3/18/2023 0 Comments Quail eggs vs chicken eggs![]() ![]() Females have speckled breasts, while males lack the speckled breast feathers and have plain cream, tan, or light red ones. So, you can tell the boys from the girls by 5-6 weeks old. The standard coloration pattern, often called “wild” or “brown,” is sex-linked. In April 2021, I searched Craigslist for chicks and bought ten, week-old chicks. How did I get started with Coturnix quail? However, a breed called “Jumbo Coturnix” typically weighs 12-15 ounces (340-425 grams). At maturity, a typical bird weighs around 10 ounces (280 grams) and will produce about 4-5 ounces (110-140 grams) of finished meat. If a quail keeper wants to raise Coturnix quail for meat and eggs, the birds are full-grown at 6-8 weeks and ready for the freezer at 8-10 weeks. However, I find that only makes scrambled quail eggs taste creamier and richer! And quail eggs boil up in only 4 minutes! For those who want to raise quail for meat: Quail eggs have a slightly higher yolk to white ratio than chicken eggs. But the same volume of quail eggs has twice the iron, riboflavin, and 1.5 times the B12 as chicken eggs. 143 calories in 100 grams of chicken eggs). According to the US Department of Agriculture, q uail eggs are slightly higher in calories than chicken eggs ( 158 calories in 100 grams of quail eggs vs. Quail eggs are typically 10-15 grams in weight, which means it takes around 4 or 5 to equal a typical chicken egg. I turn it on just before sunset and turn it off before I go to bed. It doesn’t need to be a lot of light, either! My quails live in a stacked cage right outside my back door, and now that it’s autumn and they get less than 12 hours of sunlight, the only supplemental light they get is a regular 60-watt porch light. So it’s not nearly as bothersome as having chicken roosters.Īs long as the hens have at least 14 hours of light daily, they’ll continue to lay eggs year-round. But the Coturnix roosters’ crows are reasonably quiet and really kind of adorable. In fact, most of the hens I’ve raised started laying by six weeks old! Obviously, if you’re not interested in fertilized eggs, you don’t even need to keep any males. While chickens typically begin laying at 6-8 months of age, Coturnix quail start laying at 6-8 weeks. The best part about Coturnix quail is how fast they mature and start producing eggs! The cages I keep my quail in have a PVC coated welded wire floor for the health of their feet and easy cleaning, and a galvanized tray below to catch their waste, easily removed for cleaning every day or two. Typical quail cages for egg layers are built with a slightly slanted wire bottom with a lip in front to allow eggs to roll to the front for collection, while their waste drops through the wire to trays or the ground below. While quail kept in aviaries may occasionally get broody, it’s uncommon. They also don’t need roosts or nesting boxes! The rule of thumb is 1-3 adult quail in each square foot of space, but growing chicks need even less space 10 chicks in each square foot is acceptable for the first two weeks of life, and five chicks per square foot from 2 weeks of age to maturity (around seven weeks). Unlike standard chickens, which need at least 3-4 square feet of space each, Coturnix quail are very healthy and content in much smaller areas. As ground-dwelling birds, they prefer living in groups undercover, and therefore are easily and very happily kept in small cages. ![]() Raised for meat and eggs, they have been selectively bred for egg production for about the last century. I soon learned that keeping Coturnix quail just might be a great option! What are Coturnix quail?Ĭoturnix quail, also called Japanese quail, have been domesticated in Asia for a thousand years. While watching a series of homesteading videos one day, I saw the cutest little birds in one and started searching out more about them. As an avid home baker and an egg aficionado, I wanted to ensure a ready supply of fresh eggs for my family.īut I own a tiny piece of property, too small to keep chickens or ducks. I did have a small supply of purchased powdered eggs, but I’d already done some cooking and baking with them and wasn’t overly impressed with the results. Being an experienced prepper, I had a good supply of flour, sugar, and so forth already in my pantry. In 2020 when the pandemic began, I was concerned about grocery shortages. ![]()
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