Tiny eggs

[rick]

I went to the farm supplies today to buy a new bag of layers pellets. On the counter there were half a doz quail eggs from their own little flock and I bought them (very tasty.) They were about the size of a 5p and that seems small even for quail - the ones from the supermarket are bigger I'm sure. What kind of quail might they be?

 

[Sandrine]

I'd say this was a Chinese painted quail or button quail egg... I have noticed that when I went to a shop the other day where they were selling quail eggs,... I hadn't realised how much smaller our Martha's eggs are,... lol
Attached photos of the first couple eggs we had from her. Though some of the eggs we get are sometimes smaller and pointier...

 

[rick]

Thanks Sandrine. Next time I go to the supply shop I'll ask and get some more. Maybe even smaller than your first pic of Martha's egg but similar colour.

 

[Marigold]

The egg by the 10p coin in Sandrine's pic is definitely from her Chinese Painted, so if yours was like that, Rick, they weren't quail eggs from the normal Coturnix breeds. Coturnix eggs are covered in beautiful patterns of brown on a blue background. It's said that, out of the millions of eggs produced, no two have the same pattern. Very good camouflage for a bird who lays on the ground in the wild.
Commercial producers usually use Italian Coturnix quails, which are very similar to Japanese Coturnix but are a bit bigger so better for meat, and the eggs are larger too. It sounds as if the ones in Rick's farm shop are just a few from a pet flock of CPQs. Very rare to see them on sale!