Breeding quails

Bennyl

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hey guys, I am looking at breeding quails for eating no idea on how to start, breed to get ect, I currently have eight chickens and a coup I built so I have a little experience, just don't no on how to start off with quail and incubators ect any help would be awesome cheers
 

Mark

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Hi Bennyl, I breed quail for meat and they're one of the easiest breed of poultry to grow for eating.

The base species is coturnix or also called Japanese and pharaoh quail typically they are grey brown with stripes but do have several domestic variations such as A&M, Italian, tuxedo, etc. All are good eating and usually weigh around 250 grams fully grown.

Quail grow fast and hatch out faster than any other domestic poultry breed in around 16 - 18 days, this alone makes them an attractive meat bird to breed.

Are you going to build an enclosure or keep them in raised cages?
 

Bennyl

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Thanks mark for the info, I am going to build an enclosure, I have watched your YouTube video on quails great work.
 

Mark

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No worries mate - I have some more info about on my blog and if you search here on SSC there's a few more threads also.

Also what's the best feed for them cheers

You can buy specific quail feed often sold as "game bird feed" which is higher in protein than chicken feed. If you can't get specific feed then you can use unmedicated chick grower or even grind your own chicken feed slightly and add soy meal to bump up the protein in the mix.

Meal worms or other grubs fresh or dried are good treats as is sprouts or sprouted grains.

Quail grow well in comparison to feed consumption making them economical to grow and pretty reasonable to breed.
 

Bennyl

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The only problem now is finding some quail, lol, I live on the Gold Coast anyone no where I can get some and best advise cheers
 

Mark

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Quail Kingdom isn't too far from the Gold Coast http://www.quailkingdom.com.au/index.html

I haven't purchased any from them but they do seem like a pretty reasonable quail business.

You can also buy quail eggs online at places like GumTree and then incubate them yourself - I did this for my last batch to refresh my bloodlines for my breeding stock.
 
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