Reno farm wishes happy quails to you.
Quail eggs offer many health benefits over chicken eggs, says Serena Hehnke, co-owner of Happy Quails HQ, a Reno-based quail farm. Hehnke — who owns the business with her bird-obsessed partner Anna Farb — says the birds not only are higher in protein than chickens, with more vitamins per gram, but their eggs also don’t carry the risk of Salmonella, which makes quail eggs safer to eat in raw form.
Hehnke likes her quail eggs “fried, hard boiled, scrambled, or pretty much any other way you would eat chicken eggs.” Many of her customers recommend pickling quail eggs, which she says she hasn’t tried yet. For recipes, she notes, about three quail eggs equal one chicken egg.
“My favorite way to use up a ton of eggs is to boil, peel, and then marinate the eggs in a soy sauce, sugar, garlic, green onion, chili, and sesame seed concoction and eat that with rice,” Hehnke says. “I also started making homemade mayo with quail eggs.”
While quail eggs’ taste is similar to chicken eggs, the tiny eggs aren’t readily available at the average grocery store. And that’s part of what keeps Happy Quails HQ in business. The urban farmers raise several varieties of Coturnix quail and sell their eggs at the Riverside Farmers Market in Reno, both for human and pet consumption.
Pampered Poultry
Hehnke and Farb also spoil their quail rotten.
“Because we keep such a small number of quail compared to large-scale operations, I am able to spend more time enriching their lives. (And) the quail have constant access to high-quality fermented feed,” Hehnke explains. “My partner loves to sprout tasty microgreens for them to snack on. They also get plenty of local organic fruits, vegetables, and high-protein insects to supplement their diet.”
The “farm” grew out of an apartment operation when the couple — whom customers have fondly nicknamed the “quail queers” — purchased 22 hatching eggs from a local breeder, along with an incubator.
“They grew up in our apartment kitchen and moved with us when we purchased our house,” Hehnke says.
At first, all the quail lived in a two-tiered hutch. Eventually, they were upgraded to ground pens, made from converted raised beds, which allow them to engage in more natural behaviors.
When they began laying eggs, the two women quickly learned they couldn’t eat enough quail eggs to keep up.
“Each quail produces 300-plus eggs a year,” Hehnke says.
When their friends and family couldn’t help them make it through the supply either, Hehnke took some leftovers to the local farmers’ market and started trading them with other vendors for produce, baked goods, and other goodies. When the market coordinator got wind of what they were doing, they were invited to become an official vendor.
Burgeoning Business
“Now we sell 200 to 300 quail eggs at every market and have expanded our offerings to include [fertilized] quail eggs [to become] pets,” Hehnke says. “Caring for our birds and managing the business is my full-time job. I take a lot of pride in providing the quail with different forms of enrichment and am always looking for ways to improve their quality of life.”
There are different varieties of Coturnix quail, and Hehnke and Farb raise several of them, chosen for their calm temperaments, unique feathers, and incredible eggs. They have plans to expand their offerings to include at least four more varieties soon. They also want to purchase a freeze dryer, so they can start making freeze-dried quail eggs to sell at local pet stores and their market booth.
While egg purchases are the crux of the Happy Quails HQ business, Hehnke and Farb also sell hatching eggs and live birds. To make a purchase or arrange local egg pickup, find the business on Instagram at Happyquailsreno or Happy Quails HQ on Facebook, or email the owners at Happyquailsreno@gmail.com. You also can find the farm’s booth at the Riverside Farmers Market every other Sunday.
