What do you all do with Quail?

Mine are pets. Button quail are so cute and a great addition to an aviary. They help clean up my canaries dropped seed (they also have their own food supply though).
I am breeding them for pet stores and just people that think they are cute.
They make great pets and can be kept inside. So its almost like having a group of little chicken's in your living room.
I live in surburbia so they are great for kids to learn about farming. I consider them my mini chicken's.
They don't smell (well the Button's don't). My cat litter box, every two days smells far worse than those little guys.
I have some that I hatched in an aquarium and some more in cages and rabbit hutches.
They can be kept in anything really, with minimal alterations. (eg. I just had to put finer wire mesh over the top of the larger mesh, mainly to keep any babies in as they are the size of bubble bees when they hatch.
They don't eat to much. I feed them chick starter, finch seed, dark greens and some treats like mealworms.
Although most of them are not tame, my main male is very sociable towards me and lets me stroke him and even comes and sits on me.
With the larger breeds, they are excellent to eat (whole bird). I make mini BBQ chickens as I call them on the Barbie. The kids love it, as one bird is just the right size for them each. My neighbour has Jap's and sometimes culls some and gives me 6-8.
The meat is richer and a tad gamie, but cooked with a rich sauce, it's beautiful.
The eggs are great like everyone says in a salad. Once started they are prolific layers.
 
we fed the eggs back to the chickens and the quail (that helps with feed bill)... and we also ate the quail.
Basically you can have a never ending food supply with them. THey lay so many eggs and they are easy to incubate...and they get to slaughter weight so quickly...
It does take a few quail to make a meal for a person...but as i said..they lay alot of eggs..(or mine did anyhow..)..so you'll never run out of meat.
I'm trying the bob whites this spring ... the courtinx were a bit too dark meat for my taste..they say the bob white taste much better.
They are also easy to keep.. i had mine in rabbit hutches i got for free or real cheap in CL....
I think you should go for it!
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Also..they are super super easy to cull and process... just a sharp pair of scissors..and its over in a second. My hubby and foster son do it.. and trust me..my hubby isnt the type to kill anything..but he had no problem doing these.
 
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I figure buttons are too small to even bother eating. I guess you can eat the eggs, but we boil them and feed them back to the birds. Slippery? Oh my gosh, they are like holding onto a water wiggler! Nearly impossible!
 
Thanks at least now I know I am not the only one that thinks they are slippery. I don't really know how else to put it other than slippery. I am not sure what is so different about their feathers that make them this way. I will learn though!
 
I use my quails for eggs and meat.
They are a great appetizer or snack. Because they are small it works great on the grill and I think they are very tasty too.
The eggs are great in flavor and I use them boiled as snack for the kids , I bake, fry and even use them for cookies and cakes if I'm out of chicken eggs.
The fact that they grow fast , the coturnix breed is my favorite. I did not like the bob whites meat. They sound better then they taste.
 
Does anyone raise them to release?

I live in California and we have native quail running about, but I understand that their numbers have dropped. I would love to some day raise some for release. Does anyone do this? Is it legal? Not sure who I should check with about this.
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You would need to check your states division of wildlife. Most times it is illegal unless you have a license and certain criteria have to be met. Google your states Div of Wildlife and you should be able to find some answers. Kristi
 

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