very interested in quail.....flood me with pros and cons!

[JurassicBawk]

I've had quail the last 6 years or so, mostly just a few females for eggs because I couldn't have chickens. I even kept some in a hutch inside my house for awhile, but of course they're messy. Last year I hatched out 18 (incubated 22, so good hatch rate for my first time.) I've currently got 4 females together for infertile eggs, one male with 3 females for fertile eggs if I wanted to hatch again, and a bachelor group of 7 brothers who get along. I was selling eggs occasionally to coworkers, but now I've snuck in some chickens and have green/blue eggs, everyone that was buying quail eggs says they are "too much trouble" and only want chicken eggs.

Mine are pets so I haven't butchered any, and I've got them about 20 feet away from my chickens and haven't had any cross contamination issues with feeding them first before going into the chicken coop. They can be a little noisy, especially at breeding time, but are absolutely nothing compared to my screaming/egg song singing hens. They live in rabbit hutches in deep litter, and are fine in cold weather as long as they're acclimated. If/when it is below freezing and/or very cold and raining, I cover their pens with clear shower curtains to keep out the water and wind.

 

[Plip]

Hi, Colleen. I'm new here at Backyard Chickens, but like you I have been raising chickens for years, and within the last year decided to branch out into quail.

what were your reasons for raising quail?

I have an eight-year-old daughter who loves animals and does a good job helping with the chores. So we wanted to add something else to the mix. I liked the idea of the small resource requirements (space, food, etc.). We also had never incubated chicken eggs, so I thought that would fun for all of us (her, her mom, and me).

It's turned out as expected. They're relatively easy -- certainly as easy or easier than the chickens. It's been a good choice and very rewarding.

have you had much luck selling meat/eggs?

My daughter has been selling chicken eggs to a few our our friends and her grandma. She's thrown in a few quail eggs, but her customers seem to take them as a novelty more than as something they're really interested in. We haven't pursued selling them beyond that.

Grandma likes the quail meat and insists on paying her for it. But that's Grandma, so it's kind of a special situation. We haven't tried selling any meat to anyone else.

what does quail taste like? ( might be one of the few things i havent tried)

I haven't eaten much for other game birds, so I don't have much to compare it to. I like it, though.

how many do you raise, would you recommend for a household of two with some to sell? eggs or meat?

For me, it's based on incubator capacity (since I can build as many pens as I need, and the pens don't take that much space -- or, perhaps I should say, we have the space).

My incubator holds 48 eggs. I generally keep 16 hens as my breeders, so I can easily collect enough eggs for a "batch" in four days. (I could get by with fewer hens and collect for another day or two, but 16 hens seems manageable). Those 16 hens are in four cages, each with a rooster. Then I have a couple of larger grow-out pens, which may or may not both be full, depending on how busy we've been incubating.

 

[mistycolleen]

awesome info everyone! i thankfully found a local breeder i could buy a smaller amount from since most the hatcheries ive used in the past have a count of 100 minimun to ship. im going to try to start small. TRY! hopefully there isnt a thing called quail math like there is chicken math haha! one thing im shocked at since reading elsewhere and all your comments, is the housing. i figured id build a coop with a covered run just like for a chicken. but i dont think im comprehending how tiny these guys are either! if i were to use rabbit hutches, what is the sq. ft. per bird? 1 bird to each 1/2 ft? im also pretty sure id be over wintering them either in our garage or in our unfinshed portion of our basement since winters in wisconsin are so unpredictable....

 

[feedman77]

1/2 sqf. Will work. But 1 sqf per bird is better

 

[jvls1942]

I had button quail a few years ago.
they are tasty, they are prolific.
If you started out with a pair and never got rid of any and just let them grow and breed, you could end up with a million of them within a year..
it takes 40 eggs to make a quart of pickled eggs..
If a chicken laid an egg relative to it's size as a quail does, it would be as large as an ostrich egg..
quails have huge appetites.

I took a dozen quail eggs to a school where my niece was the principal .
let them use one of my incubators..
for little kids, the short time to wait for them to hatch and the high hatch rate was easier on their suspensful waiting period.
keep your cages no more than a foot high.
if you have too high of cages, the quail try to fly and hurt themselves. you don't need roosts for them, I used deep straw and they would hide in it.
too many quail in a cage causes fights.
just a few tidbits of info..
.........jiminwisc.....

 

[Mylied]

Here's my quail pen. I think it's 4'x2'. Mine's taller than they recommend, but neither have mine have jumped up and hit their head. I could easily fit a few more quail in here and I do plan on getting a few more females, but for now, it's just these two. And I haven't had any problems with fighting or overmating, which I was also warned to look out for with just the two. They like sand to dust themselves in, so I put a little sand box. They like places to hide too, so I have some branches and plant material. Oh and it's staked to the ground with a keyed lock on the lid so nothing gets in.

 

[mistycolleen]

I had button quail a few years ago.
they are tasty, they are prolific.
If you started out with a pair and never got rid of any and just let them grow and breed, you could end up with a million of them within a year..
it takes 40 eggs to make a quart of pickled eggs..
If a chicken laid an egg relative to it's size as a quail does, it would be as large as an ostrich egg..
quails have huge appetites.

I took a dozen quail eggs to a school where my niece was the principal .
let them use one of my incubators..
for little kids, the short time to wait for them to hatch and the high hatch rate was easier on their suspensful waiting period.
keep your cages no more than a foot high.
if you have too high of cages, the quail try to fly and hurt themselves. you don't need roosts for them, I used deep straw and they would hide in it.
too many quail in a cage causes fights.
just a few tidbits of info..
.........jiminwisc.....

i loved this jim! fun facts and i even wrote a few down

 

[lomine]

I have cots. I first got quail for the meat. I started in an suburban backyard so I couldn't legally have a rooster (had one anyway ) nor the room to grow out batches of chickens for meat. I went with quail because of the small space requirement and the fast growth. They are much easier than chicken to butcher. You don't get a ton of meat but I think it is really tasty; it's gamey and more flavorful than chicken. The key is to cook it hot and fast, and don't overcook. Tastes better if you leave the skin on. Also makes great stock. The amount you need per person depends on the person. They say you need two per person for a main course but one is more than enough for me. I'm not a huge meat eater. I eat less now that I raise my own. I have not tried selling it.

The eggs are sort of a side bonus for me. They have a richer flavor but they are a lot of work. Definitely get some quail egg scissors, well worth the money. I sometimes have trouble giving the eggs away. Extras are boiled and given to the dogs and birds.

I now have mine on the ground in a modified dog run. When I was in the suburbs I had them in a homemade coop/run that was 2ft by 20ft and 1.5ft tall. That was also on the ground. I prefer the dog run as it's easier for me to clean because I can stand in it. Quail don't really do ramps well so whatever the setup it's best to have just one level.

I currently only have a dozen because I had to start over last year. A skunk family got all my breeders in one night due to my mistake in missing and thus not covering a gap. My chickens can get right up next to the run and I go in with the same shoes. I know there are risks but so far I have not lost any to an illness.

I am currently waiting for my new breeders to lay again. Then I'll be filling the incubator. Hope it won't be too much longer. These are different colors than I had before so it should be fun to see what they produce. If they turn out really pretty I might try to sell some chicks.

 

[CCUK]

I don't think there's much more I can say! It all about there. They are lovely little birds and the females sing. Its a really nice sound. I don't regret getting mine. Prolific egg layers.

 

[jvls1942]

I kept one all winter in the chicken coop with about 30 chickens. It slept somewhere on the floor, I guess.
when I would go in to water and feed the chickens, that one quail would come to me and jump up and hit my hand until I fed it.
I had a couple escape from the pen on the lawn. they hung around for a few days and then I didn't see them any more..

I used to make my grandson chicken eggs for breakfast every day. One day I made a pan of eight sunny side up quail eggs for him as a surprise.. he really got a kick out of that..

to get hard boiled quail eggs out of the shell, soak them in some brine made up of water and vinegar. she shells soften and you can squeeze the egg out by pinching them carefully on one end..

I forgot the recipe for the brine. or how long to soak them,, I think the spots will fade off of the shell and then they are ready.. It has been a loooong time since I did quail eggs..
I always liked to sit and listen to the roosters "crow" .
last fall I got rid of all my fowl except for a pair of geese. I am breeding maremma LGD dogs now
we have a litter of 8 ready to go . just like the picture in my avatar..

.......jiminwisc....