Category Archives: Quail – All About

Coturnix coturnix

Frittata di Borragine e Cacciatore (Frittata with Borage and pork sausages)

2014-11-13 - Frittata di Borragine 3

This morning’s breakfast was a feast put together by Mrs BYF (I knew it was breakfast, because I did not have wine with the meal). Borage (Borago officinalis) is one of the plants that actually thrives in Dunedin’s whether, so one has to make the most of it. The flowers and young leaves are delightful in a salad and the older leaves can be cooked like spinach as a side vegetable. Making a frittata with home made Cacciatore sausages was not only very pretty, but also exquisite.

RECIPE

Fry some onions and garlic in butter and olive oil in a heavy pan, ad the sausage and fry until it starts to color, then ad the borage leaves and cook until almost done. In the mean time, lightly beat 24 quail eggs (6 chicken eggs) with six tablespoons of water. Ad a bit of grated parmigiano cheese, salt and pepper and pour into the pan with the other ingredients. Turn the temperature down to medium and leave, without stirring, for a few minutes until it just starts to set on the top. Now put in in the oven under the grill until lightly brown. ENJOY !!! (If after 10H00 a good red wine is permitted)

Quaglia Marinata al Forno

GROWTH AND DRESSING PERCENTAGES

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I slaughtered another batch of quails today. The law of averages is playing up and a batch of 38 quails produced 29 males and ONLY 9 females. So the bank is empty, but the fridge is full. Being a scientist and engaged in a breeding program endeavoring to improve the Coturnix coturnix in New Zealand, I of coarse monitor many parameters and wish other people would also provide concrete actual results (especially those Americans claiming to grow gigantic everything, which is not always good even though they may be big), so as to be able to monitor and compare progress and set standards. In my egg producing breeds, I am of the opinion that I have reached optimum body size. For the dual purpose breeds, I am still selecting for larger birds and am  making  some definite headway. Here are some results obtained from the last 180 quails slaughtered :

Body mass at 21 days of age (all sexes of all breeds) – 114 g (averages still on the rise)

Body mass at 35 days of age (males of all breeds) –  188 g (averages still on the rise)

As I slaughter on day 35, here are the slaughtering results :

Live mass – 188 g

Dressed mass (back bone out, skin on, wings clipped) – 105 g (56%)

Gizzards, livers, harts, etc – 11 g (6 %)

Stock Meat – Back bone, wings, etc –  34 (18%)

Intestines (Discards) – 10 g (5 %)

Feathers, heads, blood, feet, etc (Discards) – 28 g (15%)

QUAGLIA MARINATO AL FORNO

2013-10-22 - Quaglia con Pancetta, Salvia e Polenta 4

One of my favorite Quail recipes is marinated quails on the coals. Very easy – on slaughtering day, place the quails in a container and add enough olive oil to cover them well inside and out. Now add some salt, pepper, chili, rosemary, oregano, garlic and a few slices of lemon. Those that I do not marinate go straight into maximum vacuumed sealed bags and if consumed within a week, I store them in the fridge only – the rest goes into the freezer, if any. Leave in marinade for one day while turning it over every so often. Grill on a medium to hot fire and as these are young and tender, it only takes a few minutes to do. Serve with polenta and a very good red wine – ENJOY !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quails and the Wife of Henry VIII

2013-10-22 - Quaglia con Pancetta, Salvia e Polenta 4

Whenever I read anything my interest is immediately caught by the word ‘Quail’.  I was reading a piece about Hilary Mantel when I came across the following quote by her regarding Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII :

“Jane Seymour, during her pregnancy with the future Edward, couldn’t get enough quail, and they kept sending them over from Calais,”

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/culture/2012/10/unquiet-mind-hilary-mantel

I can fully understand her addiction, I love eating quail and fortunately I have to cull now and then. There are so many delicious ways to prepare quail (pasta sauce, risotto with the livers and gizzards, tasty stock etc) but my favorite remains  Qualie Saporite con Pancetta, Salvia e Polenta 

21 Day old Weigh In

One of the selection criteria applied is 21 day old mass of birds. This figure has through selection increased slowly but definitely over the past year from 81 g to the present 103 g average. A few of the latest group of candidates :

2014-06-10 11.49.342014-06-10 11.58.172014-06-10 12.02.012014-06-10 12.04.182014-06-10 12.04.452014-06-10 12.06.532014-06-10 11.53.152014-06-10 12.06.532014-06-10 12.08.362014-06-10 12.09.142014-06-10 12.10.48

Inside the Quail Production Unit

As there are so many interesting discussions going on about quail housing, here is  a closer look at the inside my quail house.

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Units consist of 30 cages (six high and five wide) each being 600 X 600 mm, housing four females and a male or six females. All cages have a easy removable front feeder which gives easy access to individual cages, should it be required. Each cage also has a water drinker fed from a feeder tank. Some of the cages have  a removable wire partitioning for gradual introduction of new birds. The units are inside a room with adequate cross ventilation but no direct drafts. No additional heating is supplied.

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Clean home mixed feed is fed on a ad lib basis with easy access to feeders for regular supervision.  Enough feeder space, easily accessible for the birds, is supplied to eliminate competition at the through

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Clean fresh water through water cups is provided at all times

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Floors are laminated ply wood and is removable, much easier on the birds than wire. The second photo shows how a clean floor board is slid under the used board, and the latter pulled out from the top. In the pictures the feeder has been removed for demonstration purposes only, but in practice the change of floors, which takes a few seconds, is done with the birds inside and feeders in the normal position – often the birds do not even notice that the floor is being changed. Now the dirty floors can be cleaned and be ready for the next change. I do mine about once every two weeks.

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Each cage is fitted with a sand bath large enough for all the birds to be inside the bath at the same time if they so wish. Lighting is shielded, providing a soft glow that has a  calming effect on the birds.

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The unit accommodates  up to 180 birds and takes up about 2 square meters of floor space, with enough space for the individual birds to relax and produce optimally. Birds are not kept on wire at any stage in time, as so many people do, as it is not beneficial to their health and well being. My birds are docile, calm, relaxed and happy and most of the time, when entering the room, with many hundreds of birds inside, there is not a sound as all the birds are calm, quiet and happy.