Chapters 2.4
2.4 Northern Bobwhite Quail
Tucker Goodman , University of Guelph, Canada
Suggested citation for this chapter.
Goodman,T. (2022) Birds. In The Student Encyclopedia of Canadian Indigenous Foods. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.firstnationsfoods.org/
General background information
The Northern Bobwhite quail is a small species of game bird, only native to Canada in southern Ontario (Kuhnlein and Humphries, 2017). The average size for an adult Northern Bobwhite quail is 155g (Kuhnlein and Humphries, 2017). For comparison these quail are roughly 1/19 the size of commercially raised meat chickens, which have an average carcass weight of 2.91kg (National Chicken Council, 2021).
Traditionally, these quail were consumed by the indigenous peoples who lived in the same region. The two groups of indigenous peoples that lived in areas that overlapped with the Northern Bobwhite habitat are the Algonquian Mi'kmaq and the Iroquoian peoples (Kuhnlein and Humphries, 2017). These indigenous communities spoke a large and diverse number of languages. For Algonquian Mi’kmaq peoples, the Mi’kmaq language and dialects of the Ojibwe language are common (Gallant, 2020). For the Iroquois peoples, dialects of Cayuga and Mohawk are common, as well as the Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Tuscarora, and Wendat languages (Gallant, 2020). The Mi’kmaq peoples are very conscious of their surroundings and the environment in which they live (Black, 2007). Their beliefs are strongly rooted in respect for the environment, including the animals and plants they consume for food (Black, 2007). Historically, the Iroquoian peoples lived in more permanent communities which were family and agriculturally oriented (Ramsden, 2006). These communities relied heavily on their agricultural skills to provide for themselves.
Geography
Both the Northern Bobwhite, and the two groups of indigenous peoples that relied on them as a food source, co-inhabited the same areas in Canada. For the Algonquian Mi’kmaq peoples, quail was a rare food source. The typical habitat for Northern Bobwhites doesn’t overlap with these indigenous peoples, however the upper limit for these quail does show them existing in the same geographical region. For modern day reference these regions would include cities such as Ottawa and Sudbury.
For the Iroquois peoples, the overlap of habitat is obvious, lending to more frequent use of the quail in their diet. The differences between the frequency of quail consumption can be seen with how the different communities prepared and consumed the food products derived from quail. As a modern day reference, the geographic region encompasses cities like Toronto, London, and Niagara Falls.
Northern Bobwhite quail have a habitat range that only places them in Canada, specifically in southern Ontario. As shown in this map, the only major overlap between the quail’s habitat and the location of the aforementioned indigenous communities is in southern Ontario. This goes to show that quail would have been an abundant food source for the Iroquois peoples, but a rather rare food source for the Algonquian peoples.
Nutrition and cooking
As has been previously discussed, the Northern Bobwhite quail played very different roles as a food source for the indigenous communities that consumed it. The primary difference between the Algonquian and the Iroquian consumption of quail is that the Algonquian peoples consumed only the meat of the birds, whereas the Iroquian peoples ate both the meat and the eggs (Kuhnlein and Humphries, 2017). The consumption of the eggs by the Iroquois is a very clear indicator that the Northern Bobwhite was more abundant in the region.
Through archaeological evidence it is known that Iroquian peoples typically boiled their proteins (Waugh, 1916). From these findings we now know that the Iroquois peoples typically would have dug pits in the ground and filled them with water (Waugh, 1916). Then, to create a boil for them to cook the meat, they would heat stones in a fire, finally adding them to the pit to heat the water and cook their food (Waugh, 1916). Different from the Iroquois, the Algonquian peoples.
Roasted whole birds on spits over fires (Kuhnlein and Humphries, 2017). The different methods used to cook these birds is once again more evidence that the Northern Bobwhite was a rarer food source for the Algonquian peoples. The boiling technique used by the Iroquian lends itself to cooking several birds at the same time, whereas roasting over fire would be the easiest method for a limited number of animals.
Quail is very similar to chicken in many ways, but one very important component of these similarities is its nutritional value. Quail meat is about 18.2% protein and 11.1% fat (Lopez-Pedrouso et al., 2019), whereas its familiar counterpart, chicken, is 19% protein and 10.6% fat (Marangoni et al., 2015). These basic nutrition statistics are very similar with quail meat being slightly lower in protein content and slightly higher in fat content when compared to chicken meat. Eggs were also consumed by the Iroquois peoples. The protein content for a quail egg is 11.5% and its fat content is 10.9% (Kuhnlein and Humphries, 2017). For comparison, chicken eggs are 12.6% protein and 9.5% fat (Rehault-Godbert et al., 2019). What is true for the meat comparison is also true for the egg comparison between quail and chicken, quail eggs are slightly lower in protein content and slightly higher in fat content. However, the fact that quail eggs don’t contain cholesterol may give them a commercial benefit over traditional chicken eggs (The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Romania, 2015). This cholesterol factor has been a significant hurdle for the traditional poultry industry. For the most part though these differences are small. Prior to large scale poultry farming the use of quail in the diet would have provided sufficient nutrition for the indigenous peoples who consumed it. Nonetheless, when we look at these statistics for modern applications, the differences are not in the favour of quail for competing with chicken on a commercial scale.
Current production
The top three global producers for quail eggs are China, Thailand, and Indonesia (FAO, 2021). In 2019, worldwide production was just over 6 million tons, and since the 1990s annual production has been consistently increasing (FAO, 2021). The increase in production is inevitably tied to an increase in consumer demand for alternative egg options other than the traditional chicken egg.
Benefits
Production of quail for meat and eggs has many benefits for existing producers, new producers, and consumers. As previously stated, quail eggs have the benefit of having no cholesterol (The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Romania, 2015), this can be a desirable trait when it comes to consumers and marketing. There are significant benefits to quail from a production point of view as well. Neither the production of quail meat, nor eggs, requires quota in Canada (MacArthur, 2010). This means that new producers have a lower start up cost in comparison to livestock products that require the purchase of quota (Chicken Farmers of Ontario, 2020). The lower start up cost makes quail production more accessible for new farmers and individuals with lower free capital. Another benefit to having no quota is that farmers can produce as much product as they can sell, they are not limited by how many units of quota they own.
On a smaller scale, quail can have many benefits as an agri-food product as well. As we know, quail are much smaller than chickens, meaning they require less space and resources per bird. Quail offer a great alternative to backyard chickens, which have seen a rise in popularity in recent times. Typical laying hens begin laying eggs when they are around 18 weeks old and go on to produce roughly 250 eggs (Biggs, 2021). However, quail begin to lay eggs by the time they are eight weeks old, sometimes even earlier in their life (Bordessa, 2021). The average quail will lay at least 300 eggs over the course of their life (Bordessa, 2021). In order to understand these statistics, roughly five quail eggs is equivalent to one chicken egg (Bordessa, 2021). This being said, raising four to five quail will be equivalent to raising one laying hen. Again, there are a lot of similarities between chickens and quail, but some benefits to raising quail on a small scale is that they require less space and mature significantly quicker than a laying hen.
Limitations
Despite having benefits, there are plenty of limitations to raising Northern Bobwhite quail for meat or eggs. The major limitation for producing quail is attempting to compete with a well established and popular poultry production system. Many of the nutritional statistics regarding quail versus chicken put quail as the less appealing food, chicken remains a leaner source of protein which is often desired by consumers. As stated previously, a producer would need to raise four to five quail to yield the same nutritional quantity of eggs as one laying hen would produce. This becomes a problem when you have to feed an increasingly larger population of birds. Feed is typically the most expensive component of raising livestock, the feed conversion ratio for a typical meat chicken is 2.23 (Prakash et al., 2020). The feed conversion rate for quail is slightly higher at 2.37 (Varkoohi et al., 2010). To produce the same amount of final product, this increased feed conversion is multiplied by four to five birds, creating a greater feed cost for individuals producing quail.
Many of the limitations regarding quail production are a result of considerably less research when compared to the existing poultry industry. Feed conversion in chickens has been researched heavily and has allowed farmers to decrease their feed costs, this same research has not been applied to quail production. Another limitation for the Northern Bobwhite is that in any research that exists on quail production or nutrition, the Northern Bobwhite is not the species of quail being studied, rather it is more commonly a Japanese species that is being researched. In order to make Northern Bobwhite quail a viable agri-food product on a large scale, significant research and funding is required for them to compete with the existing poultry industry.
References
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