Worried daddy about to rehome

[GreedySeedFeedy]

I agree with this...


Killing the extra males is simply part of raising quail, or poultry in general. Either you can kill them, you can let someone else kill them, or you can sell them to someone who is going to kill them. It's hard to believe there's a large market of people looking to purchase MALE quail that are NOT planning on consuming them, feeding them to their animals, or using them to train their hunting dogs. Maybe there will be the occasional person looking to introduce a different bloodline into their flock.

If you can't live with the idea of someone using one of your quails to train his hunting dog, then i'm sure you would feel better knowing that your quail were being humanely dispatched and put to good use (consumed). That has to better than constantly worrying about what each and every person you met might or might not be doing with the quail you sold them.


I don't think too many people would lie about their intentions. If they are lying, it should be fairly easy to tell when you start asking them questions about their intentions, cage setup, etc.

You are correct about there not being a large market! On average, It will take me a minimum of 4 months of hard searching to find someone looking for a pet quail. Thankfully, I have had pretty good luck replying to ads of people searching for a pet bird that can be cuddled on and handled. Birds are notoriously not huggable, quail thankfully being an exception.

Raising quail for eggs is a far cry from raising them for meat when it comes to softies like me. Both ethically and costwise, raising your own meat birds is a great idea and I approve of it, it's just not for me until it comes down to survival eating. You have a very good point though, about killing them myself rather than let someone do it who doesn't care if they suffer, and several others suggested the same. It's a good thing to consider.

Coturnix quail or even their eggs are tough as hell to get your hands on where I am from, which is the only reason I tried hatching new ones when my older hens expired. Now, because of all the stress, I only plan to buy adult hens from others when we have to bury one of the old ladies.