Quail up date.

We had three power cuts during the Duck incubation period. So not being around to put in bottles of boiling water the outlook did not seem at all good. However we did get two splugers hatched which are doing well. The sixteen Quail mentioned above have now been processed. We got five very nice looking hens which have been added to the breeding stock. The remaining cocks have been skinned, spatchcocked and frozen. The brood stock are laying less now so a final fifty five eggs have been put into the bater for one last hatch of the season. Looking back over this years Quail production, these plump little birds have been well worth keeping. They require little space and once we got the knowing, they are not a bother.

We shall be processing the last batch today. After a shaky start it has turned out to be a worthwhile enterprise. Keeping the best birds as breeding stock and the rest in the freezer we are well set for the winter.

My breeding stock are looking fit and healthy but no eggs as yet. We still have plenty in the freezer so no rush.

The Quail breeding stock are getting a bit active although no eggs as yet. I have had to separate the Cock birds as they are getting a bit vicious to the hens. We must still have a few left in the freezer but looking forward to the breeding season and trying out my new smoker.

We have got the first clutch of the years eggs in the bator. Keeping Quail for the table has turned out to be a good project.

We got eighteen chicks growing on from a thirty two clutch. We had twenty hatch but two were weaklings and did not make. Anything above 50% is good enough methinks.

We hatched another clutch yesterday with nineteen fine healthy chicks running amok. The broodstock are still laying so I shall set another batch in the bator. We also have a hen gone broody, so I will let her sit on a doz eggs and see if she can bring them off. Its been a productive year with many dressed Quail in the freezer. Very pleased with them.

One more clutch to finish and thats that for this season. We have 30 in the freezer and another 15 in about 2/3 weeks. These little birds do very well. Very pleased.

Out of interest, Cristy, how do you despatch them? They seem a bit small and fiddly to break their necks like chickens...

They would be a bit of a fiddlin job if treated like chook`s. Thanks to tips from Yanks on YouTube it is now quick and easy. Scissors cut their heads off. Remove their wings. Skin them. Scissors cut out their backbone and remove their guts. I think its called spatchcock. All done in a couple of minutes.

Well thats the last batch precessed for this year. I just now have my breeding flock to fuss over. I will need some fresh blood next spring so I will be on the lookout for a couple of young Cock birds. Its been a good little project with thirty odd birds in the freezer. I am going to try my hand again with the smoker. The last attempt was not that great.