What should I do with my extra males?
Eat them, learn to process birds in a small way
As hard as it can be to get rid of your extra males, it is a common problem that most poultry raisers run into. We want to have eggs but because of the small size of quail they are very hard to sex at young ages.
I believe in life, everything has a purpose. Why not use this experience to try something new? Processing quail is very easy and there are tons of youtube videos out there to help you if it is your first time. Plus quail meat is very tasty and healthy!
Take them to a local swap meet
If you do not want to process your quail, that is totally ok! You can go to your local swap meet and sell them there.
For Wisconsin, a good selling price (2023) is $6 per bird. It is a fair price.
To find a swap near you you can go to www.poultryshowcentral.com or search facebook for groups by searching “poultry swap meet” “chicken swap meet” “gamebirds swap meet”
Great Companions, keep as a group without females
If you can’t bear to lose your little buddies, you can always house the males together without females and they will get along just fine. Keeping them at 8 hours of daylight will keep them from getting into “breeding mode.”
great for raw feeding your dog
Dogs can eat whole quail! It is fun and yummy for them. I suggest humanely euthanizing your bird before feeding to your dog. You can freeze them for use at a later date too.
To get the most out of your quail for your fur babies, you can process the quail. Quail wings are great toys for cats! Then, you can also separate the inner parts to feed to your animals while you use the meat for yourself and your family.
donate them to your local wildlife rehab center as raptor feed
Birds of prey LOVE to eat other birds.. As some of us may already have sadly experience with an outdoor flock. You can euthanize and freeze dead birds to donate to your local wildlife rehab center as food. We do this ourselves and have been told they love it! The larger birds can be fed to raccoons and opposums. Smaller chicks are great for raptors.
If you have friends that have snakes, quail make great snake food! Obviously depending on the size and breed of the snake.
