Last spring I received 70 some A&M quail. At first I thought these things are neat. They make great noises that somehow complete the symphony of sounds in my barn. I kept reading here on BYC's how the A&M's were bred for white meat, and more meat than other breeds. The eggs were sweeter (huh?), etc.
During the beginning of he summer I sorted out my breeding stock (the biggest and best of them) and butchered about 20 of them after trying light deprivation tactics and meat-bird feed. The resulting meat harvested wasn't worth my time. They taste like chicken to me (whatever you season it with).
So plan B, since it is picnic time, social gatherings, weddings, parties, etc. we would devil these little eggs as party favors. WOW, did they taste good, people loved the bite sized treats. What a conversation piece!!! Sure it takes a few hours of prep work, but the attention was worth it. Everyone has deviled chicken eggs, but quail...
Then the party was over. Summer is over and the newness of the quail eggs has passed. I still don't feel these little guys are worth the time to butcher. I can do a chicken is similar time, and feed my family doing it.
I hatched out 14 little ones. Look so much better than the parent stock as far as coloring and activity. These little guys actually fly across the room when they get out. The birds I first received seem to fly to the ground and play hide and seek. Beautiful white with just a dot of black on the head. Picture perfect.
But I have no market for them. No one wants a white bird, egg sales have dropped to the point where I am boiling up hundreds a week, mashing them and feeding the scrambled eggs to my chickens, and I still don't think they are worth the time to process.
So... While I did my best at this endeavor, it's not panning out. If anyone wants some eggs, I have some boxes coming. You can have them for the cost of shipping. If you want some 1 year old, some 7 month old, or some 2 month old live birds you can come and get some.
I think I am going to re-group and try my hand at some heritage breeds of dual purpose chickens.
I know the minute someone takes my stock, someone else will come to me asking for eggs. I just know it.
During the beginning of he summer I sorted out my breeding stock (the biggest and best of them) and butchered about 20 of them after trying light deprivation tactics and meat-bird feed. The resulting meat harvested wasn't worth my time. They taste like chicken to me (whatever you season it with).
So plan B, since it is picnic time, social gatherings, weddings, parties, etc. we would devil these little eggs as party favors. WOW, did they taste good, people loved the bite sized treats. What a conversation piece!!! Sure it takes a few hours of prep work, but the attention was worth it. Everyone has deviled chicken eggs, but quail...
Then the party was over. Summer is over and the newness of the quail eggs has passed. I still don't feel these little guys are worth the time to butcher. I can do a chicken is similar time, and feed my family doing it.
I hatched out 14 little ones. Look so much better than the parent stock as far as coloring and activity. These little guys actually fly across the room when they get out. The birds I first received seem to fly to the ground and play hide and seek. Beautiful white with just a dot of black on the head. Picture perfect.
But I have no market for them. No one wants a white bird, egg sales have dropped to the point where I am boiling up hundreds a week, mashing them and feeding the scrambled eggs to my chickens, and I still don't think they are worth the time to process.
So... While I did my best at this endeavor, it's not panning out. If anyone wants some eggs, I have some boxes coming. You can have them for the cost of shipping. If you want some 1 year old, some 7 month old, or some 2 month old live birds you can come and get some.
I think I am going to re-group and try my hand at some heritage breeds of dual purpose chickens.
I know the minute someone takes my stock, someone else will come to me asking for eggs. I just know it.
