Deciding what kind of birds to raise for meat...

[miss_thenorth]

I'm not sure what the "regulation" is, but if you go to the quail section on byc, there should be a sticky by Monarc--she has alot of good info in there.

 

[MorelCabin]

Well I was never one to go by "regulation" for chickens...but it does make a good starting point LOL!

 

[Occamstazer]

Just wanted to throw out the Chukar idea on the table

I had a friend when I was a kid who raised Chukar. She didn't eat hers, but I recall that they were lovely to look at, friendly, and made nice noises. And I think they're intended for meat. They're quite a bit more substantial than quailies.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I considered chukar. I decided on quail b/c chukar take longer to grow out, (yes I realize they get bigger), they take longer to mature so eggs will be laid later. Quail are much quicker.

chukar are pretty birds, and Morel, they are about the same size as ruffed grouse, or what northerners call partridge.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I should not be reading this.
We do not need quail, we do not need quail...
we can use quail, and those eggs are good... I want quail, love the size of those eggs too, just right for popping in the mouth.

I'm in trouble

 

[Wifezilla]

Give in to the quaily cuteness

 

[FarmerDenise]

I'm NOT opening this thread anymore

Thanks Wifezilla

 

[Bettacreek]

There's actually a great thread on BYC about size. General recommendations is one square foot per bird. Actual spacing can be much less than that, especially for chicks. I have 26 or so birds in a 20g long aquarium. The buttons (19 I think) are 4.5 weeks and the 7 coturnix are 3 weeks (and huge!). They JUST started feather picking yesterdayish. They'll be downsized this weekend though, so I'm just waiting until then.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Oh no, Bettacreek, now you are giving me idea too. I have a large aquarium that used to house my bearded dragon....along with the heat lamp etc.....

 

[MorelCabin]

The quail eggs are very tiny aren't they? There was a reason I didn't decide on quail and I don't remember what it was...I do remember trying pigeons though and hated them...all that mess for nothing. My origional plan was to do squab.
I really need to do something here...and don't intend to start a fight with the neighbors or the township over it:>) Really. I should have stayed in the country! Well big decisions to make in the near future about what to do on this small parcel:>)