The Big Quail are laying up a storm! The Italian Speckled that live in the rabbit barn are doing just great. We've got one covey that is made up of two Jumbo Brown hens and an Italian Speckled Cock. The Quail Paradise birds are all Jumbo Browns. We've got 4 hens and a cock out there. We wanted to move the two Jumbo Brown hens that are currently living with the Italian Speckled roo out to be with the Quail Paradise birds, that way we would have all purebred eggs, however, 6 hens and one roo isn't a very good ratio.
So to that end, we put some eggs from the Jumbo Brown covey in the incubator with the plan of hopefully getting a rooster that we can put out in Quail Paradise and then move those other hens out there, giving us 6 hens and 2 roos.
Then The Man is going to move the Italian Speckled from the rabbit barn into an outside covey.
This pen is currently housing the first batch of quail that we hatched and they are growing and doing great as well! They've started to crow and it won't be long before they are ready for the table.
The above is a week or so ago, and below was Sunday.....they grow so fast!
They like to go outside, but they don't know how to go back up the ramp, so The Man has to put them back in....
He's going to rework the outside part of the pen, raising it up and filling it with good soil so that we can plant some cover in it, and so that it won't be so high for them to get back inside. The "crate" part of it, where the quail go inside is two sided, so we'll have three quail paradise pens. The Jumbo Browns will stay where they are, and then the four covey's of rabbit barn Italian Speckled quail will be combined into two covey's and will move into this Quail Paradise duplex. Then he has plans to build grow out pens for the table destined quail.
Anyway, he set 20 eggs and they started hatching on Sunday! With any luck, we'll wind up with at least one male. They sure are cute at any rate!
Stay in the Will and the Word!
Till next time......
I'm thinking one day I may like to raise some quail. It's on my radar at least. Good luck with your hatching.
ReplyDeleteQuail have been a fantastic addition to our homestead. We wound up with 10 quail hatched, and the other eggs weren't fertile so all hatched that would have hatched. They are prolific layers and the eggs and the meat are delicious as well!
ReplyDeleteLove reading about the other animals! I've never been around quail before- do the eggs and meat taste like chicken or something different? I love duck eggs and duck meat, but they are very different from chicken, so now I am so curious. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! Quail eggs taste pretty much just like chicken eggs. They are of course FAR smaller and have more yolk to white ratio than chicken eggs. They are stronger like duck eggs or anything (and I do love duck eggs!). The meat is delicious and I would say is similar to chicken, but not exactly the same? I'm not sure how to describe it, but it is really good. It's mostly white meat. They are very fun to raise!
DeleteNever thought about keeping quail, but will plant a seed about doing so in my husband's head, which might grow into his very own idea in the future, bless him!
ReplyDeletePlant that seed! :) You are so funny Vera! Thanks for commenting.
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