What's the best non-chicken meat bird?

[lostsoulhelpmejebus]

Quote:
I agree with Steve. I have raised both Coturnix and Bobwhite quail...as far as a meatier bird the Bobwhites are winners hands down but they do take a bit longer to grow out. I am a seasonal owner of quail...hatch them and feed them out till time to butcher.

Julie

 

[txcarl1258]

You mention rabbit meat being tough and sinewy. Have you tried eating a New Zealand or Californian fryer? They are quite tender and delicious. Plus they are able to be butchered in about 8-12 weeks depending on size. The young ones aren't tough at all. I have three meat rabbits and am going to get some quail and CX in the spring. Can't wait.

 

[Xtina]

I wouldn't say I'm a rabbit expert. I don't know what breeds I've had or what their ages were. The husband might consider it if I give him this advice. It might be a silly objection, but I already have trained my dogs to ignore the chickens, which I think would transfer to quail. But rabbit might be a different story.

 

[Ibicella]

Quote:
The New Zealands and Californians are specially bred for meat rabbits. Also, if it's tough and sinewy, it was cooked wrong. Rabbit should NOT be like that. So, if you'd like to reconsider it, there is a way around that texture.

I've heard Chukars are also very cannibalistic and like to pick each other to death especially.

 

[Xtina]

I looked up the sounds quail make on YouTube and it sounds pretty loud and awful. Being in the city and having a lot of cloud cover most nights, I know that if these birds are light-sensitive, they're going to screech all night. Am I overestimating the noise, or should I avoid quail for the sake of my neighbors? If I pass on the quail, I'm back to square one. Not sure what my next animal project should be.

It's enough to make a girl consider hunting!

 

[la dee da]

Considering what Ibicella and txcarl1258 said (I have no experience with rabbits or their meat), maybe you can find a meat rabbit breeder nearby and buy a young fryer already processed and ready to be cooked. That way you will know for sure if you do or don't like rabbit meat.

 

[Xtina]

I don't know what it is...for some reason I just have a real block against rabbit and pigeon. It has nothing to do with me thinking they're cute or thinking they're dirty. They just don't appeal to me at all right now. I know I'm making this more difficult than it has to be because of that. I just want a good-tasting, easy to keep, quiet, meat bird operation that isn't chickens because I can't have roosters in the city. It looks like I'm asking for the impossible though. The only thing I can think of that doesn't make too much noise is pigeon, and I just don't want them. Maybe my mother will convince me otherwise.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

quail have a very pleasant bird call noise, not at all loud or offensive.

 

[DIYSeattle]

The age of the rabbit has more to do with the meat being tough than the breed. Rabbits and most birds over a couple months old get tougher in most cases.

Im looking at coturnix quail, they are supposedly the quiestest quail from what everyone is telling me. If they are noisy then Ill get rid of them.

I looked at Royal Palm and the Midget White turkeys, I think they are a bit loud but sizewise would push the boundaries if you were trying to raise a lot of them.

 

[Judy]

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??? My next door neighbor raised the Coturnix for years, in a small town, and I never heard them, even if I stood talking to him over the fence, where they were maybe 40' away from us. I don't know anything about them; maybe it depends on the breed, have no idea.