Why Are We Raising Quail?
When it boils down to it, taxes drove our decision to get back into a business we have experience with, know well, and enjoy, quail farming. Hickok Farms was established in 2022, and required a lot of capital and time, with little to no short term return on investment. While massive profits were not our primary goal, and self-sufficiency was, selling products and generating a revenue stream would have allowed us to reduce our taxable income with the investment into our property infrastructure like a chicken coop and run, a tractor used to clear land and improve soil to grow pasture for the poultry to free range. Irrigation and the power to run our 3 phase water pump add up too.
After taking a hit and paying more in taxes including self employment, yes we work and are not homesteaders or trustafarians, I realized our mistake. So while we evaluated adding sheep to the property, the time to return on that investment in 2024, which would include fencing, labor, feed, irrigation, and the sheep themselves, we decided to do something that is in our wheelhouse with a faster return on investment – raising quail.
In retrospect we should have started with quail, or at a minimum, started selling chicken eggs and meat birds sooner. While you’ll benefit from the ability to learn new skills, acquire knowledge, and a willingness to explore new opportunities when farming or homesteading, there is a lot to be said about sticking to what you know.
We Know Quail
We’ve raised coturnix quail in the past as a hobby and had a surprising amount of interest in quail and quail eggs. Even though our goal at the time didn’t involve selling anything, we made some money in egg sales and broke even on feed costs. We learned the ins and outs of raising coturnix quail, keeping them over cold Wyoming winters, selectively breeding birds, hatching, brooding, and grow outs.
In Wyoming, the coturnix quail is listed as a domesticated animal, and because we are not raising these birds as a game farm for release into the wild, we are able to avoid special game bird regulations. The Wyoming Food Freedom Act also allows us to process poultry, rabbits, and some fish and sell both eggs and processed aforementioned meats; so long as we don’t process more than 1000 birds per year and comply with some easy to follow labeling standards. Although we are focused on quail eggs, the USDA considers quail ‘poultry’ and our Food Freedom Act allows us to sell ‘poultry’, s. So essentially, we should have no issues selling processed quail if we choose to do that.
The infrastructure costs for raising quail, including the pasture, pasture seed, and grain used to grow feed for our birds offsets taxable income, like any other business with business expenses, so long as we are selling products from them or derivative products from them, for the percentage that is not personal use. Quail mature in as little as six weeks, and incubate in less than twenty days. The time from setting eggs in your incubator to the day you sell your first dozen eggs can be less than 2.5 months. In our experience, quail have no comparison to any other livestock when it comes down to the length of time before you make a return on your investment, and there are even other opportunities for income, like selling wings for gun dog training, and feathers for fly tying.
Should You Raise Quail?
Raising quail, regardless of the variety, isn’t for everyone. It still brings labor, a requirement for housing, predator proofing, specialized feed, and a typical 2 to 3 year egg laying lifespan means you’ll frequently be working at replenishment. They also produce waste that needs to be managed to keep sanitary conditions. They simply aren’t for everyone, and unlike many will tell you, Quail are not the Fed Reserve, they are not a money printing machine.
If you choose to raise quail, learn as much as you can ahead of time, and plan to learn a lot early on. Treat it as a hobby and learning experience, before you even consider engaging in the business aspect of quail. Before you ever consider buying a live quail or hatching a single egg, learn about all the laws and regulations that might apply to you. Some states, and counties regulate quail and different quail varieties differently, and you may not have a legal protection to sell perishable products like eggs.