Yet another longtime item on the wish list has just come to fruition on '2Chicks And A Farm' This Week - QUAIL!
We have a mix of Coturnix Jumbo Whites and Wilds, and regular size Italians (no offense to any of my Italian friends). The Jumbo's are both egg layers and meat birds, the smaller Italians would only make a 'nugget' or two, so eggs only from them.
Yesterday Dawn and I drove nearly 600 miles round-trip to Mansfield, OH to pick-up seven dozen quail hatching eggs and a hand-built grower cage from 'Quail Run Hatchery'. The eggs went into our two new 'Manna Pro Harris Farms Nurture 360' incubators this afternoon.
So, in 17 days, give or take, we should have a lot of little bity quail chicks hatch and ready to go into the NEW state of the art, three tired 'hatchingtime' self-contained brooder (thank you Dawn). I thought Silkie chicks were small, these guys and girls are tiny!
BUT, unlike chickens and waterfowl who take 5-6 months to start laying eggs, these quail will be laying in 7-8 weeks. Yes, you read correctly, less than 2 months!
So why quail eggs:
- Calories: 14
- Protein: 1g
- Carbs: 0
- A single quail egg provides a significant chunk of your daily B12, Selenium, riboflavin, and choline needs. All in 14 calories!
- They have a dense texture and are rich and creamy.
Quail meat is often said to taste somewhere between a chicken and a duck! The quail raised for meat here on '2Chicks And a Farm' will be more chicken-like (less gamey) because of its' environment and feed.
The next question is, how
on earth do you crack open an egg that's only an inch big? Well, you don't. They make specific scissors to cut off the end, thus leaving the yolk intact.
I appreciate that quail eggs are going to be a new experience for most people. So, once our hatchlings start laying, we will be offering a FREE dozen quail eggs (and a pair of scissors) to all our regular egg customers.
Regularly, a dozen quail eggs will cost $3.
We are also planning on selling hatching eggs and chicks - contact me directly for more information.
Until we get a certified kitchen, we can't sell meat birds, but that is something we plan to do this year for chickens, ducks, and quail. If interested, please contact me to get on the waiting list.
Comments