Chicken egg prices are $6 a dozen in Walmart where I live. The boxes of 5 dozen eggs I used to pay $9 for years ago are now around $30. When people ask me about raising chickens to save on eggs, I share this: (I do keep three breeds of chickens, btw.)
I recommend raising jumbo coturnix quail. I do. The feed ratio conversion is better than most livestock. I get an egg a day from my hens. The eggs and birds I sell to pay for my feed costs. The meat and eggs I get are free most of the time.
The yolk-to-white ratio is larger than a chicken egg. Scrambled, they are fluffier. They make baked goods have a lighter and fluffier texture too. Boiled, they are excellent. They are wonderful pickled with different seasonings. Then there are the Scotch eggs.
The boiled eggs have about 17 calories and 12 grams of protein each.
My girls love taking boiled quail eggs into theme parks to snack on to avoid the expensive and junky foods they sell. They make great meals when out to avoid buying fast food too. Quail eggs make wonderful party and holiday appetizers which are always a hit. I took them to an art gallery and they were consumed before anything else.
There is a quail egg peeler on Amanda for around $30. It works great if you follow the directions. I have two because when I give eggs away, people often want to borrow it.
There is a protein in them that works like an antihistamine. Last year, I noticed my seasonal allergies had improved, but I had no idea why. I have a customer who buys them for his daughter who has asthma and allergies. He is the one who informed me about the medicinal effects. I later found research online to support it. He said quail eggs work better for his daughter than the medications did.
You've heard of chicken math, let's do some quail math: I get one egg a day from my hens. It costs me about 5 cents to feed one quail a day. 3-4 jumbo quail eggs equal one chicken egg. 5 cents x 4 = 20 cents to equal one chicken egg. 20 cents x 12 = 2.40 for the equivalent of a dozen chicken eggs.
They are very easy to incubate and hatch around 17 days or so.
Quail can be kept where chickens can't. I know people who raise them as quiet pets in apartments. They are also being raised in garages, basements, etc. I raise mine in a shed. Keeping them in a building protects them from predators and helps protect them from the germ infecting the wild birds and chickens.
Added: One advantage of the quail over the chickens is that they are easier to house indoors to protect from the hyper-response to diseases. I agree with Joel Salatin and others that you do not slaughter every bird. You keep the survivors and breed those for a stronger, healthier flock. This wisdom in livestock management has been around for many centuries because it works.
