Quail for meat: I want to know all! :)

[Alicia G]

Next year I plan on getting more unusual meat animals(well at least to me) next year and quail are one of the breeds I am interested in. So being a complete noob in the subject, I have LOTS of questions

So I guess here they are!

-What breed is good to raise? I know some people who have Courtix (sp?). Are they good?
-How long do they take to mature?
-What size do they usually get?
-What do you feed them?
-Can you keep them around other animals?(ducks/chickens/turkeys)
-What is your experience with them?
-Did you like to raise them?
-Where they a breed you would recommend?
And most importantly (or at least to me

) How do they taste?
I have had lots of different meats, duck, pheasant, turkey and chicken of coarse,moose, deer, and Guinea fowl, they tasted good, well we had them mainly cause they were too loud!

All advice is appreciated

Thanks

 

[thekid]

ANSWERS:
Coturnix- jumbo brown, a and m, and jumbo white
you can eat one at 6-8 weeks
jumbos and a and m get to 16-18 oz
Game bird starter all their life

NOOOOO WAY!!!!
none but i am getting some soon

always have to know all the info first

Yes i would lol
this question is the same as the first.
Very Good!!!! I have 2 people who will support me on that

JJ and Bill lol

 

[Alicia G]

So are courtix jumbo quail, and all the breeds you listed are just different lines of them? Or are they all completely different?

 

[Fat Daddy]

Quote:
Jumbo browns and the others are coturnix, many many different kinds of coturnix. Some large some not so much. Lots of colors. Pick the color and size you want and have at it!! The largest coturnix I have ever seen was 14 oz....most are 8 to 12oz... Bill

 

[MobyQuail]

I have learned, for our purposes, coturnix are coturnix are coturnix. They are all one species of bird.

This is originally a small game bird with a very large distribution. the different environments in which they live, have created various color mutations- dark to light colored. e.g., pharoah, tibetan, manchurian.

1,000+ years of Domestication has created even more color variations/mutations and various strains for size. e.g., English Whites, Texas AM, Jumbo XLD1

general theory= The Jumbo Browns are larger and easier to color/feather sex.

my largest white bird is ~12 oz.


So, like Bill says, pick a color and go for it.

 

[joe125]

-What breed is good to raise? I know some people who have Courtix (sp?). Are they good?

The bread/strain of your choice is good. Coturnix are generally good, if you want to raise and eat coturnix! They are yummy to me!

-How long do they take to mature?

You can eat them from egg to adult. Meat birds generally take between 8-10 weeks, but you can eat them sooner if you like. If you are asking about maturing to breeder quality birds, then the number is a bit different.

-What size do they usually get?

It depends on the strain, and where you got your eggs. Somewhere between 7-12 oz. at 8-10 weeks depending on the strain. They top out around 14 OZ. You can take that to the bank and cash it like a BANK CHECK!

-What do you feed them?

Non medicated Purina Mills Game Bird Starter, product number 5419, from hatch to dispatch...Unless the non planner bulk breeder sucks up all the GBS from my feed store and I have to wait for the truck to come in. At that point I feed PM layer product number 5438.

-Can you keep them around other animals?(ducks/chickens/turkeys)

I don't! I keep them around humans K9's and a cat

-What is your experience with them?

GOOD! Going on 4 years now.

-Did you like to raise them?

Yes, and I still do!

-Where they a breed you would recommend?

Yes.
What ever works for you

And most importantly (or at least to me tongue) How do they taste?

They taste surprisingly like.....................Coturnix! I happen to like the taste

I have had lots of different meats, duck, pheasant, turkey and chicken of coarse,moose, deer, and Guinea fowl, they tasted good, well we had them mainly cause they were too loud!

Me too, but coturnix taste like coturnix....nothing more.​

 

[joe125]

Quote:
You learn well young patawan.

It's all about getting past the size hype with coturnix. Once one gets past that, then they will get past the taste hype. They don't taste like anything other than coturnix. Which tastes nothing like CHICKEN!

Tasty birds though!

 

[Alicia G]

Well I think Im going for Quail next year! I know a fella who sell hatching eggs for 2$ a dozen (which seems very fair to me). How many do you think I should get? I was thinking about 5 dozen eggs, and would hope to end up with at around 2-3 dozen birds for the freezer. At being so small, I would think at least one bird per person, per meal!
Thanks for all the advice!

 

[bryleighs_gmal]

expect 2 quail to fed one person or 3 depends on the person

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

I'm with bryleighs_gmal at least 2 per person.