Quails??

[johnnalei]

I'm intrigued, but know nothing. I have a small extra coop and I want to raise some quails for meat. I don't even know where to start. Could someone point me in the direction of a good book for raising quails for eggs/meat? I've heard they are easy to pluck, is this true? Should I buy hatching eggs to start? I'm assuming ebay = bad? I'd love suggestions! How many quails could I fit in a coop about 2'x6'? Do they make noise? Do you actually save money by raising them for meat instead of buying meat? Thanks for all your suggestions!!

 

[pringle]

I suggest you first read coturnix quail basicsmy monarc at the top of the page int he quail section then after that if you have questions just ask.

 

[johnnalei]

How did I miss that?! Thanks

 

[pringle]

lol no problem.

 

[Kullas]

My pens are 2' wide x2'long x1'tall 1 roo and 4 to 5 hens per pen. easy to care for easy to hatch. I got my eggs here on byc. as for the meat i like the taste of quail and there is no where around to buy it around here

 

[johnnalei]

How many ounces of meat do you get per 8 week old coturnix after processing? How much noise do they make? Do you incubate just like chicken eggs?

 

[Kullas]

not real sure on the oz of meat im sure some one will chime in on that

some times in the evenings the roos like to make noise its not that bad and yess almost like chicken eggs same temp. turn for the first 14 days and set back and watch the popcorn pop

can hatch anywhere from day 15 to day 20

 

[johnnalei]

Would love to know what I can realistically expect for meat production. Has anyone number crunched and found out the cost of feed to value of meat? I have all the supplied pretty much, so that cost is waived. Also, it looks like a rabbit hutch style pen is best. Is there a good source for learning more about their housing needs?

 

[fitzy]

Quote:
Well, as luck would have it, i like to crunch numbers....

Here's what i came up with...

Based on food at $12/40 lb and a linear growth rate with the end value per week used as that weeks value (i'm not quite geeky enough to figure individual days) it costs:

wk1 0.6c/bird/day
wk2 1.3c/bird/day
wk3 2.0c/bird/day
wk4 2.6c/bird/day
wk5 3.3c/bird/day
wk6 4.0c/bird/day

After week 6 the birds have "basically" matured and further feed costs can be calculated at the same as wk 6. The above costs were calculated based on my birds and my feeders...other feeders may have more waste, in which case you can throw this whole post out the window!

Search the threads, apparently there's a guy on ebay that makes one heck of a feeder that has NO WASTE. People were talking about it and posting pics recently.

If you're handy, visit www.renegaderidgefarms.com and you can get a good set of plans with lots of pics so you can build your own cages.



to figure food costs with differently priced food, simply take the new price and divide it by 12 (my food cost). this will give you the ratio to multiply each week by.

i.e. you only pay $11/40 lb of food. 11/12 = 0.916 .....therefore, you are paying 91.6% as much as i am. so, in week 4 you'd be spending 4c x 91.6% = 3.664c/bird/day (i'd round to 3.7 to make things simpler)

 

[johnnalei]

stupid question...does 'c' stand for cent, or ounce, or??