← Quail H23-07 · Module 7 of 7 · Pages: 18 · Worksheets: 5

Meat and the yearly plan

Fattening and slaughtering young males, processing and storing the meat, droppings for compost and a plan for the whole year, with the cost of an egg

€9

Secure checkout with Stripe · VAT included · The PDFs are in the language of this page.

Whole series: Quail, €39

Meat and the yearly plan

In short

  • For meat: young males at 6–8 weeks and females after 12–15 months of lay.
  • The carcass is roughly 65–70 % of live weight: from 75–90 g (light strains) to 250 g (large meat strains).
  • Slaughter for your own use and selling meat are governed by rules: check with the competent authority.
  • Killing must be quick and certain: sharp poultry shears or a sharp knife. Never suffocation or drowning.
  • Chill the meat below 4 °C (39 °F) within a couple of hours; cook until the centre reaches 74 °C (165 °F).
  • Renew the flock twice a year, replace females after roughly a year.

What's inside

Chapters

  1. Which birds go for meat and when
  2. Fattening young males
  3. Before slaughter: rules and preparation
  4. Humane killing
  5. Plucking or skinning
  6. Removing the guts and chilling
  7. Packing, freezing and cooking
  8. Droppings and litter: compost
  9. The flock's yearly plan
  10. Choosing birds for breeding
  11. The cost of an egg and value for money
  12. Common mistakes
  13. Printable checklist

Worksheets

  • Meat calculator
  • Egg cost calculator
  • Slaughter record
  • Flock renewal and compost plan
  • The flock's yearly calendar

Fields and checkboxes can be filled in with Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile), and the calculator adds up by itself. Filling in may not work in some browsers. A print version comes with the screen PDF.

This guide in other languages:

BalkanDeutschEspañolFrançaisPortuguêsTürkçeالعربية