Quail Eggs and their possible addition to our happy home.

     I watch way to much Food Network.  When I was given the opportunity to buy some quail eggs recently, I could not pass them up. Where I have had quail in my life - it reminds me more of duck than chicken since the meat tends to be darker - I've never had quail eggs.  The hedonist in me demanded that I buy them.  Plus they came from a local breeder with a good reputation. 

     I am slowly but surely moving towards a plant based diet, but I'm not willing to give up all animal products yet.

     Quail eggs are tiny, it takes about 2 to 5 quail eggs to equal the same amount of chicken eggs (depending on several factors) but, generally speaking, the quail egg tends to be a healthier (and more expensive) choice. 

    Let's talk about the cost first before I get into nutritional value and what I decided to do with these little beauties.   I paid five dollars for 24 eggs.  That works out to be roughly 21 cents per egg.

    Now the average cost for a dozen chicken eggs is $1.48, or about 12 cents an egg.  Remember that the general rule of thumb is that it takes roughly 2 - 5 quail eggs to equal 1 chicken egg.  

    Hey Rob, that's great but what do they taste like? 

Where the quail got the chicken egg beat however is in nutrition.  While smaller they pack quite a punch, being lower in calories and cholesterol.  Where they shine though is in all the nutrition that isn't shown.   

    For example the quail egg is higher in riboflaven, better known as vitamin B2.  As the chart shows, one quail egg provides roughly the same amount of iron with less calories and fat.  Most of the fat in quail eggs however is "good fat", meaning it is high in HDL cholesterol.  They also seem to be a good source of other nutrients. 

    Hey Rob, that's great but what do they taste like?   

    Frankly they taste pretty much like a chicken egg does, although they do have more yolk to white ratio giving them a slightly richer taste.  You also have to be careful to fully cook the egg, as most quail eggs are unpasteurized, not that a quail egg is very runny to begin with due to their small size.

    If you can make something with a regular egg, you can make something with a quail egg.  Sue made a simple hash out of quail eggs and turkey bacon the other day.   I made my version of a ramen burrito with them and found them warm and tasty.  

    For breakfast this morning we had them poached on toast.  

    There are a lot of fun little things that you can do with quail eggs and I'll let you find the recipes that work best for you.  One thing I'm learned about quail eggs, is that they cook so fast you really can't screw them up.   You just have to pay some attention.   If we keep quail around, I would invest in a pair of special scissors however.    

       That's were the drama started.   Quail and their eggs can not only be eaten my humans but by other animals.  My step daughter raises snakes and believes she can sell the chicks and eggs as snake food.  Snakes are a natural predator for quail..   The problem of course, is that she doesn't have the room at her house which means "she would raise them" on our property.   We all know what that means.

    I was hoping to introduce something to our homestead eventually just to be ever so slightly more self sufficient.  Quail isn't that bird but not for the reasons you may think.

    Quail are quiet fowls, having to be be out in the wild and although they are growing in popularity in homesteading, they are still considered a game bird.  The other big advantage they have is size.  Generally speaking they are only about 5 ounces (142 grams) in weight.   So they don't require a lot of space to raise.   In fact, while researching this article,  I came across people using rabbit hatches to raise quail. 

    While you are not going to obtain much meat from each bird, they are considered mature at 7 weeks and ready to be slaughtered.   Quail can start to produce their eggs at the age of 2 weeks, and can produce 1 egg a day on average, often laying 300 eggs in a single year, nor do they require the presence of a male.  

    If you are willing to sell the birds and eggs to high end restaurants that's one thing, but  it's a tough market to crack and your supply may be higher than the demand. 

    

     The fact that quail are quiet and require little feed and space is certainly an advantage, but with only Sue and myself here, it seems silly to  raise something that can produce so many eggs.   Well their could be a small demand at local farmer markets and other events, we are no where near ready for that.   Although I have learned never to say never.  

    Quail feathers are also in demand by fly-fisherman and some painters/artists due to the nature of their feathers.   Again, it's a small niche market that you would have to crack.

    Still though, it was fun doing a little research on these birds.