Tell me about quail

[Bluetick21]

Just like the title says. Tell me about quail
I’m new to quail and pondering on adding them to my lil slice of heaven I’ve really been looking in to the conturnix quail. But as far as a coop what do I need?
And if there’s anything I should know about them please let me know.
tha ka you in advance!

 

[Caribou]

You need a least six hens for each rooster.

 

[joel]

 

[Spikedriver]

You need a least six hens for each rooster.

You need at least six birds for a meal.

For one person.

Personally, I wouldn't bother. Chickens, ducks, pheasants, and turkeys would all seem to be a better use of resources to me.

 

[Caribou]

I was looking a quail some time back. Some Japanese restaurants will pay premium prices for quail eggs. That and the meat would make them profitable.

 

[Bluetick21]

I’m more so looking to add variety to the table more so to go along with rabbits and chicken. How do the quail taste compared to chicken? I know they are smaller but I wouldn’t mind cleaning a few more for a meal

 

[Biggkidd]

They make a ton of noise when I try and sleep! Wild quail do anyway.

 

[Spikedriver]

I’m more so looking to add variety to the table more so to go along with rabbits and chicken. How do the quail taste compared to chicken? I know they are smaller but I wouldn’t mind cleaning a few more for a meal

I can't really compare the taste to other birds, because I've only had it a couple times and with wild birds it depends on how it's prepared. The stuff I had was prepared by a little old Laotian guy I used to work with, in a Laotian way of cooking. My opinion is, not nearly as good as smoked pheasant, but almost as good as pheasant from the oven. It's way better than wild duck or goose.

 

[LadyLocust]

@Biggkidd I actually find their "song" soothing/relaxing. They usually talk about sundown and sunup in three syllables. I told Hubby once that I speak quail. He looked at me funny: I said in the morning they say, "Rise and shine, rise and shine." In the evening they say, "Time for bed, time for bed."
@Bluetick21 One thing I do know about quail is that some are hardier than others and tolerate various weather conditions differently. Might be worth a call to the extension office just to hear what input they might have. As far as flavor, like Spike said, takes several, but the question becomes what kind of cook are you? Might serve better in a soup than trying to fry them like chicken etc.
Just my 2c.

 

[Bluetick21]

Like anything else it’s all in how it’s cooked. But tastes different enough to tell a difference between the quail and chicken. I have heard the same thing about them being hard to care for on the bobwhite quail but the coturnix seem to be more hardy from what I’ve heard

 

[Bluetick21]

And as far as being noisy I’m not worried about they wouldn’t be no louder then my hounds and I can just move them farther away from the house haha

 

[phideaux]

As a young boy , for many years, my grampa had bird dogs, setters and pointers. They were awesome.
I grew up hunting Bob White quail with my grampa.
Then later , as I got older , the Bob White disappeared. Then there were only , what he called Mexican quail , half the size and twice as fast. So he and I quit hunting quail.
But I will never forget the taste of Bob White , best white meat I ever eat.

Go order it in a high end restaurant and see what it cost. A delicacy.

Wish I had some.

Jim

 

[shadowrider]

I have kept them in 8 x 10 x 6 high house with a full roof and part wire part solid sides. Some will fly and bang into the walls. mostly calm. Lay their eggs on the ground. They like low cover to get under, I just propped up sawmill slabs. They will tunnel under. They will not set eggs, you will have to incubate. They do grow fast. Game bird feed is higher than other feeds.
I would use battery cages if I were to keep quail again.

 

[Bluetick21]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Double R]

Living Traditions Homestead (YouTube) has a couple great videos on building cages, incubating eggs, raising them, butchering and cooking quail. We’ve been debating raising them ourselves.
Here’s their quail playlist. May be more videos on their page.

 

[hashbrown]

A friend of mine recently got out of the quail business he was pickling eggs and selling them. I bought a hundred of them for $2 each and butchered them. Fried quail is a favorite meal of mine! and since we have very few wild quail these days I took that opportunity to put some in the freezer.