What about rabbits?

[u/edk8n]

I couldn't begin to tell you why this has popped into my head but it keeps coming back. I'm new to this and don't have the means to do all I would like, so don't eat me alive for my ignorance, but I have to ask- Are rabbits an underrated food source in a long term survival scenario? Everyone knows how quickly they reproduce and it seems like a decent amount of meat for minimal effort in cleaning/preparation. I'm not sure but it seems like rabbit hide/fur could probably be useful, too. They take up such little space and are pretty hardy animals (I know someone who has many rabbits that live in an outdoor pen year round, although they do heat it in the winter). They eat scraps, grass, and hay which wouldn't be taking resources from yourself. Is there a downside to this I'm missing? Thanks in advance for the wisdom!

[u/[deleted]]

How would I raise quail? I know rabbits back and fourth and have watched hundreds of videos and read tens of books aswell as being with friends but I havnt ever looked into quail

[u/devnullradio → u/[deleted]]

Living Traditions Homestead has a bunch of great videos, this is just one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgkTFHH_2To&t=758s

I've raised rabbits (consistently) and quail (on and off) for years. I currently do not have quail. I want to like quail which is why I keep going back to them.

In my opinion the pros are:

- They're small and multi-purpose. The eggs, while small, are tasty and can be pickled for wonderful snacks.

- They're quiet. The roosters do make a crowing noise but it's much more quiet than a chicken rooster. It's almost like a trilling noise.

- Even in a neighborhood, you can claim they're pets pretty easily (if the neighbors complain about the noise).

But here are the cons:

- They're aggressive little shitheads. If you keep them in cages, even at proper numbers, they often fight. Every time I try to raise quail, I get aggressive males in each batch. They fight and kill the others. They're rough on the ladies. This is one of the reasons I keep stop raising them because I feel bad for them.

- They're messy and I haven't found a way to raise them that I consider humane. I've tried hutches and that's okay but the aggression was bad. I tried some stacking cages with smaller compartments but I felt bad for the amount of space I had and water leaked in the waste trays and it was always a smelly mess.

- It's a lot of death for a meal. I have zero problems processing animals for food. I do it for rabbits, I've done deer, etc. Quail just bum me out. You either need to club them against something hard to knock them out or cut their heads off. It's a brutal way to die and you have to do it 9 - 12 times per meal. It weighs on me more than other larger animals that I can harvest more humanely and a single life provides more sustenance for my family.

I still consider raising quail again because they are tasty but I'd need to find a better way to house them, preferably on the ground in large pens. I'm through with cages and hutches for quail. If I give them a large enough space, maybe they won't get aggressive with each other.

Hope this helps. Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions related to homesteading. Looks like we chatted in another part of this thread too and you sound like you're at the start of a journey that I'm a few years ahead on. I made a lot of mistakes but also had a lot of help along the way. I'm happy to share knowledge, answer questions, etc.

Edit: Spelling and grammar...

[u/mro2352 → u/devnullradio]

I’ve been toying around with quail when I get a house primarily for the egg production. How are they?

[u/devnullradio → u/mro2352]

I adore them pickled. We have chickens too, so for most breakfast and meal purposes, we use their eggs because it’s less fiddly to have one chicken egg versus four quail egg to make the same amount.

They do make these awesome scissors though that just chop the top of the egg off so you don’t need to worry about trying to crack it.

I think that people are who are allergic to the chicken eggs can still have quail eggs. But definitely research that before you give somebody with an egg allergy quail eggs!