Coturnix Quail?

[lokidog]

I know, not really an "upland game bird", but has anyone raised these?  Any advice?  We are looking at getting a couple, to several, dozen this spring for egg and meat production (such as it is) and to toss some birds out for the dog to work since she gets bored chasing grasshoppers.

[wafisherman]

I did.  Loved the eggs and meat.  Lots of good info online.  Let me know if you have specific questions.

[AWS]

I used to use them for training, great little birds.  They were the toughest little guys, after three or four plants and retrieves they'd be so slobber soaked but put them in the pen and let them dry out and they were  ready to go again.  Chukars would expire after the first retrieve, seemed like they were just looking for a reason to die.

[Don Fischer]

I think meat is what they are generally raised for. I tried some for dogs years ago and they didn't fly well at all. Know a guy in Irrigon the raise's them for his dogs and he say's they fly great, he would know! The guy has raised a ton of Bob White's in the past and now gone to Coturnix. What do you guy's use the eggs for? Hatching out more birds?

[lokidog]

Quail eggs are one of the new gourmet things. You can also sell fertilized eggs.  We will also resupply our herd after eating them when we feel like it.  They start laying in 8 weeks so turnaround is pretty quick.

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[wafisherman]

Hard boiled eggs from the quail taste just like chicken eggs, but bite sized for the kids = less mess.  I'd take 5 or so boiled eggs, put in a jar, shake up for about 20 seconds, and then peal them.  I could often get the peal off in one piece and only takes a few seconds to peel each one.  With only 5 or 6 quail, you are getting about 25 eggs a week. 

We had a rack meant to be used for small rabbits, rats, or something.  Had 5 wire shelves with a tray under each rack for catching the droppings.  Top rack was for the best layers - 4 or 5.  Then the next rack down was 1 male and his 3 ladies for hatching in the incubator.  Below that was the fresh batch that would either move up when need (and the older ones were ready to 'retire' after no more egg production) or they were the eating birds.  Below them the was for the baby chicks who had a small heat lamp.  This left one open for isolation pen, or for rotating while one pen was being cleaned.

For meat birds, I'd just take a pair of scissors, snip off  the head, , wings, legs at the 'knees', slit the stomach, and peal off the skin and guts - about 20 seconds per bird.

[birdblastinboaz]

great question. My father is constructing a Chicken coup as we speak, have those of you that have raised the Coturnix Quail ever run them with chickens in the same area/coup? If they do fly descent then I would like to throw some in with his chicken for future dog training, and I am sure if they produce that many eggs he would also love to pickle some. Great size for a snack. 

[huntingfool7]

great question. My father is constructing a Chicken coup as we speak, have those of you that have raised the Coturnix Quail ever run them with chickens in the same area/coup? If they do fly descent then I would like to throw some in with his chicken for future dog training, and I am sure if they produce that many eggs he would also love to pickle some. Great size for a snack. 

I have not done quail with chickens.  That said, chickens will attack smaller birds and pick/stomp them to death.  Poor flying, ground birds like quail would likely be killed in short order.
I have pigeons and chickens in adjoining coops.  I've had more than one pigeon killed after landing in the chicken coop.

[BIGINNER]

I've raised a ton of catournix quails, they're not very good to use for dogs, unless you have them in a BIG flight pen and flight condition them. I used them for introducing puppies to birds. my kid loved eating the eggs, hard boiled or fried. he ate them light grapes. Don't keep them with chickens, the  chickens will kill them (I know) even small bantam chickens will kill them.
if they have a lot of light and warmth they can lay a lot of eggs. I would get 1 egg per day from every female. I even had 3 females incubate their own eggs and raise the chicks. (very uncommon for these things)  the chicks mature and start laying eggs at 6 weeks old  I've never had one die from a dog, they get very slobbery though 

[Blackjaw]

My experience is that they don't work well for flushing dog training (especially steadiness training). Low flying sucker birds are to tempting for a young dog to break on. That said, they do taste GOOD.

[clockwork]

I kept them to train my gsp. Not that great because they fly low and slow, the dog could snag them right out of the air. It hurt his training. Plus rats were a problem, rats can kill them and they can get out of very small holes in the pen. Dog caught quite a few running around theyard.

[nryche]

We just recently started raising Coturnix Quail. Spent many hours doing research online finding out which species would be best. Coturnix Seem to be the hardiest of the Quail both for raising and dog training. You will need to build a flight pen for some of the birds to build up their wings.

[AspenBud]

I kept them to train my gsp. Not that great because they fly low and slow, the dog could snag them right out of the air. It hurt his training.

I think that's a problem common to pen raised quail in general. That's why chukar or homing pigeon's thrown out of a bird launcher are preferable.

[xsf1]

there are many different variaitions of cournix quail, I raise them and sell them to huniting clubs etc. the best breed of coturnix for "flightyness" is the tibetan coturnix quail which are specifically bred for dog training. The funny thing about the quail is that if you keep them in a 12' X 12' stall they will fly about 12 feet and drop. if you t them in a 12' X 36' flight pen they will fly anywhere from 40 feet to 400 feet.
I have some eggs, flight conditioned and chicks availble if anyone is interested

[lokidog]

"I have some eggs, flight conditioned and chicks availble if anyone is interested"

Isn't it tough to flight condition eggs?  Padded cage?   

We might take you up on that at some point, thanks for the info.