Posted: 11/12/2015 5:12:32 PM EDT
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Who raises quail? Why do you raise? (eggs or meat) What tips does anyone have?
I have 3 A&M Males and 12 Females in a converted chicken coop. They are big white and fluffy and seem to be very happy. So far I have 5 eggs and an incubator on the way. I will want to grow them out for eating purposes. Thank You for any advice and information. |
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We tried. They were fine for a about a month and then went out last week and found the male had pecked the eyes out of 3 of them and the neck out of another.
I put them all down and we'll be putting our time and effort into our meat rabbits instead. Feed to meat ratio is way higher. |
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I'll start raising quail once I can get into a house with a yard next year. Here's a good intro article I found. http://aglifesciences.tamu.edu/posc/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2012/08/jpquail1.pdf
Planning on having mine in cages with egg roll out trays. Most places I've looked recommend at least 0.75 sq ft per bird. I'll probably be a little more generous than that. Will probably keep 1 male to 10-15 females most of the time since I will care more about eggs than meat. If you are interested in maximizing the size of your birds take a look at what a couple folks did with their "white buffalo" or "tatanka" quail. Got birds that are almost a pound each. These folks won't sell eggs or anything but their standards are interesting and seem to produce good results with aggressive culling and careful notes. http://whitequail.com/ http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/629414/tatanka-breeders-club-meat-quail-project-with-history-discussion-pictures-and-videos James Marie farms seems to be a good place to get jumbo quail sizes to start with. Last thought is to make sure and feed a game bird ration. It will be much higher in protein. Quail have much higher protein requirements compared to other barnyard birds. |