BURNING THE MIDNIGHT STEEM

Midnight in Africa. My little boy decided that sleeping is for the birds. Solution? Bleary eyed games with toys, a cat and neglected Steemit. First thing that popped up in my feed? Howto for homesteaders wanting to raise quail by none other than @quailbreeder. He also happens to be my Dad. He has a wealth of bird related advice. He is also an ardent lover of animals, which my goats can testify to as they demand his attention when he visits me. However last month my goats remained behind while my baby and I visited Gramps.

While visiting him, I was interested to watch my Dad work with his quail. He has a continual cycling of eggs, incubator, hatcher, adult. The air is filled with the peculiar but soothing croon of his quail. Of course I took photos. Did you know that quail, unlike the chicken, have strong wings and fly! Often migrating fair distances. Unless, of course, they are domesticated, which my dad's are.

Despite the huge difference in size - comparing quail to chicken egg - the quail egg is nearly 4 times more nutritionally dense than a chicken egg. They are quite a delicacy and pickled quail eggs are gaining popularity in South Africa. So, apparently are the actual birds which have a rich flavour, so I am told. I could never bring myself to eat one of these teeny little creatures - ask my Dad @quailbreeder and brother @craigcryptoking.

History is one of my fascinations. Even that of this pretty little bird. The word quail finds its origins in medieval Latin and old French. In ancient Egypt quail were so popular for both meat and eggs that they had their own heiroglyph! Quail were domesticated 4000 years ago. It is thought that most domesticated quail today come from ancient Chinese stock. They continue to be preferred over chicken or turkey in many countries. It is no wonder as they are far more nutritionally dense than chicken. But for more information, particularly about how to keep quail, check out @quailbreeder.

https://steemit.com/homesteading/@quailbreeder/quail-eggs-a-super-food-profit-maker-and-a-homesteaders-dream