Whats the best quail for me

[beagleman77]

Alright so I am wanting quail and wondering which breed is best for me
1 lays good
2 good meat
3 matures fast
3 looks don't matter
Thanks in advance

 

[jak2002003]

Japanese Quail.

 

[Shamo123]

Agreed, Japanese Quail should be ideal for you.

 

[SimonGrow]

Agreed, the pharaoh coturnix quail are easy to sex by the color of their feathers which makes it easy to cull the males once they reach sexual maturity.

James Marie Farm is a great place to purchase eggs. For small scale hatching, I like to use the Brinsea incubators.

Simon

 

[beagleman77]

I looked and it's says that Japanese and Pharohs are the same is this true

 

[SimonGrow]

Yes I believe you are correct, I am relatively new to quail but I believe all Coturnix are the same as Japanese quail. There are different color variations and sizes.

Simon

 

[beagleman77]

I am new to quail also do ( I will just call them japanese ) do they lay good and are they good for meat how long till they mature

 

[SimonGrow]

They are excellent for meat and eggs. My only issue is that the eggs are relatively small when compared to chicken eggs so it takes longer to crack or peel the shells.

They mature in about 8 weeks meaning they can lay eggs and start breeding around that time. The meat from quail is extremely extremely excellent!!!! I'm a foodie and the quail meat from my own birds is a top tier meat. I have a thread called the Shinto Dragon Jumbo Coturnix Project that has some info on a fun project I'm working on.

I have a T5 light on my bird cages which stimulates my quail to lay approximately one egg per hen every day even through winter. My daughters love watching the quails hatch from the eggs and collecting eggs from the cages.

Simon

 

[Shamo123]

I am new to quail also do ( I will just call them japanese ) do they lay good and are they good for meat how long till they mature

Go for the jumbo variety, they are just coturnix that are selectively bred to be larger than the standard. I believe the eggs are also bigger, average of 15g each (at least mine was)

My males matured at 4-5 weeks and seem to be fully grown at 5 weeks.

 

[Shamo123]

They are excellent for meat and eggs. My only issue is that the eggs are relatively small when compared to chicken eggs so it takes longer to crack or peel the shells.

Have you checked out those scissors that can be used for quail eggs?

looks like it would save quite a bit of time and less messy.