A Case for Quails

I tried quail several years back and they just did not do well for me particularly January through March. They seemed to not like 70 degrees one day and -10 the next and the constant yoyo of our winters here. I like eating the Quail a whole lot more than trying to eat their eggs

I like my barred rock and Rhode island Red and the Black Sexlinks I make with RHR Roos and Rock Hens. Good eggs and decent meat birds. I like my Muscovy Ducks as well can't beat their eggs for making noodles IMO and they are not bad on the spit either

A couple of folks around me do pretty good with the quail but they have climate controlled set ups for those harsh Months and spend a lot more keeping them alive than I am willing to spend. The Ducks and Chickens...... hang a couple heat lamps over their roost and huddles and they are content

 

I see how your eggs roll Brah

 

A woman across the street from me used to raise chickens, turkeys, quail and peacocks. Those darned peacocks often got loose and the cock would lead his hens up the road, then hours later lead them back. Every so often, one less hen.
A restaurant down on the Gulf Coast, about twenty miles away, had an interesting dinner option some years back. My buddy and I would ride our motorcycles down there for dinner. It was an "All you can eat" special with quail and catfish. My, it was good! I'd eat three quail and a couple catfish.
But, when I was young decades ago, Dad and I would come back from squirrel hunting with a couple fat robins and maybe a King Woodpecker. They'd put both quail and dove to shame. Very good eating! But they were soon put on the protected list. No more hunting them.

 

@Meat I would love that, but I bet they wouldn't allow ostriches on the island. I'll look into it I had neighbors back on the mainland who had an emu farm. They are wild birds, the eggs are so cool looking and the chicks are cute. Definitely dinosaurs

 

@Kamp Krap I think it's really cool that you tried raising quails. They can be finicky when it comes to temperature. Thankfully, the temp hasn't dropped below 62 the entire time that I've been here, but they don't love the heat either so I often had an industrial fan blowing to circulate the air for them. I agree, the meat is delicious! Such a small scale compared to other birds, but I love how much easier it is to butcher them, but I leave the butchering to other people because it makes me sad. That's what I get for naming my flocks
I'm very curious about Muscovys. Is it true that they don't make noise? We have a couple that hangout in the neighborhood and they are so cool looking. Have you ever had Indian Runners? They are on my wishlist if I ever get back into more serious farming again.

 

@Seawolf1090 You have the best stories. Thank you for sharing! Peacocks are pretty, but can be so loud
An all-you-can-eat buffet with quail AND catfish? That sounds so good!
I have heard that doves / pigeons are good eatin' we have a bunch here that aren't very smart and the cats gobble them up. They love to sneak into my neighbors chicken coop and eat all of the feed. Sometimes there are 40 pigeons in her coop

 

Never had runner ducks. They don't make a lot of noise until they see you with the loaf of bread you just brought home from the store.

 

I've eaten Mallards, Red Heads, Ruddies, Wood Ducks, but never a Muscovie. How do they compare?
My Dad was a Postal employee (not a mailman) and had a couple Black coworkers who we'd bag some Coots for. Coots were considered trash by White folks. But we tried them once, and they aren't at all bad.
Dad told me in his youth - 1930s/1940s - the "rich folks" ate goose, ducks were for the poor. Things sure changed by the time I was hunting. Geese were getting fewer and were already in a protected status. Even the once lowly ducks were under more restrictions. We can't hunt Wood Ducks at all now.

 

Coots? that would be a pouldeau

 

Muscovie taste very good

 

Pretty sure they are, we just call them Mud Hens.

 

Pronounced Pull-doo We just breast these and clean out the gizzard, remove the outer tough skin on the gizzard and throw the gizzard meat into the pot!

 

@Gator 45/70 I just looked up the pouldeau. I had never heard of them before. What is up with their feet? They are really cool looking.

 

Nature designed those feet for walking on mud, aquatic vegetation etc
The bird it's self is kinda dumb lol.

 

The Coot according to Wiki:
"The American coot (Fulica americana), also known as a mud hen or pouldeau, is a bird of the family Rallidae. Though commonly mistaken for ducks, American coots are only distantly related to ducks, belonging to a separate order. Unlike the webbed feet of ducks, coots have broad, lobed scales on their lower legs and toes that fold back with each step which facilitates walking on dry land.[2] Coots live near water, typically inhabiting wetlands and open water bodies in North America. Groups of coots are called covers[3] or rafts.[2] The oldest known coot lived to be 22 years old.[2]"

They are okay eating, though much maligned by white waterfowl hunters. When spooked, they stay down on the water, literally running across the surface for a good while before lifting up and flying.

 

@Kamp Krap I believe that feeding time is a universal language and cause for celebration and noise

 

@Seawolf1090 I love how much I'm learning here. Thank you for sharing this complete with an illustration and story! It's so funny that they run across the surface before they remember to fly

 

@john316 This is good to know thank you. I was considering them mostly for slug and bug control, but if they taste good that's even better!

 

Let me tell you about sitting on the front of a boat and trying to catch one in flight.
Don't do it! It's a trap as everyone else hides behind the windshield.
These things crap on the wing under flight and the one on the bow with the net catches it literally~!
You have been warned!

 

It’s a rare lab that will pick up one of those smelly birds!