Is It Worth Keeping Quail Over Winter or Buying New Ones in Spring?
Who this calculation is for
This calculation is meant for keepers who have quail only for eggs, do not hatch their own and buy laying hens. If you hatch your own quail or maintain a specific colour line, you keep birds over winter for other reasons and this calculation does not apply to you.
At Cipinkovo we also keep our quail over winter, but not for the eggs. We do it to preserve the genetics of our lines, which we would lose by buying new laying hens every spring.
Three ways to get through winter
One season
You buy young laying hens in spring, they lay through summer and you cull them in autumn. The cage stays empty over winter and you buy new hens next spring.
Two seasons without light
You keep the hens over winter without extra lighting. They do not lay, but they rest and should lay well again next season. You cull them in autumn after the second season.
Two seasons with light
You give the hens extra light over winter, so they lay all year round. You pay for electricity and in the second season they will be more worn out. You cull them in autumn after the second season.
What the calculation is based on
Prices come from our own flock, feed intake and the laying curve are based on studies and our own experience. We count with an average Japanese quail, neither extra large nor small, kept without heating.
Costs
Laying rate
The laying rate shows how many eggs a hen lays in 100 days. According to an Iranian study, older quail lay less, but according to a Brazilian study they improve in the next cycle after a break in laying.
Source: Shahbandi et al. 2023Calculation for 10 laying hens
To compare all three options fairly, we use the same period: from April of the first year to the end of September of the following year, i.e. two summer seasons and one winter in between. The season runs from April to September, winter from October to March.
| Item | One season | Two seasons without light | Two seasons with light |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buying hens | €80.00 (2 × 10 birds) | €40.00 | €40.00 |
| Feed | €90.00 (2 × 6 months) | €135.00 (18 months) | €135.00 (18 months) |
| Electricity | €0 | €0 | €2.20 |
| Total costs | €170.00 | €175.00 | €177.20 |
| Eggs in season 1 | 1,450 | 1,450 | 1,450 |
| Eggs in winter | 0 | 0 | 1,240 |
| Eggs in season 2 | 1,450 (new hens) | 1,370 | 1,000 |
| Total eggs | 2,900 | 2,820 | 3,690 |
| Damaged eggs (5 %) | −145 | −141 | −185 |
| Usable eggs | 2,755 | 2,679 | 3,505 |
| Cost per egg | 6.2 cents | 6.5 cents | 5.1 cents |
| Meat | 20 young quail (about 7 months) | 10 older (about 1.5 years) | 10 older, worn out (about 1.5 years) |
The cost per egg in the table is not final. It does not include water, bedding, vitamins and other feed supplements, losses, wear of cages, feeders, drinkers and premises, or the time and work that caring for quail takes. A real egg therefore costs more.
If you heat your quail, for example with a 150 W infrared lamp for 12 hours a day, it uses about 330 kWh over the winter, which is roughly another €65 for electricity. An egg with extra lighting would then cost almost 7 cents instead of 5.1 cents, and with heating around the clock up to about 9 cents.
Pros and cons of each option
One season
- You do not look after quail in winter and do not deal with damp or frozen water.
- In autumn you have young, tender meat.
- Every season you have young hens laying at full rate.
- You have no eggs in winter.
- You buy laying hens every spring, so the risk of bringing in disease from a poor-quality flock is doubled.
Suitable for: keepers who do not want trouble with their flock in winter and like quail meat.
Two seasons without light
- Lower risk of bringing in disease, you buy laying hens only once.
- Natural keeping, you do not artificially adjust the laying cycle.
- You look after the quail all winter, but get no eggs.
- The meat will be older and tougher.
- The most expensive option: feed for the winter costs more than new laying hens.
Suitable for: keepers who want natural keeping, do not want to cull their quail and let them live out their lives.
Two seasons with light
- The cheapest egg and the most eggs of all options.
- You need to sort out lighting, i.e. buy a light and a timer once.
- In the second season the hens lay noticeably less.
- If you also heat your quail in winter, it becomes the most expensive option.
Suitable for: keepers who want their own eggs all year round.
So is it worth keeping quail over winter?
If you keep quail only for eggs and do not heat them, extra lighting pays off the most. The egg comes out cheapest and you have eggs in winter too. Keeping them over winter without light is the most expensive, because feed for the winter costs more than new laying hens. But if you heat your quail in winter, extra lighting does not pay off and one season with new laying hens in spring comes out cheaper.
We sell laying hens at 6 to 8 weeks of age and they usually start laying within 1 to 2 weeks of purchase.
