Quail: Hare Today VS Supermarket

abby2932

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I have been eyeing the dressed quail from Hare Today recently (4 birds for $16.99), really want to try it out.

I just went to an Asian supermarket and bought a pack of "6 Jumbo Golden Quail" for $8.99. All six total 26 ounces so they are a little over 4 ounces each. Now, these supermarket quail do NOT come with the head and feet like the quail from Hare Today do. I'm not sure if they come with organs, such as liver and kidney, as I haven't defrosted the package yet to see what they look like.

My question is, do the Hare Today quail come with organs? Or do those need to be bought separately to balance it and make it a meal?

I'm thinking that if the HT quail comes with organs, I may be OK with paying extra to order those, just so I don't have to worry about buying separate organs to balance it. Heck, I may still want to get those because I was really looking forward to giving my cats the brain since I hear the brain is delicious.

Am just curious, if anyone knows!

Thanks!!!!!!!
 

ritz

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I can't answer your question about HT (but would love to know!). But I can tell you that the organs *may* be included in the quail you buy from the super market. The organs are so small that I'm not sure I could identify what is a kidney and what is a liver; and I doubt the manufacturer would spend the time/energy/money to remove the organs.
I buy the jumbo quail from the international supermarket near where I live (though at a higher price than you pay :) For every two quail, I get about five ounces of meat and about two weeks' worth of bone. I supplement with liver and kidney. (I feed prey model raw.) Ritz loves quail and it's a good change from chicken thigh.
FWIW: I buy frozen rabbit from the same supermarket. Rabbits seems to be very boney--I can get at least two or three months worth of bone from one three pound rabbit. I've cooked the bones from quail and rabbit and obtained another day's worth of meat. (I save the broth for cooking.) But I have to be very very careful to make sure no cooked bone is included.
I'm seriously considering ordering rabbit (fur and all!) and maybe quail from HT.
 

Willowy

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The quail from HT are entire. Quail from the grocery store are gutted/cleaned for human consumption.
 
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abby2932

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Thank you both, that is is exactly what I was wanting to know! 


I, too, am considering ordering the whole carcass rabbit instead of the one that I have, without the fur. Although I do LOVE how red this rabbit meat is! It looks so delicious to me and if I was a cat, this rabbit would be my favorite


I saw that LDG's kitties really are loving that one (fur and all) so I'm going to go for it next time. Do you think the bone content of the one with the fur is slightly lower than the one without? Or do you think it is approximately the same? My cats are not constipated. In fact, they are still pooping once a day. I thought they were supposed to poop less but I'm not very concerned as it still looks like raw fed poop, no blood in it and it hardly smells. I guess they can handle a lot of bone.

Lastly, I read somewhere that a whole quail is 10% bone. Does anyone know if that is accurate? Or would that be the WHOLE bird, feathers, guts and all?

Thanks again for sharing knowledge with me!
 
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