Coturnix Quail breeders are needed in the United States as there simply are not enough commercial hatcheries who offer quail. Independent farms and small-scale breeders produce more than half of all Coturnix quail chicks who hatch each year…and it’s not enough. 12 to 16 week long wait lists persist and getting your hands on jumbo celadon hatching eggs is nearly impossible. Let’s talk about the start up costs and real income that can be made from Coturnix quail breeding for profit:
Coturnix Quail Breeding for Profit
If you love the idea of having fresh eggs from your backyard that taste and bake just like chicken eggs for a fraction of the expense of chickens, Coturnix quail keeping should be something to consider! Since it could prove to be a hobby that easily pays for itself, let’s discuss how to get started with small-scale Coturnix quail keeping and breeding for a profit.
6 to 8 Weeks from Chicks to Laying Eggs
Your just-hatched chick is only 6 to 8 weeks away from laying eggs herself. These eggs can be immediately sold as eating or hatching eggs to recoup any expenses raising her has incurred. That is an incredibly fast turn-around! The 42 to 56 days quail females need to grow up and come into lay is faster than most vegetable plants can create edible produce (55-90 days) but much more profitable because eggs are a source of protein or more chicks.
What are the Quail Keeping Costs?
Coturnix quail need a predator-proof coop built for them using 1/4 inch hardware cloth. Since stores do not offer these types of coops commercially, they must be built. (Building coops for others to buy is yet another way you can make money with quail!) This can seem daunting or time consuming but quail are small birds the size of sweet potatoes who do not need huge coops. Most beginners can complete a coop in two weekends and immediately begin housing laying hens.
What are the Feed Costs?
Standard size Coturnix quail eat about 2 Tablespoons of commercial game bird crumbles per day while Jumbo Coturnix quail eat around 2.4 Tablespoons per day. 2 Tablespoons is about 1 ounce so a 50 pound bag (800 ounces) will feed 12 quail for over 66 days/2 months. I feed my birds either Purina Game Bird Crumbles, which Amazon will deliver, or Kalmbach brand Crumbles which Chewy will deliver. Since a bag of feed lasts so long, I keep it in a Vittles Vault brand storage bin so the crumbles stay fresh. (Afflinks)
What are the Costs to Breed Quail?
Once your adults are housed and fed, you can sell their eggs as eating eggs or hatching eggs by packaging them in specialty-sized quail egg cartons. Clear plastic ones require sticker labels and pulp cartons can be stamped. 12 and 18 count are both popular sizes with 18 count seeming to be preferred.
Profit from Quail Hatching Egg Sales
Fertilized Coturnix quail hatching eggs sell for $1 per egg for standard sizes in common feather colors. Rare feather colors sell for more, around $1.50-$4 per egg. Celadon (blue) hatching eggs are a minimum of $2 each, with some breeders asking $4 to $5 each. Jumbo Celadon hatching eggs are rare and it takes about two years of dedicated breeding work to produce them, as described in our breeding guide.
If you’re offering standard size celadon eggs for sale at $2 each, that is $24 per dozen, which a small covey of five hens and one rooster will produce every 3 days. (It is considered proper to include some free, extra eggs so someone purchasing a dozen eggs would appreciate receiving an 18 count carton of hatching eggs because some will naturally fail to hatch.) Eggs from standard size quail in rare feather colors and celadon eggs sell very quickly, with most backyard breeders needing to keep a wait-list of buyers willing to pay full price for the next dozen eggs laid.
DOWNLOAD Free Printable Quail Egg Wait Lists Here!
Costs to Hatch Quail Chicks
If you’d like to sell quail chicks, there will be an initial investment ($400-$500 as of this writing) that should be easy to recoup your first breeding season. You’ll need an incubator with a quail egg turner attachment. You will need a brooder box with a lid to keep the quail chicks safely contained. These generally have to be built but I successfully use a Gorilla brand garden cart with a homemade lid as a secure brooder for my quail chicks. You will also need a chick warming plate, a lamp for additional heat, a quail chick waterer and a shallow ceramic saucer the chicks can step up on to eat. (Afflinks)
Profit from Quail Chick Sales
Most urban and suburban dwellers are going to want to purchase quail chicks or juveniles who are already 3+ weeks old. If you breed chicks in a sexable feather color, you’ll earn even more selling the females at a premium. Celadon (blue) egg laying quail sell for the highest prices per bird and are considered the most profitable to breed. The minimum price for just-hatched quail chicks is $5 each, with most breeders asking a minimum of $6 in my area. Feed stores used to offer chicks under 7 days old for $8 but the prices have recently jumped to $11 each…if they can even be found at all. Demand has driven small backyard breeders to have long wait-lists of people wanting to pay top dollar to get their hands on started quail chicks.
What are the Real Profit Numbers?
Let’s say you want to breed the always-popular, standard size Celadon quail. You have 10 hens and 2 roosters together in a coop. Hens will lay an egg every day during their laying season, which is usually March through early November but may vary slightly depending on your area of the US. Far northern state birds may only lay April through October. From your covey you will get 9-10 celadon blue eggs every day. Your incubator with a quail egg turner can hold 48 eggs. You’ll need about 5 days of collected eggs to fill the incubator and then 18-20 days for all the chicks to hatch and the incubator to be cleaned in preparation for the next hatch. From the 48 eggs set, it is reasonable to expect that about 40 chicks will hatch. (80% hatch rates are common.)
Here is the Estimated Revenue:
40 day-old celadon quail chicks sold at $8 each = $320
If you want to raise the chicks to 3+ weeks old, 40 chicks sold at a minimum of $12 each at 3 weeks old = $480 (Most feather-sexable celadon hens are $15 each at 3 weeks old and some unique feather-colored celadon quail are $15 each no matter the sex so your revenue may be higher than $480.)
While your incubator is full, your 10 celadon hens will continue laying 9-10 eggs per day that can be sold as hatching eggs. It is best to assume you’ll need 2 days to collect 15-18 clean, undamaged eggs for sale, sold at $24 per dozen with freebies included for a total of 15-18 eggs actually going to the buyer.
$24 per dozen hatching eggs sold every 2 days, which is 3 dozen sold per week = $72 per week in hatching egg income (and this is a conservative, realistic number).
Will All the Quail Chicks Sell?
Yes! Most buyers are looking for a minimum of 6 birds with requests for 8 to 12 birds being quite common. Quail do not live for very long so coveys must be regularly replenished, especially if the keeper has lost some or all to a predator. Any chicks you do not happen to sell can be grown out to juvenile age where females and breeding groups of 1 male and 3 females will sell quickly. You’ll find it incredibly difficult to keep the next generation of breeding stock for yourself, especially individuals who hatch in pretty feather colors, if buyers catch a glimpse of them so keep these chicks and juveniles well out of sight!
What About Selling Quail Coops?
Lumber prices make quail coops expensive to build but there are people who don’t care what the cost is because they own zero tools and need someone to do this for them. Even a $650 quail coop, already completed and cutely painted, seems a smarter purchase than a $299 chop saw, $30 staple gun, $250 in lumber, wire, roofing, hinges & hardware plus $20 to purchase most building plans ($599 total).
The One-Stop Quail Shop
You may be shocked by how many suburban families want you to build the coop and raise the chicks to a coop-ready age (3-4 weeks old). They are willing to pay a premium price for you to deliver a cute hutch full of young quail, ready for them to enjoy keeping in their backyard. If you can offer a mix of unique feather shades and colored egg laying quail, all the better! People love variety and showing off their new birds on social media will drive ample word-of-mouth sales. (Seriously. Be ready for a deluge of interest after the first coop full of quail is delivered.)
Is it Really This Straight-Forward?
YES! Selling fertilized hatching eggs is the simplest way to begin profiting from even the smallest backyard covey. The investment to be able to hatch and raise quail chicks is expected to pay for itself after the first two hatches of chicks (around 80 chicks sold). Hatching egg sales while your incubator is full are generally sufficient to cover feed for all the adults and chicks plus any litter or odor control you wish to use.
Is There Enough Demand?
Suburban families, who endured the Covid and ongoing Avian Influenza egg shortages, are increasingly interested in backyard food production that their HOA will allow. As soon as one family discovers quail, an explosion of interest among the neighbors begins. A lone local breeder will be overwhelmed with requests for chicks, juveniles, ready-built coops, hatching eggs, and anything they are willing to sell. If there is any kind of egg shortage or chicken chick buying panic underway, quail breeders find they have sky-rocketing demand, no matter the asking price.
Are There Any Catches to Coturnix Quail Breeding for Profit?
Yes. The revenue numbers mentioned above represent springtime chick and hatching egg sales when demand is the highest, which corresponds to the quail’s natural breeding season. When school lets out for summer vacation and families begin traveling, sales of hatching eggs and just-hatched chicks will decline but demand for coop-ready juveniles does not stop. When school begins again in late August or September, there is a slight autumn surge of people looking for hatching eggs and chicks before hens cease laying in late October or early November for the winter. You won’t be able to sell any chicks or hatching eggs during the winter months when their bodies are resting. Supplemental lighting at night can help the hens come back into lay on time in the early spring.
Consider Seasonal Fluctuations
Breeding Coturnix quail is seasonal income that experiences fluctuations month-to-month but most breeders find the spring wave extremely profitable. Summertime & autumn sales of coop-ready juveniles hardly slows down until hens cease laying and families get busy around Halloween. The seasonality of this side-hustle can give you the opportunity to rest from quail hatching and pivot to other profitable activities you enjoy in the fall and winter. Quail coop building may keep you busy during the winter months if you’d like to make it a year-round endeavor!
Remember, Color and Rarity are Desired
If you have standard sized Pharaoh quail (the classic wild-type feather color) who lay regular cream-and-brown eggs, you will find it harder to sell all the eggs and chicks. This is because people like color and variety! Celadon blue eggs sell the best, especially if you can offer a mix of feather colors. Standard quail in pretty feather tones, like German Pastel, Schofield Silver Collection, Pearl, or any of the Fee dilute feather colors will sell incredibly well. Jumbo quail in any feather color also sell easily. Click to view labeled images of Coturnix quail chick colors here!
Coturnix Quail Breeding for Profit is Worthwhile!
Whether you simply want a small covey to pay for their own feed or you’re looking for a surprisingly profitable backyard side-hustle, your quail can help! They are prone to laying more eggs than you can eat so consider selling hatching eggs or hatching chicks yourself to help alleviate the increasing demand for these sweet little birds!
You Might Also Enjoy Reading:
Free Quail Coop Building Plans
Breeding Celadon Coturnix Quail
How to Make Powdered Quail Chick Feed
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