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

[mistycolleen]

so honestly there doesnt seem to be any cons other than for how small they are as a meat source which doesnt bother me one bit. this girl might be getting a few! i still need to research feed requirements but im sure come spring, we may have a few new babies. thank you everyone!

 

[CCUK]

 

[feedman77]

so honestly there doesnt seem to be any cons other than for how small they are as a meat source which doesnt bother me one bit. this girl might be getting a few! i still need to research feed requirements but im sure come spring, we may have a few new babies. thank you everyone!

I keep mine on a 28 percent protein gamebird feed. From day one. No health issues so far

 

[Acre4Me]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is regarding checking into state requirements for selling eggs. Seems like everyplace is different. Some states (i've heard) require a license to sell any eggs, while other states are more lenient. You could begin by calling your Agricultural extension agent (look under your county government to begin the search) and they can likely tell you what you need to do or whom to contact.

Do you live in or near a metropolitan area? Is there a gourmet market, a specialty market, an asian market? All these *might* be interested in quail eggs, but you should be ready to explain your legal ability to sell eggs (and your inspection status if that is required) before approaching them. Also, you should feel comfortable with your supply and how many you would have available.

We have begun raising quail. Once the weather warms up they are going to be evicted from our garage attached to the house, to the outbuilding - our yard is less than an acre, so a quick trip from house to outbuilding. We do not like the smell that creeps into our house from the quail. Right now, with them in our garage, we have an appliance box (opened up at the seam) providing a great wind shield for when we open our garage, but a shower curtain or wood shield could work well too. They are cold hardy - but they need to be out of the wind. Im in west central OH and we can get to -15F on winter nights, with some very breezy conditions. Quail have done well so far.

We recently butchered half of the babies we hatched in early Dec. We cooked them last night and they were tasty (more of a dark meat and kind of sweet - our 11yo thought it was interesting that the meat was kind of sweet). Can't speak to the butchering process as my spouse completed it while I was out one day, but he approached it by removing the skin rather than plucking the birds - they slip right out of their skins and spouse likened it to butchering doves - similar process.

Good Luck.

 

[jvls1942]

I have built 5 whizbang pluckers.
they work great for chickens from a couple of pounds on up..
I was pondering making a miniature version for quail. (and cornish hens).
if I ever get around to it, I will post the results with pictures..
here in wisconsin, we can sell chicken eggs.
but they cannot be used by restaurants .
IDK about quail eggs..

 

[Acre4Me]

I have built 5 whizbang pluckers.
they work great for chickens from a couple of pounds on up..
I was pondering making a miniature version for quail. (and cornish hens).
if I ever get around to it, I will post the results with pictures..
here in wisconsin, we can sell chicken eggs.
but they cannot be used by restaurants .
IDK about quail eggs..

OP is from Wisconsin, so if you can tell them where to find the appropriate contact information or online link it would be good.

I still have to find my contacts in OH, but as we are not looking to sell right now, I'm not in a hurry.

 

[lomine]

That’s a good point @Acre4Me If you want to sell meat you’ll need to look into that too. Here in CO we have the cottage law. You can sell processed meat up to a certain dollar amount per year (I think it’s $10,000) but only to individuals for personal use. You can’t sell to restaurants. Not sure about eggs as I haven’t looked into it. I have seen chicken, duck, and quail eggs for sale on CL though.

 

[lomine]

I bought a small plucker on amazon for under $100. It works great. Before that I was skinning them, since it’s much easier, but they do taste better with skin on. They don’t have much fat so the skin helps. Plucking them with the plucker was faster than skinning.

 

[Acre4Me]

That’s a good point @Acre4Me If you want to sell meat you’ll need to look into that too. Here in CO we have the cottage law. You can sell processed meat up to a certain dollar amount per year (I think it’s $10,000) but only to individuals for personal use. You can’t sell to restaurants. Not sure about eggs as I haven’t looked into it. I have seen chicken, duck, and quail eggs for sale on CL though.

Yes, every state is different. A friend of mine is a lawyer whose parents have a farm a few hours away. Sounds like parents looked into selling chicken meat and lawyer friend checked into the state regs....and had to check twice bc lawyer was surprised at the generous guidelines. Of course, most likely could not sell to restaurants (and I can't remember what lawyer said were the guidelines), but apparently it was pretty generous like you mentioned in CO. This is good for the small farmer, though and just like we would make a judgement call on eating in a restaurant (dirty vs clean), we would make a judgement on whom to buy home-precessed meat from.

 

[jvls1942]

hi everyone!
i think this year instead of expanding my chicken flock id really like to try quail. now i did only start reading into this tonight, and im sure will obsess about it untill i decide either way.
i did contact a few of our staes departments looking in to permits if needed but so far i dont think its required here.
what were your reasons for raising quail?
have you had much luck selling meat/eggs?
what does quail taste like? ( might be one of the few things i havent tried)
how many do you raise, would you recommend for a household of two with some to sell? eggs or meat?
anything else you would like to share would be great!

I see you are from wisconsin, too.
I am near wausau,
are you near me ?