The female of the two cots that hatched on October 8 laid her first egg today. This was one day short of 10 weeks, which is right on schedule. This egg is smaller than usual, but that is how it goes with young layers. She’ll produce bigger eggs after she has had some practice.
Quail have some good qualities that make it worthwhile to deal with their issues. The biggest advantage is the rapidity of their development. A female quail can hatch from an egg and lay her own egg only ten weeks later. The males can be harvested at eight weeks for the tenderest meat. “When it crows it goes.”
Once they begin laying, the females deliver an egg almost every day. You will definitely want to purchase some quail egg scissors if you handle more than a few eggs at a time. Cracking them by hand is annoying. The tougher membrane means they have to be struck harder to crack open and their small size makes it difficult to empty out the yolk and white without getting some on your hands.
The eggs are small enough that they make bite-sized deviled eggs. These are very popular at pot luck events. The hard-boiled eggs are easily pickled and the small size makes them perfect for a snack when dinner is a bit too far away. Because quail eggs have a greater surface-area-to-volume ratio than do chicken eggs, there is more flavor from the pickling liquid when you eat them.
Fascinating information about the quail egg.
I’d be interested to know more about preparing them as meat.