About Southwest Gamebirds - Southwest Gamebirds

Our journey from corporate America to country farming

About Southwest Gamebirds

We weren’t born farmers, but we were born to farm.

Just a few years ago, the owners of Southwest Gamebirds were solidly grounded in corporate America, working for the man and driving both ways in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The extent of our outdoor activities were limited to landscaping our cookie-cutter lot and the rare camping trip. But we knew we wanted to get back to nature and grow our own food.

When we moved to a larger lot on the outskirts of Phoenix, AZ, we knew we wanted to get some animals. We have dabbled in chickens, guinea fowl, ducks, aquaponics (more accurately “quack-aponics”), but quail were always our favorite livestock. Having backgrounds in science, we were excited about the possibilities with quail genetics and the science that goes into quail husbandry.

We enrolled in a mentorship program hosted by Robby Richard of James Marie Farms, learned everything we could from Robby, and quickly began acquiring the JMF quail lines along with many other lines developing within the United States.

We take a science-based approach to raising and breeding our quail, from nutrient profiles within the feed and how this translates to the quality of quail meat, to documenting and tracking lineage of breeding colonies for responsible genetics management. We appreciate being able to share our hard work with other quail enthusiasts and hope we can continue to improve quail as a solid multi-purpose bird!

Latest Blog Posts

Help! My quail aren’t laying eggs!

Help! My quail aren’t laying eggs!

Help! My quail aren’t laying eggs! Sometimes getting your hen to lay her first egg is the biggest challenge when raising quail. You buy the birds or eggs, and raise them to maturity. You carefully plan out and set up their aviary, cage, or coop, and wait for the eggs...

Farming in Extreme Heat

Farming in Extreme Heat

Raising Quail in Extreme Heat We love Arizona...all winter long. Every year, come late spring, we find ourselves questioning what we got ourselves into. The animals love February and most of March. April is usually fine. Then comes May…and the panting begins. By June,...

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