Quail for egg production???

[Orpygal]

OK, call me crazy. I was reading about the nutritional value of quail eggs and think they would be great to raise for egg production. Is it possible, is anyone doing it? Most info I find is geared toward raising them for eating. I would appreciate any info on this.
Thanks!
Angel

 

[srsmith69]

I have 10 jumbo coturnix hens. It is a rare day when I don't get ten eggs from them. If I do happen to only get 9, I usually get either an extra the next day or 10 with one being a large double yolk egg. They start laying at 6 to 7 weeks and lay consistently. Course they are smaller than chicken eggs

 

[astatula]

It is the nearest to an idiot-proof set-up as you can get. They hatch in 18 days and start laying in 6 weeks and lay everyday for 1 year.

 

[Orpygal]

Ok, call me an idiot!

So it's entirely possible to raise quail for their eggs but how hard is it? I assume they need to be enclosed...no free ranging like chickens?

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
It is kina like eating the wrong mushroom most days they only free range once

I have too many fox and bobcats here for that to work

 

[astatula]

They are many times easier than chickens to raise and get fantastic, highly nutritious, eggs from. I am considering making one of my chicken runs into a Coturnix quail enclosure and getting rid of the chickens.

Very little maintainence and because they are wild they need less care than a chicken does. I have not seen the problems with disease and the longer waiting times for eggs or any flightiness. I hatched my Coturnix 6 weeks ago, and they almost always all hatch, and I gave away 30 of them to drop my count to 32. I then gave away the remainder of the roosters, ten more, keeping 2 for my 15 remaining hens.

They hatched 6 weeks ago this Saturday and I got my first eggs today. Starting next week I will be getting 15 eggs everyday and if I want to I can have another 50 Coturnix in 3 weeks. These things put rabbits to shame with their breeding.

If you go into the larger quail for meat purposes, you will find that the work is much more similar to chicken work and more difficult.

Good Luck

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
Coturnix hens are the undisputed egg laying champions of the world! With proper care and management they can produce 300 eggs/yr on average Per Hen....

 

[DLS]

trouble is***** WHO ARE YOU GOING TO SELL THEM TO? Show me the buyers... Just show me

 

[Orpygal]

I'm thinking personal consumption. If they're as nutritionally superior to chicken eggs as the few websites I've found have said, I'll sell all the chicken eggs and keep the quail eggs!

 

[DLS]

Quote:
sounds good. Chicken eggs sell great for me. I have a few regular quail egg customers . But not as reliable as chickens.