Weve learned that their meat and eggs can provide a great benefit to your health, as well as being an efficient means of poultry and eggs on your farm. But can you make these profitable? Short answer, YES! Quail can be a great source of income and trade for your homestead or farm. Here are a few ways you can make them profitable.
1. Eggs
Selling eggs is the most obvoius choice, but what most dont know is eggs can sell for as much as $4 a dozen! All my eggs are sold as "fertile" but may not be hatchable. I like to sell eggs in a couple of different ways.
Fresh and unwashed
These I store in an egg turner inside a cardboard box and will collect batches for 3 days. You can collect Fertile eggs like this for up to 5 or 6 days, but I like to take an extra measure and gather only 3 days giving my customers a better chance at a higher hatch rate. This is the most popular way I sell eggs.
Washed and chilled
These I will wash thoroughly and store in the fridge. These are designed for eating and usually sell for a tad less than Fresh and unwashed. Eggs that I have had stored for more than 5 days unwashed will become washed eggs. If in the rare event I am unable to sell the cold eggs within 21 days, I will pickle or cook them for our own use at the homestead.
2. Meat
Quail can be quickly processed, packed, and sold in the ballpark of $12-$16 a pound. Check your local regulations on selling meat before selling! I will sell smaller birds (4 oz +/-) in 4 or 8 packs, and larger birds (Jumbos ranging from 12-14 oz) in 2 or 4 packs.
3. Live Birds
One of the quickest ways I make money with quail is selling chicks. I will begin selling them at 1 week old, however as each week passes, their price goes up. At chicks, they will go for $1.50-$2, Once full grown at 6 weeks, they can sell for $4-$6 per bird! If you have large hatches of 50+ every 17-20 days you can easily sell enough birds to pay for all the lifetime expenses of your flock in one hatch!
There are also other breeds of quail you can raise to gain more value from your birds. There are hunting reserves you can stock land with, and very beautiful types that are sought after by artists and bird lovers. Currently I only have the Coturnix quail, but I plan to have 4-5 more species in the next year.
I hope you found this information useful and I am so thankful you stopped by to take a read today. Please upvote, resteem, comment and thanks again for stopping by!