Quail meat is an excellent source of protein, rich in vitamins and microelements. In addition, and not least, quail is a rather unpretentious bird, which can be bred even in the conditions of a city apartment. Some difficulties may arise only when it comes to slaughtering the bird. Not all novice poultry farmers have come across this procedure, so it is important to study the issue in more detail with the help of our article.
Preparation for slaughter
Quails are usually taken to male quails, which, due to age, can no longer be normal producers, and females that have left the active egg-laying phase (after 8-9 months).
Important! The greatest amount of nutrients is stored in quail meat, if you cook it for a couple.
Such females stand out for their unpresentable appearance, but their meat is quite suitable for consumption. But you should hurry with the slaughter, as over time in the quail remains less fat. 
Feed the bird before slaughter is not recommended - it will complicate its subsequent cutting.
Slaughter quails at home
When carrying out slaughter at home, you should prepare everything you need in advance: this procedure is rather dirty, and if you forget something, you will have to wash your hands, you may need to brush off the feathers in order to go for the right thing.
Learn how to make your own quail cage.
For the slaughter of quail you will need:
- sharp knife or scissors;
- cutting board;
- hot water (60 ° C);
- running cold water;
- tank for draining blood;
- napkins and hand towels;
- rags for wiping dirty waste;
- dessert spoon, sharpened along the contour of the oval.
For convenience, you can make such a device: cut 1/3 of the top of a plastic bottle, cut off the neck, slightly grabbing the wall around it. You will have a kind of funnel, into the wide mouth of which the bird is inserted so that the head protrudes from the hole where the neck was.Read more about the benefits of quail meat and eggs.
Slaughter
The procedure itself is quite simple, it is more difficult to properly scald the bird and gut:
- Prepare a container where blood will flow (large pan, basin, etc.).
- Insert the quail into the funnel, with a well-honed scissors or a knife, cut off the head with a sharp movement (if you use a knife, hold the funnel firmly on the cutting board).
- Put the funnels with the carcasses in the pelvis, paws up to the glass blood.
"American" way of slaughtering birds Try to do everything abruptly, without shaking hands, so as not to deliver the torment of the bird.
Did you know? Exist "Ipleased" quail For a long time, the cause of quail meat poisoning could not be clarified: it is the eating of feathered seeds of a pickle, harmless to quail, but dangerous to humans. In addition, plant alkaloids tend to accumulate in the body of the bird.
Scalding
Scalding of any bird is a very important moment. If the water is too hot or the carcass remains in water at a normal temperature for too long, you will spoil the appearance of the quail. When you try to pull the feather skin will begin to peel in pieces. If the water is not hot enough or the bird will be in it a little time, the pores will not open as it should. 
Check out the best quail meats.
So, the sequence of actions is as follows:
- Dip quail into hot water (60 ° С) 10 times for 1 second.
- Check whether the carcass is well scalded: the feather should be easily pulled out of the wing.
- Put the carcasses on the cloth spread on the table, put the tank for water drain at the bottom. If you put quails in dishes, they can be digested in the water that has flowed from them, which will have a bad effect on the quality of the meat.
- When the water of the glass and the carcass has cooled enough, cut the legs at the knee joints, and begin to strip off the main feathers.
- Pay special attention to plumage under the wings and under the legs. Properly scalded quail is cleaned quite easily.
- After removal of the main tail, the carcass should be washed under running cold running water.
- After the carcass is cleaned, especially carefully inspect the back - there may be remnants of feathers, the so-called hemp. They are well removed by scraping with a knife against the growth of the feather.
Machine for removing the pen
Cutting
When gutting quails you need to follow a simple algorithm:
- Cut off the tail, make a small incision on the abdomen.
- Specially sharpened spoon is inserted into the cut, shoved all the way along the spine, turned through 180 ° - thanks to the sharp edges, it will easily cut out the whole liver. We get a spoon with viscera.
- Near the neck we find 2 veins protruding from the body. One of them is easily pulled out, we get and throw it away. The second is the esophagus, you need to be careful with it: if you fed the bird shortly before slaughter, food remained in the craw.
- If the goiter is empty, you just need to gently get it, so as not to damage the carcass, you can through the incision in the abdomen.
- If the goiter is full, you will have to get it through the throat so as not to tear and prevent the spilling of food debris.
- We wash the carcass again, remove the remaining feathers.
Video: Cutting quail
Important! The quail meat contains B vitamins and folic acid, which strengthen the nervous system and are involved in endocrine processes, vitamins D and A, which have a beneficial effect on bone formation. Quails also contain a lot of vitamin C, which helps to strengthen the immune system, and vitamin K, which helps the absorption of calcium, blood clotting and cellular metabolism.
Meat storage
For the best preservation of the meat of the carcass should be showered several times with cold (as far as possible) water. After that, they are once dipped with a towel and put in packages of 4-5 pieces, which are removed in the freezer. 
If you cut quails in the winter, there is frost outside and there is an opportunity to go out into the yard, you can use this method: pour the carcass with very cold water several times until a crust of ice appears on it. Then wrap the carcass in paper 4-5 pieces.
Quail bred not only for meat. Read about how to keep quail laying, what to feed them, and also when the period of egg production at quail comes and how many eggs it carries per day.
Next, paper bundles are put in boxes, peppered with hay. Such boxes can be stored in the cold at temperatures of -9 ° C and below. 
Chilled quail meat is stored at + 4-5 ° C for up to 14 days if wrapped with aluminum foil. In popular and very convenient plastic containers, the shelf life at the same temperature is only 48 hours. If you want to keep the meat for several months, use the freezer.
In terms of dietary quality, only quail and chicken breast can compare with quail meat. Due to the extremely low cholesterol content, this meat is recommended for recovery after operations on vessels and the heart, for sports nutrition and a growing body of children.
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