Daniel has decided to become a quail daddy by raising Coturnix Quail for egg production to benefit PuppiDawg and Salti. Our dogs eat raw food, and an egg in their meal or as a snack is a beneficial nutritional factor for them. Daniel picked them up with a referral to one of the local farmers who are raising birds.
The farmer said to enjoy the petite chicks for a concise time frame. They will grow up fast and can start laying eggs in only eight short weeks. We got them when they were just a day old.
Our raw food source closed up shop, and we had both our two back on pet store kibble food only for a short time frame. Both of the dogs became lethargic, meaning sluggish. It was unbelievable. Once we found a new source of raw food, it was instant that the dogs popped back up to their usual selves and had so much energy.
Coturnix quail eggs are 3 times smaller than a chicken egg. They are quiet birds and have a ton of vitamins in each egg from humans or other animals to eat. They use very little space as they are small birds.
Unlike the Cayuga ducks we once had, they will not be free-range and protected by their home indoors. They can be moved outdoors in the summer but still be in their protective cage. The raccoons and foxes eventually ate our ducks. The ducks required a lot of space as they roamed, but we never had a problem with ticks during the year we had them. They were expensive to feed and required a lot of water, especially in the deep freeze of winter, which was challenging to do. Daniel does miss the ducks, though.
PuppiDawg and Salti love a good snack and are delicate with eggs. They slightly puncture it with their canine teeth and suck the contents out.
Daniel did a lot of research about quail before making the decision. They are weather-hardy. Daniel bought ten chicks to start with. Each quail will lay about 330 eggs a year, but as you can see in the video above, the eggs are really tiny. They need secure housing as preditors. Depending on how many you have, they generally don't eat a lot of food; they are not that big to begin with.
While we support the local farmer's market, the eggs these little guys produce will be a great snack and food source. And yes, you can eat them, too.
Daniel is just getting started. The dogs have already started watching the quail. Salti, in particular, seems to be the leading daddy, as he won't let PuppiDawg near the cage. Great Pyrenees tend to be protectors. Usually, if you offer PuppiDawg or Salti a treat and say there is a treat, they automatically lick their lips. We are not training the dogs to understand that the birds are the treat, but eventually, once the egg-laying happens, the eggs will be the treat. Like our cats, we have never used yarn to tease the cats, so they don't see it as a toy, so my yarn doesn't end up all over the place.
Darla Shepherd says
love this excerpt about the quails. my grandmother always had quails on her farm and they were her babies. thanks for the jolt memory!