My reasons for keeping quail on our homestead
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We are very new to the homesteading game, but our philosophy is to have a go at various things and discover what works for us and in our environment.
It was January 2018 and all the homesteaders on YouTube were beginning their incubation journeys so we became super excited about our plans for 2018. James was working away at the time but I insisted we buy a decent incubator, one we could rely on and I would take on the responsibility for hatching new livestock for our smallholding.
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After a little research through my poultry books and online forums I became super excited about the potential for keeping Japanese Coturnix quail! Then I saw a video posted by Brimwood Farm explaining his reasons for raising these little guys and I was convinced - quail was all I wanted to hatch. I would like to thank Geoff for the inspiration and James for going along with it!
Here are my 10 reasons for keeping quail!
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Here are my 10 reasons for keeping quail (watch the video for a bonus quail benefit!)
- Quick to incubate (18 days)
- Easy to incubate (no candling required)
- Quick to grow (8 weeks to butcher age)
- Quick to lay eggs (8 weeks to point of lay)
- Independent & hardy (little maintenance needed)
- Sought after eggs (good trading commodity amongst our friends and neighbours)
- Good source of meat (high protein, little fat)
- Easy to butcher (small animal, easy to handle when butchering)
- Small space required (1 sq.ft per bird)
- Decorative wings (potential for home crafts or selling on eBay)
I liked that quail seemed to be the healthier choice in terms of both meat and eggs. Quail meat is delicate, high in vitamins B, E, K folate and low in fat and cholesterol. Quail eggs are higher in vitamin B, iron, potassium, phosphorus and calcium than hen’s eggs and they easily lay over 300 eggs a year each!
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Needless to say, I was convinced that Japanese Coturnix quail was going to be the best poultry to start off with. They were quick to incubate, quick to grow and were independent, hardy birds that would easily cope with our harsh, windy and cold environment. They are good foragers, love finding their own food and making their own nests in and amongst the tall grass. The birds are also highly productive, converting food to weight easily (which means they don’t eat much and grow quickly), and lay a large quantity of highly sought after eggs which cost a fortune in supermarkets. We’ve never tried quail eggs or quail meat before and that added a lot to the attraction for this venture. But best of all, they were perfect for first-time incubators as the eggs have a hard shell that doesn’t explode even if they are infertile, as is often the case with other poultry eggs - so there was no need to master the art of candling just yet!
There is also the added benefit of quail manure being super useful for the gardens - but that if you think about it that is a benefit of any livestock you keep on your homestead!
There is also the added benefit of quail manure being super useful for the gardens - but that if you think about it that is a benefit of any livestock you keep on your homestead!
I was so excited about the prospect of keeping quail that I ordered fertile hatching eggs on eBay straight away. I ordered them on the 3rd of January and 3 days later they arrived. Now we had to incubate them - for the first time ever!
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