These are the dozen STUNNING Coturnix quail eggs that I picked up today from a lovely lady I found locally through Facebook (the web is an amazing tool!). My husband tells me several times a day that I'm obsessed with my new project, and I think he might be right!
These darling eggs are about the size of a quarter and the chicks they produce will be too (if not a tad bit smaller!).
If you were to go look up information on how to raise chickens and the incubation process, the online resources would be ENDLESS! However, when you look up how to raise quail, the resources are quite limited. Furthermore, a lot of what I found was not very helpful. I ended up reading many many blog posts and piecing together enough information to get started. I want to add this post (and many others to follow) to the short list of helpful guides for other prospective quail owners to follow. This won't be a comprehensive wealth of knowledge on all things quail, but I will share some general information while I show you how we hatch and raise our little chickies, organically! We are new to this so I hope you learn something with us along the way!!!
So why quail? Many people keep quail because their area doesn't allow chickens and they still want the sweet sweet luxury of gathering their own fresh eggs everyday (who doesn't, right?!). Quail eggs are highly nutritious! They surpass chicken eggs, especially if we are talking about B vitamins! I've heard from many sources that they are delicious as well (I haven't actually tried them yet!). So in a few months when we have eggs, that will be another adventure to document!
Also, quail are small! They are perfect for our tiny Thimble Farm!
The final reason we chose quail over chickens is because they are much sweeter birds overall. With our little ones around we wanted them to be able to interact with the quail up close and personal while they go hunting through the aviary for eggs. (Side note: quail have had a lot of their nesting instincts bred out of them over time and will often lay their eggs wherever they please).
Coturnix is just one variety of quail, someday when I find a good source for the eggs I will be getting a few button quail, they are even smaller than Coturnix and their eggs are the size of a nickel! Hatching out something that tiny would just melt my heart! I would rather watch chicks hatch than spend a day at an amusement park, I'm a little nutty! I like to call it passionate.
Thanks for being a part of our little adventure! I will keep you updated on the process as we go!
