![]() You should put a sponge in their water dish to avoid accidental drowning and give them plenty of paper towels to nest in. When raising Coturnix quail chicks, know that baby quail are fragile and need gentle handling. This way, you’ll help ensure they lay fertile eggs while also minimizing aggression and fighting.Įven if you don’t plan to hatch quail, the male quails will fight. Keep one male Coturnix with 3 – 5 hens per cage. That’s a lot quicker than what you get with chicken eggs, and you can quickly replenish your quail stock if you decide to use a few birds for butchering.ĭomestic quail aren’t broody so you’ll need a still air incubator. If your quail are laying eggs for chicks, as opposed to edible eggs, they only have to incubate about 17 days before the chicks hatch. As a main course, plan for a minimum of one quail per person. Jumbo Japanese quail are 8.8 ounces to 11 ounces and can reach 14 ounces at butcher weight. You can enjoy the meat fresh or freeze it. If you are raising birds for meat, you should consider raising Jumbo Coturnix. Male quail average weight is 3.5 ounces – 5 ounces. If you’re raising your quail for meat, you can start to harvest it after about seven weeks, when they reach full maturity.Īs a main course, plan for a minimum of one quail per person.Ĭompare that to other types of quail, like the Bobwhite quail, which reaches maturity after 17 weeks, and you can easily understand the appeal of Coturnix. Collecting Coturnix quail eggs MeatĬoturnix quail are excellent meat birds because they grow extremely quickly and have large breasts. This means that if you live in a colder climate, or one without as much sunlight, you need to provide Coturnix with an artificial light source. This type of quail must have 14 hours of daylight or artificial light every day. The only trick to ensuring consistent egg laying is to make sure that they get plenty of sunlight. Japanese quail eggs weigh 10 – 14 grams each.Ĭoturnix hens lay regular eggs, and many will lay one per day for their entire lives. Compare that to other types of quails, or chickens, who need to be five months old on average to start laying. These birds tend to hit their maturity very early and begin laying their eggs at only 8 weeks of age. If you are looking for good egg-laying birds, look no further than the Coturnix quail. We’ll also hatch several throughout the year. I prefer to split them up myself, saving half to lay eggs and using the other half for meat. It makes a lot of sense to raise them for both because Coturnix hens are prolific egg layers and will yield many tasty quail eggs throughout their lifetime. They are dual-purpose meaning you can raise Coturnix quail for meat, eggs or both. Quail prefer to the on the ground they do not roost like chickens do Purpose for Raising In time, you can hatch baby quails yourself from fertile eggs the hens lay. Other than that, your quail should adjust perfectly to its new surroundings. ![]() Make sure it’s in a closed-off area to protect the quail from predators. Quail don’t need very much space to roam around, so a small pen is sufficient. Once you have your birds home, they should acclimate quickly. You really want to ensure that they spend as little time as possible in transit. You can also attend a live bird auction and purchase adult quail.Īlthough you can be successful ordering mail-order chicks, this is not always the case with Japanese Coturnix quail. You can order hatching eggs to incubate yourself or buy live birds. ![]() This means you should consider getting them from a local breeder to start. When raising quail, the thing to look out for is that these birds can be a little bit more fragile when they’re very young. ![]()
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