Poultry farmer?
By Diane Ako
If you are an urban gardener, I would like your take on this: How hard are Japanese quails to raise as pets? I've seen some on Craigslist and - as my regular readers have discerned by now - I'm an animal lover.
I was having dinner with a friend and former colleague, Stacy Loe. I told her I wanted to get quail. "For dinner?" she asked. Perfectly reasonable logic, but she realized the miscommunication when I responded with my mouth agape. We had a laugh.
I would like to buy two, maybe three to raise as pets and to have for eggs. I don't have a lot of space in or outside, but I read that they don't need a lot of space. Are they high maintenance?
I joke with Claus that if I get tired of them we could eat them. It's actually not a joke, it's a selling point in many of the websites that sell or discuss quail farming!
My friend and her family bought five chicks that they would like to raise for the same purpose. My friends have a slightly larger house (inside and out!) and could easily put a roost in their yard for the chickens.
I went over to look at the chicks. Oh, man, they're cute. I'm tempted again to buy the quail. Who has any experience with them?
Small Talk
August 13th, 2012 at 6:25 am
Hello Diane,
I don't know about raising quails but the eating part sounds good.
August 13th, 2012 at 10:23 am
Don't know about quails and I don't think many locals are experienced in raising quails (only roosters for sport, wink-wink). But I've always found what I needed to know on the internet but to ask a local you might try talking to one of the caretakers at the zoo.
August 13th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
No offense but have you looked into the laws regarding raising these animals? Given the fact that we're talking about quails, and not Parakeets, or puppies, I'm wondering how the laws treat these animals. Does the law see these as pets, poultry, or what. You'd better find out what needs to be done to stay legal in terms of raising these things. You might find out it simply isn't worth it, or even possible, if you have to jump through various hoops to stay legal.
Other than that, I can't imagine raising quail to be any different (or that much different) than raising chickens. Both need food, water, some sort of structure to live in, protection from predators (cats, rats, etc.). Given that you live in Hawaii, I don't think the temperatures will be any sort of issue, since it neither gets too cold nor too hot.
Thinking of this topic is reminding me of the very early days of our alma mater. Looking at some of those old pictures, you can see the guys from the boys school raising chickens, hogs, and other animals. I can imagine you there with them.
August 13th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Hey Diane ... I think all pets are high maintenance ... unless you have a pet rock!!! ... but really, you need to be sure any pet is healthly and happy ... and you need to put in the time and care for them ... if not, then why even have a pet??? ...
... from the small amount that I've read about Japanese quail ... I think for sure they are high maintenance ... here's a couple things I found interesting ...
1. You should house them in a boink-proof pen/cage ... it seems they will try to bolt straight up when fed or startled ... and will likely boink their heads on any hard surface above them ...
2. They lay an egg everyday ... so you need to gather it all the time ... and also provide the quail with cuttlebone and calcium rich stuff in addition to their food ... otherwise the eggs may not even have shells ...
... "they're cute" is not a reason for getting a pet ...
... and there's absolutely no way I could ever eat a pet ... that's a horrible selling point ... there should be no mixing of their role as food or as a pet ...
August 14th, 2012 at 7:21 am
this is so funny.....you have a dog and cat that will eat that ....! HOW about get back to sewing instead...yes you need a good cage and put a leash on that darn bird ..your luck you pick a bird that will bite you! Yes so cute until you have to care for them and that is why I just wait for the DOVES to visit me....they fly around on top of our house then they go home somewhere.
August 14th, 2012 at 7:23 am
yes flocks of Doves beautiful to watch flying around..but I think birds are lots fo work....goood thing though they visit me.
August 14th, 2012 at 7:25 am
I doubt you can actually twist its neck and eat that....OH DEAR!
August 14th, 2012 at 7:31 am
find another hobby...something less stressful and you don't have to twist the neck !
August 14th, 2012 at 7:34 am
yes I pciture you everytime you eat that bird tears flowing down your cheek and you have the tiny coffin on your dinner table!
August 14th, 2012 at 7:39 am
oh maybe get one of those bird feeder thingy..when the pooo gets on your nerves and the cat and dog eat that at least you can toss the bird feeder away!