How to Raise Quail for Meat

Raising quail for their meat can actually save and/or make you some money in the long run.

Quail meat is a delicacy that is enjoyed most during the holiday seasons. Quail meat can get expensive, so a lot of people choose to raise their own quail. Raising quail can be tricky, especially if you start from fertilized eggs. The eggs must be kept under specific to conditions to survive. Once they have reached adulthood, you may choose to breed some of your flock instead of using all of them for meat in order to avoid having to start over from eggs.

Things You'll Need

• Age-appropriate quail food
• Feed and water bowls
• Water
• Incubator(s)
• Brooder(s)
• Soft bedding
• Heat lamps
• Quail pens
• Slaughtering and cleaning station

Instructions

1. Put all of your adult quails into quail pens. The quail pens should be built on the ground to encourage the quails to peck, something they do instinctively. Sprinkle a little bit of food on the ground. The majority of the food should be in a food bowl along with water in each pen. You need to start out with at least one male quail and two female quails. Each female has the potential to lay approximately 50 eggs during the egg-laying season. But, as with any animal, the higher the population, the greater the increase of population when the eggs hatch.

2. Put all of the chicks that are not acclimatized to the weather inside a brooder that has food, water and soft bedding. Put heat lamps around the brooder to maintain a steady temperature of no more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and no lower than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep the humidity at 80 percent. Speak with the previous owner of the chicks to find out what climate they are used to.

3. Keep eggs in an incubator with an automatic egg rotator. If you do not have a built-in egg rotator, rotate the eggs once a day at 30 degrees. Some breeds of quail can take around a month to hatch. Check the nesting grounds in your quail pens every day during the spring and summer to get all of the eggs. Normally, quail hens that are kept in captivity will not sit on their eggs, but if they do, let them sit.

4. Keep at least two quail together so they can keep warm in each quail pen. But, if you choose to keep a lot of quail in one pen, that is perfectly acceptable, if you don't overcrowd them. Since some species of quail are known to be cannibalistic, overcrowding can have drastic consequences. Continue caring for the quail until they reach adulthood by feeding and watering them on a daily basis and by treating the quails for worms and other parasites monthly. You may choose to clip their wings or not.

5. Slaughter and clean the quail after they reach adulthood. There are several ways to slaughter the quail, including taking the quail to a slaughter house if you do not wish to do it yourself, electrocution, and cutting off the heads. Of course, if you do the slaughtering yourself, you must clean them as well.

Tips & Warnings

• You may need permits to raise and kill quail, especially if you are intending to sell or distribute the quail meat. Check with your local branch of the Food and Drug Administration before slaughtering your quail. If you are just starting out breeding your own quail, choose a species of quail that is relatively low maintenance, such as Chukar quail. These are hardy quail that can adapt to extreme temperatures as long as they have other quail to covey with.You can purchase quail food at pet stores and online, as well as at feed stores.

• Selling or distributing quail meat without the proper permits can result in heavy fines and/or incarceration.

References

• Poultry One: The Basics of Quail Raising
• Raise Quail: Hatching Quail Eggs
• How to Raise Quail