quail meat ?

[okiehen]

Do any of you that raise quail, process your birds and sale the meat?( fresh or frozen)
Or do you just sale live birds ready to dress?
How do you do doing it good bad ok etc?
How about pickled eggs does any one sale them?
Is there any regulations permits you have to have?
And where do you sale at local farmers market ,word of mouth, local paper etc?
Thanks for all your help.

 

[aprophet]

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[JJMR794]

You'd Have To Check Your State Laws On This... They Vary Greatly From 1 State To The Next As Many Require Special Licensure And Fda Approved Inspections And Professional Slaughterhouses.... Get Real Tricky Unless Your Big Enough To Do It All Yourself... If You Can Produce Massive Numbers In Fda Approved Ways With All The Beaurocratic Nonsense Then You Should Not Have Any Trouble Finding Grocery Chains Willing To Purchase Your Product--- If This Is Not An Option The Easiest Way Is To Sell Slaughter Ready Live Birds And You Can Advertize Them On Your Local Craigslist, Or Many Free Sites As Well As Local Papers And Gazettes. I Sell Off Surplus Coturnix Roos Locally For Eating Birds- Buck A Peice, They Leave Here Fully Feathered And With An Eager Look Of "where We Goin?

" On Their Faces....

 

[JJMR794]

Oh Forgot.... For The Record, If I Am Processing Birds Myself.... I Will Consume Them Myself

Its Not A Big Deal To Me To Process Them, Just A Time Consuming Chore And Time Is Tighter Than Money Around Here.... And Thats Pretty Tight. So If I Am Going Through The Trouble Of Processing Its For Our Dinner

 

[shelleyd2008]

I just raise them to sell, I don't process them for myself or anyone else. A friend of mine sells pickled eggs at a local farmer's market, he gets $5 for a pint jar. You'll have to check locally to see what kind of regulations there are on selling raw/frozen birds or pickled eggs.

 

[Kwartel]

I raise them mostly for myself. I eat their eggs and will eventually be able to process adults for meat. I have sold both fertile eggs and adult birds at auctions, but I live several hours away and go mainly for entertainment and to support my own bird addiction, so they mostly just help offset what I pay in gas. How much I get varies widely depending on whether or not there is anyone interested in quail there. I have also gifted my neighbors with quail for butchering.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I don't sell. But I notice that around Houston they are sold live. No meat, no pickled eggs are sold. That is why I raise my own.

And JJMR $1 a Roo is way to cheap. They are getting $5 for a 6 week Jumbo C. bird here. Well that is what they are asking. $10 each for colors this year. Starts at 25-50 cents an egg goes up to $1 per chick and add $1 for each week till you hit $5.

Edited to add: If I could get full grown for $1 each I wouldn't bother raising them. Well maybe a few. Wish I was closer.

 

[Kim_NC]

We just got started with quail this year but are pleased with the results so far.

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Hope this is helpful....good luck!

 

[Akane]

We process quail to feed the dogs. I'm not big on eating meat and mostly prefer big game. We are getting a side of elk for ourselves.

For the most part all the birds accomplish paying for themselves between what we get for selling the eggs (or birds for guineas and chickens) and what is saved by using them for pet food. With the exception of chickens I had like seramas which we no longer have chickens just guineas and sometimes quail.

We sell the eggs to people we know. Attempts to figure out gamebird laws here have only met with dead ends so we just try to stay under the radar. I do know you need a permit and personalized stamp for each carcass if selling meat. The sale of live birds and eggs is a gray area that not even the gamebird forums seem to have figured out. It depends who you get on the phone when you call and how they decide to interpret the law. Craigslist is also a good place to sell what you know is legal. Even a lot of the livestock farms and especially less common meats like bison and elk get their orders mostly through craigslist. Farmer's markets would likely also be a good place for eggs but I'm not sure they allow meat and I know they don't allow live birds. They have very strict rules here for egg handling, storage, and transport if selling at the farmer's market. You would probably need some type of permit or possibly a USDA inspection to sell
even just eggs to restaurants.

 

[()relics]

I raise coturnix to train dogs. I used to raise bobs but the laws changed and you need to have a permit to raise them now, I don't like permits....So I just use coturnix. They don't fly as far but they hold for a dog just as good as a bob. I sell most of the young males that I don't need at a local auction, again no permit needed for coturnix. I hatch eggs to replace burnt out females and for fresh dog trainers. All the birds that I use for the dogs eventually get shot and eaten. It is not legal in my state to process any meat unless it is for personal use, again unless you have a state inspection permit, again with the permits.