Japanese (Coturnix) Quail

[nick]

dear gary,
I had a few quails a couple of years ago and I struggled to cull and clean them to such nice detail.

I would appreciate it if you could describe in both pictures and words how you do it. In particular the culling method, how you pluck, how you gut and possibly some photos showing the cuts made around the cloaca and the crop to disembowel the bird.
Thanks in advance, this processing side is kind of the only reason I am holding off getting both more quails and another incubator and also getting meat chickens,

Cheers Nick

P.S if I have asked this before and you have answered it apologies,

[GaryD]

Hi Nick,

These days, we only process quail for our own use. About thirty years ago, we did it commercially. Our record was 1500 birds processed in one day. My partner Jan was particularly good at it.

The principal tool for quail processing are kitchen snips......they used to be called Tullen Snips. I've used all manner of kitchen shears but none of them hold a candle to those depicted in the image.

I don't currently have photos of quail processing but here's how you do it.

1. Grasp the quail in one hand and, using the kitchen snips in the photo below, cut the head off.
2. Drop the dead bird into a buck to contain the blood spatter. It will struggle violently but don't be concerned the bird is very dead. The struggling is post mortem spasm.
3. Set up a large bucket of hot water to scald the birds.......the water should be 148 degrees F......this loosens the feathers and makes them easy to remove.
4. Pick up three birds (by one leg each) and slowly agitate them up and down in the water in the scalding tank.
5. When the hot water has done its work, the flight feathers will come away easily. This should take 20 - 30 seconds.
6. Use the thumb and forefinger to quickly remove the feathers from the carcase. Dunk the bird into fresh water to remove loose feathers which adhere to the carcase.
7. As each bird is de-feathered, drop it into a bucket of ice slurry.
8. When all of the birds have been de-feathered, it is time to eviscerate (gut) them.
9. Take the bird in one hand and the kitchen snips in the other hand.
10. Snip the neck off level with the shoulders. Move the hand to allow access to the legs - snip of both legs at the knee joint.
11. Twist the bird around and snip the vent off. Place the snips on the bench.
12. Use the thumb to draw back the breast skin and using your other thumb remove the fat and the crop from the neck area.
13. Push your forefinger into the vent incision and use your finger to drag the gizzard and the guts from the carcase.
14. Insert your forefinger and draw the heart, kidneys and any other organs from the body cavity.
15. Flush the cavity with fresh cold water and drop the dressed carcase into a fresh bucket of ice slurry.
16. Drain the birds and divide them into meals. Place into freezer bags and freeze

You can watch me perform the entire act when I'm next dressing quail....if you're available.

Gary

Gary

[nick]

thanks gary that is very informative, I tried to pluck mine and just kept ripping the skin but had read somewhere that you could just pluck without scalding if you were careful. Also read with interest that you just cut around the cloaca(bum) and then pull out the intestines. Most things I have read recommend cutting around the bum and then tying the rectum and pulling it out from there. so will have to have a think.

Also with the chooks do you ever cull early to get "personal" chooks? eg those suitable for one or two people. the quail definately look good though. am keen to take you up on the next cull but will probably have to wait till christmas time, uni is killing me at the moment and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. But will definately take you up when I get the time.

Cheers Nick

[GaryD]

Hi Nick,

I forgot to mention that there's another way to eviscerate quail. I overlooked it because we sold our quail into the market where they had to be done a particular way.

You can actually use the snips to cut right through the back bone. You then remove the organs and just close the quail back up again.

This is easier that the method that we use......it just wasn't the method preferred by the market at the time.

If you like to de-bone your quail before cooking (as many chefs will do), this method is fine because you remove all bones (except for the legs and wings) anyway.

Gary

[sallu00]

Hi Gary,

It's been a long time since I have hunted Quails. I just love their flight and you need to be quick and snappy to get them in the air, my pointer use to do a good job finding and retrieving them. He is long time dead now and I have a nice but naughty Golden Retriever (See pic). He loves the water and retrieves rabbits quite well.

I actually got myself 6 Quails for $15 from the local butcher (I am in Sydney) and cooked them with some 12 spicies, garlic, ginger, tamotoes fried in olive oil. The whole family loved it.

Now I am very keen to keep some Quails, but I don't know where to get them? Any ideas, any farmers in Sydney area? Barry talks about a big farmer somewhere near Sydney?
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/vic/stories/s965750.htm

Please keep the flow of your expert advise on raising these beautiful birds. Gary, do you think this will be any useful, yankee stuff! http://www.howtoraisequail.com/

Salman.

[GaryD]

Hi Salman,

While the book appears to have some useful information, much of it won't be relevant because:

• Japanese (Coturnix) Quail are the only species that I'd consider. Bobwhite and California quail are beautiful birds but not what I'd suggest for prospective food producers.
• there are no licensing arrangements (for hobby purposes) for Japanese Quail in Australia
• The Quail market in Australia is very fickle.....there have been lots of failures....so I'd ignore anything that the book has to say about selling quail.

I'm currently working on a Quail manual that is relevant to Australian backyard food producers.....it will be available in the next few months.

Salman, if you wish to breed quail in the meantime, feel free to ask any questions you may have and I'll help you.

Gary

[sallu00]

HI Gary,

I am very keen to get started with some Quails in my backyard. Some questions for you.

1) Where can I get these game birds from?

2) How many can I keep in 4 sqm area?

3) Will they eat chicken feed?

4) How will they multiply? Hen and Cock ratio, 1:10?

5) To hatch eggs will I need an inqubator?

I am currently building a Chicken pen and plan to be self sufficient in my family's daily consumption of eggs. I would love to breed Quails for food as well. Appreciate your help.

PS:- I have started reading your book on Aquaponics, very practical, still to read a lot.

Salman.

[Laurie]

Hi, Salman.
When I bred them, I kept trios in a foot cube, 1 male to 2 female. You need to feed them a Quail food. You can get growers food at first then a hi protein food. That is if you want to have a fast turn around. You hatch the eggs in an incubator. Eggs are good eating, I use to hard boil them, crack the shells the put them in food dye mix. let them soak, then peal off the shell & you have marbled eggs.
Hope this is of some help.

Laurie.

[anniefish]

Hi all,
The eggs are also very hummy pickled.

[GaryD]

Hi Salman,

1) Where can I get these game birds from?

Look in the Livestock section of your Saturday morning paper classified ads.....or enquire at pet stores (where you can expect to pay more for them)......or place an enquiry on one of the poultry web sites.

2) How many can I keep in 4 sqm area?

How many quail you can keep in a given area will depend on how your pens are arranged. If you set your pens up in tiers, you can keep a lot of birds in a 4 square metre area.

We run a maximum of 50 growers in a one square metre pen. I'd recommend no more than half that number if you're running breeders in the pen. It's best to give your birds a bit of room if you are to avoid pecking and cannibalism.

I'd suggest that you keep the different age groups separate.

Like Laurie, we've used small breeder pens to house trios. These days, I'd only bother with them if we were looking to select birds for body size, egg production, fertility, hatchability or incubation period......and I'd use pairs rather than trios so that you can be sure who laid which egg.

3) Will they eat chicken feed?

Yes, they will eat chicken feed but they will not produce a lot of eggs and fertility and hatchability will be adversely affected. It's best to feed them a game bird ration. If you can't get the right feed, try turkey starter or (even better still) a premium layer chicken ration to which you can add some soybean meal and meat meal to boost the protein levels.

4) How will they multiply? Hen and Cock ratio, 1:10?

For best fertility results, run them at ratio of 1:2 or 1:3.

5) To hatch eggs will I need an inqubator?

You'll need an electric incubator for consistent results. A broody bantam will hatch quail eggs but will have trouble keeping up with tiny quail chicks. In my view, they're hardly worth messing about with.

A little incubator will be useful for hatching chicken eggs, too.

Gary