Actually you brought up the comment that they taste kind of like liver. Depending upon how you cook them, They very well can taste like liver. I ran a hunting lodge in Mexico where we hunted White Winged Dove. When I took over, the chef before me had sauteed the dove breast and that's how I fix them the first time, they taste exactly like liver, and I found out that's why most people did not like the dove. If you grill or barbecue or broil game birds like this Dove Quail pigeon whatever they taste much much better than If breaded and fried especially if it happens to get over cooked. My favorite way of fixing Quail was to season lightly with salt pepper and garlic and Grill on the barbecue. Within a very short period of time I had everybody that came to the hunting lodge wanting to take their Birds home because they no longer disliked the birds.
I don't know how it would work out with quail but with the dove but I don't see why it would work with quail, maybe cut the breast half in half against (giving you 4 per bird) and do them "Rancho Paloma Style". I would wrap a half over a nacho style jalapeno slice and wrap it on bacon, place it on a skewer with mushrooms, colored bell peppers and onions and then drenched the skewers in zesty Italian dressing (from the mix, made with red wine vinegar and EVOO), let them sit for 15 minutes or so then on to a hot grill. I cooked them until the bacon started to get a little crispy and the veggies softened and pulled them. Never, NEVER should an upland game bird be cooked much beyond med-rare, medium at the very tops! They are NOT like chicken and Turkey where they must be cooked to 165°F or greater. I have never cooked dove or quail, wild or farm raised above medium.
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We're fairly new at raising them and I've been really surprised that the smell isn't bad (unless wet like you mentioned). Our cat's litter box is way worse in comparison
Thanks, this is helpful. I will have to go back to this, when we are ready. We have to move, and I was thinking Quail would work in the city. Now I know.
Thank you sir I followed all your advice for hatching /buying ect. I had have a great 1st hatch rate an have healthy happy quail! Thank you again an love your page
We ended up having to cover our quail hutch with a tarp every night to keep the male from crowing at four in the morning--no neighbors complained, but it annoyed me! Now the days are getting shorter, and I don't need to cover him anymore.
I hear mine. They don't bother me or wake me up but if i do wake up i can hear them. But when the days get shorter they stop crowing for sure. Of course the egg production drops off too.
As long as the males are happy they don't crow. But if they crow, it carries. Something you can hear 100 yards away. In a house, you'll only hear them if they're outside your door or window. But outside you can hear them for a fair distance. Mine are outside my thick double pane glass door, about 15 feet from my bed, and it's something a pillow over the ears can't cover up.
Mine are loud as heck too. I can't keep more than one rooster at a time because if it. I live in a fairly quiet neighborhood, which probably helps the noise carry further.
Probably use to it. Mine are much louder than the wild bird noises, minus a crow. Not as annoying as a crow, but seems to carry as well as a crow, if not further. But I live in a heavily wooded area on a mountain in North georgia. Not having alot of ambient noise helps for it to carry. And I'm sure 20 of my neighbors get nice wake up crows right before 6am. Awesome video and great content as always Chris!
I'm planning on keeping my quail on my porch but i will be making cages that can be brought inside incase of a hurricane. But i do the same thing with my rabbits. I just bring them in and they stay in my walkin shower. But the quail i plan on making your stacking cages with deep litter pans so i can use shavings.
Thanks for watching. I do think that multiple roosters does cause them to crow a little more often but not really a lot. They tend to crow a lot when the first come of age but then calm down pretty quickly and usually crow mostly at dawn or if some kind of activity is going on (like feeding and egg collecting).
Not necessarily, I had 20 in the incubator After 15 days I found 17 were fertile Out of those only 12 hatched. I have one male and 7 females and I’m pretty happy with my fertility. They lay one egg a day typically I’ve heard that the less girls you have the more they get beat up during the spring And it’s true. My male seems to pick on 5 out of the 7 girls I have.
Love your videos, lots of great info. Have you ever heard of fermenting the quails food before feeding it to them? I read that it can reduce the smell of their waste? Just wanted to know your opinion on it. Thanks!
Fermenting is a common practice. I haven't done it myself so i can't say from personal experience. To me it just seems like more work than it is worth.
Great video. Looking to start raising quail myself. You mentioned how resilient they are for the cold, but how do they do in heat? The location I want to put my quail can get pretty warm in the peak of summer. Would love to know if that space can work.
As long as they have plenty of shade, ventilation, and water, they should be ok. If it gets to 100 degrees or above, I would consider adding a place where they can have a water bath
No. I am not raising native birds (bobwhites) so no permit required. I am pretty sure that OK is the same. Only require a permit if raising a native bird. Coturnix are not native birds. You might look into it a little more.
They should do just fine as long as they have a way to get out of the wind. I have never had a problem in winter and I have viewers that live way further north than me and keep them. Even some viewers from Alaska and Canada that report they do fine in their winters.
The females are very quiet actually. Valley quail probably won't produce enough eggs to make it worth keeping them for that reason and you would probably need a permit from the conservation department to keep them since they are a native bird. But if that is what you want to do, go for it.
Hi chris i have asked you before about the feed i am in scotland and cannot get game or turkey starter for A. Reasonable price B. All year round and C. A high enough protein % the best i can do is 22%protein however i have heard a trick of grinding up dry dog food sounds mad I know but it cost alot less also has 24%protein level and atound the same levels of other nutrients to the turkey starter i was getting what do u think ?
I don't think that is a terrible idea. If it were me I would mix it in with my chicken feed instead of feeding them solely on that. Might check the calcium levels too to make sure they are high enough.
I use 1/2 inch hardware cloth for all of my cages. The grow outs stay in the brooder box until they are about 2 weeks old and then go onto the wire with no problems.
Yes. 1/2" x1/2" hardware cloth for the bottoms and sides on his hutches. Any smaller and droppings won't fall through, any larger could cause foot issues.
Mine are in the real cold also. -30*C Just make more like a coop/enclosed area for them that has no wind, just a small door into it and a few small vents for circulation at the roof line and a non freezing water container outside , add in hay and straw to fill the whole area, they literally make a nest in it and are super hardy birds! Mine come out and walk around even lol 😂
I spritz Apple cider vinegar in their water, on their feet to prevent foot sores, and over the grate that the droppings fall through and I've noticed a huge difference in the smell and their health.
Thanks for the videos they help a lot! I have a question for you. My neighbor recently bought two hen chickens and have them running on the other side of the fence within a few feet of my quail cages. Should I be concerned with illnesses within this close of proximity? I don’t have a lot of other places to move the cages.
Hi I have quails and I just got 7 more they hatch this weekend i love them I have a question now I have 15 together I believe there’s 4 males and the rest females it’s 4 to 5 females for a male can I have 8 to 10 females and 2 males in the same box or I have to separate them 4 females and a male in each box thank you and I love your channel you really encouraged me having quails and doing my garden God bless you
Is it like chickens where you don't necessarily need a male to have the hen's lay eggs? I did experiment with chickens in the past but I do live in a Suburban neighborhood, and some neighbors started to complain. They're okay with my show rabbits though. (Knock on wood)
Yes quail hens will lay eggs without a rooster present. Although quail roosters are not hard to keep unlike chicken roosters and the males will rarely crow if they are happy.
As Elle M. stated, they will lay without a rooster present. I am not sure what your neighbor's complained about but if it was the noise then they might find a quail rooster fairly annoying. The hens really don't make any noise though.
Thank you dearly for the information. my next step is to try and find somebody in my area that actually sells quail. From the hutch you described in your video (2ftx2ftx18in) it looks like I can just use a vacant rabbit cage, since those are the dimensions of a USA standard rabbit enclosure. My neighbors did have slept complaints about my chicken hens noise, but it sounds like female quail make noises similar to doves if even that. So hopefully I'll still be able to get some eggs.
A rabbit cage would work fine. You probably need to replace the floor though, rabbit cage wire is pretty big and hard for the birds to walk on. Just put a piece of 1/2 inch hardware cloth over it (or replacing it) and you should be fine.
I've been raising bobwhites for a couple years now and I incubate the eggs. Most batches I loose around 4 chics or so. But the last 300 eggs or so I've only had about 17 chics survive. All of my chics have died within the first 4 or 5 days or so. I've dipped the beaks in water and in the food multiple times. Any suggestions on how I can keep them alive. Temps and feed and water are perfect, fresh, and all. I am completely puzzled on this situation.
I am so sorry to hear about your issues. If you have been raising them for years and haven't changed anything, I would lean towards either a bacterial issue you may have picked up or some kind of genetic defect that has manifested. I would start by sanitizing everything every well and see how it goes from there.
I am interested in raising these quail for meat though many of the videos I see people have fancy pluckers and equipment to process the birds. Is there a simple process for this, a more manual process?
Quail are pretty easy to clean. I don't pluck them myself. I can skin one in about 15 seconds so that is the way to do it. I did a video a while back on how to butcher quail. It got flagged as inappropriate content so you have to be over 18 to watch it and I can't share links but it is still available in my quail playlist from my home page if you want to try to search for it.
You don't have to do anything special for winter. If you want to get eggs, you need to provide light (so they have 14 hours a day of light). You should make sure they are blocked from the wind but you don't need to provide any other cover.
It doesn't happen from time to time but it is rare for a quail to go broody and do a good job of hatching her own chicks. if you want a reliable supply of quail you really need to incubate them yourself.
Hi Chris. so I found out about your channel not too long ago and I find it very entertaining. So due to that I bought 2 quail 1and a half weeks ago and thought they were f males. Then I heard a noice and checked them and one turned to be male. So my question is why they aren't laying?Guy said they come from same batch and I'm pretty sure they are mature. Is there anything I can do so the quail starts laying? Thanks in advance! 😃
Just be patient. As long as they are getting enough light they should start laying at any time. It generally takes them about 2 weeks to start laying again after a move.
I don't a specific supplier in New Jersey. You might check on Craigslist for live birds. if you are experienced with incubating eggs you can order eggs. Kansas City Quail Farm is a great supplier.
Most of the time that has to due with the amount of light that they have. I did a video on that topic recently. here is the link if you want to watch. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iEFmENV0j_w.html
I am not sure that would work actually. I think they would be more likely to stick if they didn't have a chick in them at all. maybe if they bounce off the wall they are done. :)
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