Any other nutrient requirements I should consider?

Also, could I see pictures of setups, perhaps? I've got small open floored cages I could use for a small breeding group, but I'm thinking a bigger pen might be easier on me for the higher production I may require. Just getting ideas now, and researching, I'm not about to jump in quite yet.

I'd also love to hear tricks and tips.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

I am in the middle of building large capacity pens for my quail; I will update this post soon!

 

[mhwc56]

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[Stellar]

I raise my birds for eggs but I have included loads of info on my website. Bookwise, most books that influenced me are a bit outdated and I got my knowledge in school. Although a bit outdated, the practices are similar to today. The quail manual by Albert Marsh is a good one.

 

[joe125]

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Actually, I have seen scientific studies that suggest there is little if any difference between properly formulated game bird feed with protein levels from 24-26+% It really is more about amino acids, vitamins, etc... Than it is flat protein levels.
For the record: I feed Purina mills non-medicated game bird starter (30% protein) from hatch to dispatch. In a pinch, I will feed any of the game bird formulas down to 19% over any chicken/flock raiser/what ever high protein, non game bird feed there is, but that's just me.

There is more to game bird feed than protein content!

 

[Robo]

I agree, there are many things that play a factor such as calcium, lysine, and all sorts of vitamins.