Thinking of getting into quails any tips?

[morganalefae]

I have owned chickens for about 6 years now an i love them but multiple factors are having me look at other ways to get eggs and maybe meat (mostly eggs tho). I have seen a few youtube videos of homesteaders and preppers having quail they make them sound so easy.

I know eggs are not very big it looks like 3 or 4 would equal a medium size chicken egg. They mature and start laying quicker then chickens and some claim quail eggs taste better. Not to mention the hatching eggs are cheaper and easier to get a hold of then some of the chicken hatching eggs i wanted which is surprising.

But i want to hear the tips and stories from actual quail owners. Also books i did a quick look but i dont know why but most seem to have very low reviews so anyone know some good books? I have heard of Urban Quail Keeping by Karen J Puddephatt but that seems to be the only decent reviewed book if that makes sense.

Any info, stories, tips, tricks etc are greatly appreciated.

 

[Nabiki]

Coturnix quail do not require any more protein than chickens. they have been domesticated as long as chickens and have evolved to do well on the same diet.

This is not entirely true. Quail chicks need much higher protein. Adults can get away with protein levels in the 18-20% range, but chicks need 28-30% if you want them to grow well and stay healthy.

 

[morganalefae]

Right so i am now the proud mother of 33 japanese quail chicks. Unfortunately 6 died in their shell but they looked like they just stopped growing at around a week and a half it sucks but it happens so out of 50 2 were cracked, 7 infertile and a total of 8 failed to thrive.

So about 84.6% hatch rate out of the 39 eggs that went in. Not bad fingers crossed i dont lose any.

 

[preciouseureka]

I would definably say yes to quail! I love mine so much for so many reasons...the health benefits of the eggs are amazing. Studies are being done all over the world and we are learning new things all the time. I started raising them because the man in my life almost died from a heart problem. Quail eggs got his blood work turned around. My allergies were out of control, I was even hospitalized they were so bad, those little protein bombs have made a huge difference! I'm a total believer.
Also, these are sweet, cute , easy to raise birds with great personalities, fun to watch and the colors are amazing.
The only negative is the high protein food can be expensive and in some places difficult to find. They do stop laying in the winter without artificial light as well.

I hope you go for it!

 

[Whiskybear]

I went with jumbo Coturnix. One light bulb on a timer keeps em popping all winter. While they give me a few smaller eggs here and there, almost the size of standards, it’s generally about 3 to equal a lg chicken egg. A dozen hens with 3 cocks in each of two 6x2’ cages has me swimming in eggs.

 

[morganalefae]

So my quail eggs are in lockdown unfortunately i had 3 fail to thrive i guess thats whats its called and 7 infertile. But 39 on in there so im hoping for at least 6 quail.

I also just got word from a place i bought chicken hatching eggs from that they will finally be sending me eggs i bought (3 different breeds) and im eyeing them golden giant quail still. So i think ill be buying 4 dozen golden giant quail eggs and incubating them with my chicken eggs (separate brooders tho). Now i just need to make sure i time it right so they all go into lockdown at the right time together.

 

[Nabiki]

It is extremely unlikely that all 32 chicks are hens. The usual ratio is 50/50, so while you may end up with hatches that have more males or more females, the chances of all of them being hens are very, very low.

How big is your brooder? If I put my chicks into the big brooder, I will put a divider in there for the first two days to keep them from wandering away from the heat and dying. After that they are capable of finding the heat on their own.

 

[morganalefae]

Well i decided to help a chick that i had my eye on since yesterday as there was no pipping the egg only the air sac. I wish i would have listened to my gut and helped ealier cuz i had a feeling something was not right. An i was right this poor little chick unfortunately had the most severe cross beak i have ever seen in person, was missing a eye and part of their skull was smaller then the other. I did what im sure most people would agree was the right thing and culled it. It sucks having to do it but it would be wrong of me not to for the poor things sake.

On a brighter note so far 17 eggs have hatched i have 3 wild coloured ones and the rest are golden. I really hope i dont lose any more specially to deformities. Im going to go kill the pain with a greasy pizza an a coke and maybe binge watch some of my fav youtubers.

 

[morganalefae]

UPDATE: hubby caved and agreed to let me get quail. I really wanted Italian or golden giant quail (cuz they are pretty) but ultimately i settled on the traditional Japanese quail as they quite literally fall between both the orginal breeds in weight and egg laying abilities and honestly the more i look at them the more i like their plain wild colouring.

We have agreed to get no more the 4 dozen hatching eggs that takes into account non-fertile eggs etc. So we hope to get at least 12 in total but our worse case is hoping for 6 (5 females and 1 male).

I have had quail meat but a long time ago (i liked it) and we agreed that if it turns out we dont like the meat and/or eggs we will chalk it up as a lesson learned and wont breed them or buy more we will let any we have live out their lives (they will become pets for us).

So now its pulling out my incubator cuz in about 4 days to a week ill have my quail hatching eggs. So now its anyone got some quail hatching tips lol. Im super excited!

 

[morganalefae]

Just got my quail eggs im super excited i ordered 4 dozen i recieved 50 so 2 more then expected which is really nice (im pretty sure i counted right). At got them at 12pm so ill put them in the incubator tomorrow at 2pm as that will be what 26hrs of rest should be good enough right?

Im incredibly greatful for moonridge farm with how quickly they shipped my eggs and how quickly and well packed they were. I will be honest i really hope we like at least quail eggs as i really really want to get some gaint goldens and maybe moonridge farms blue quail for some different colours.

Now i guess i just need to know how ppl get quail eggs out of this without breaking them as they look snug and i got 2 of these bad boys in total.