Anybody raise quail for eggs?

[garddwr]

I've been really intrigued by the idea of raising quail for eggs--I've read you actually get more in terms of lbs of eggs per lbs of feed than with chickens, and I think quail are really cute. But while I know some people with chickens, I don't know anyone who keeps quail. If there's someone out there who has experience to share I would to know how it worked out for you.

[Donna T.]

We have a few quail. One hen will lay about a half dozen or so eggs per week. The eggs are very small. It would take four or five of them to equal the size of one chicken egg. We don't really keep them for their eggs. We keep chickens and just enjoy having the quail because we like them. They live in the chicken pen with the chickens and are easy to take care of.

[hrigg]

Sorry, even though I helped out each summer on my great uncle's farm. All I know is that they have like tiny eggs and are really good wrapped in bacon or marinated. (Quail farm for local hunting lodge)

[garddwr]

We have a few quail. One hen will lay about a half dozen or so eggs per week. The eggs are very small. It would take four or five of them to equal the size of one chicken egg. We don't really keep them for their eggs. We keep chickens and just enjoy having the quail because we like them. They live in the chicken pen with the chickens and are easy to take care of.

 

That's interesting, I didn't know you could keep them with chickens. Do they just ignore each other or do they get along well? Do they eat the same food? Do quail become friendly with people like chickens sometimes do?

 

Sorry, I have lots of questions! If you know of a good forum or resource for raising quail please pass it on, and thanks for sharing your experience.

 

--Sarah

[lailasmum]

I've looked into it before. We have chickens but I really like poultry so thought I might get some quail. The thing that attracted me was how small they are so need much less space than chickens and I thought the little eggs would be good for salads or snacks. I have heard the eggs are easy to sell to local butchers or greengrocers.

[Melinda S in TX]

We had quail, but don't have any right now. The children really liked quail, and we may raise them again sometime.

 

Quail babies are super tiny and so cute.

 

We hatched the eggs in an incubator, and had a very high hatch rate. They lay eggs like crazy. Actually, unless a predator gets them, they usually die from burnout. They are not broody.

 

Feed non-medicated feed. If you raise babies, the feed has to be super small. Smaller than chicken crumbles, almost a powder. I have heard of people raising them on boiled egg yolks. The babies will drown in the tiniest bit of water.

 

I don't know if you can keep them with chickens, but they won't return to a coop like chickens. The ones we had, always seemed very wild. They did get used to the routine and us caring for them, but they never seemed domesticated like chickens.

 

The shells are thick and the membrane is tough. I use a sharp paring knife to cut the end of the egg off.

 

Pickled quail eggs are wonderful. It's also fun for 9yo boys to say they ate a dozen eggs for breakfast.

 

If you decide to eat them, they are much easier to butcher than chickens.

 

Hope that helps some.