Can Dogs Eat Quail Eggs: Raw, Cooked, Shell On and How Many

Shell on or off, a plain quail egg is fine for a dog, so can dogs eat quail eggs gets a yes from us before any of the details. Plain means cooked with nothing added or freeze-dried, and cats can have them too. A quail egg is a small thing, so one egg makes a reasonable portion for a dog without any cutting or measuring. We freeze-dry whole quail eggs in Malvern, Pennsylvania, so this question comes across our folding table most weekends, and the follow-ups are always the same. This page takes them in order.

What a quail egg is

A quail egg is the egg of a small game bird, sold in little cartons at farm stands and in some grocery stores. The shell is speckled brown and tan, thinner than a chicken eggshell, with a tough inner membrane that makes it harder to crack cleanly. Inside, the yolk is big for the size of the egg. Three or four quail eggs add up to about one chicken egg, so one quail egg is a dog-sized serving and nothing has to be divided.

Raw, cooked or freeze-dried

The rule for eggs is the same as for every other food on this blog: plain is fine, seasoned is not.

Raw. People who feed a raw diet crack a raw quail egg over the food or hand it over whole, and they keep their usual handling rules for raw food. If your dog has never had raw food, a plain cooked or freeze-dried egg is the simpler place to start.

Cooked. Boiled or scrambled is fine if it is cooked in nothing. No butter, no oil, no salt, no pepper, no cheese. Garlic and onion do not belong anywhere near a dog's bowl, so no scrambled eggs made the way you make them for yourself. Hard-boiled quail eggs are fiddly to peel, so many people leave the shell on.

Pickled. Skip these. Pickled quail eggs sit in a salty, spiced brine, and that brine is the part a dog should not have.

Freeze-dried. A freeze-dried quail egg is a raw egg with the water pulled out of it. Nothing is cooked and nothing is added. It keeps in the pantry instead of the fridge, which is the whole point for a treat you carry around.

Shell on or shell off

That is your call. Many people feed the whole egg, shell included. For a small dog, crack it into the bowl and crumble the shell in with it, or leave the shell out if you would rather.

Freeze-dried, the shell stays on and stops being a question. Once the water is gone the shell is brittle and easy to crunch. You will find some loose shell pieces and shell dust in a bag of ours. That is the product being fragile, not a problem with the bag. The dust goes over food.

How many quail eggs per day

A common rule of thumb keeps treats and toppers together to about a tenth of what the dog eats in a day, and the eggs count toward that. Starting points we give at the table:

• Small dogs, under 20 pounds: one egg a day, or one every other day.
• Medium dogs, 20 to 50 pounds: one or two a day.
• Large dogs, over 50 pounds: two or three a day.
• Cats: one egg a day, or a few spread over the week.

Those are starting points, not ceilings or quotas. The yolk is a big share of a quail egg, so it is a richer bite than its size suggests, and a dog that gets other extras that day gets fewer eggs. Our label says to feed it as a treat or meal topper, not as a complete diet. It also says to keep fresh water out at all times and to supervise while feeding.

How to feed quail eggs to dogs the first time

Start with one egg, or half an egg for a small dog, alongside a regular meal rather than on its own. Then wait a day before the next one and watch how the dog does. A new food is a new food, even a common one. If your dog is on a special diet or you have any doubt, ask your veterinarian before you start.

Once the dog is used to them, serve a freeze-dried egg whole as a treat or crumble it over food, shell and all, which is the easiest use for the broken ones. It can also be soaked briefly in warm water for a softer texture, which suits a cat or an older dog that prefers soft food.

What our freeze-dried quail eggs are like

Ours are freeze-dried raw quail eggs for dogs and cats. The only ingredient is raw whole quail eggs with the shell on, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with nothing added. Each one is a small whole egg. On our own scorecard it gets 2 of 5 for crunch and 3 of 5 for training value. We list it for adult dogs of all sizes and for cats.

It comes in counts rather than ounces: 9, 18, 72 or 288 eggs. The 9 is the one to try first. The 288 suits a house with several animals or a raw-feeding routine, and that size can take up to 7 days of lead time before it ships. Cracked eggs and shell dust in the bag are normal for this product. More of our treats are in the freeze-dried dog treats and cat treats collections.

Storage

Raw quail eggs live in the fridge like any egg. Cooked ones go in a covered container in the fridge and get used within a couple of days. Freeze-dried eggs need no fridge at all. Reseal the bag after opening and keep it in a cool, dry place. Because the eggs are fragile, give the bag a shelf of its own rather than a spot under the flour. More on that in our guide to storing freeze-dried treats.

We built a separate site on this one treat: exoticdogtreats.com goes deeper on quail eggs than this page does, and it sells the same bag.

Quail egg questions

Can dogs eat quail eggs raw?

People who feed a raw diet serve them that way, cracked over food or handed over whole, and keep their usual handling rules for raw food. Our freeze-dried eggs are raw whole quail eggs with the water taken out. For a dog that has never had raw food, a plain cooked egg is the simpler place to start.

Can cats have quail eggs?

Yes. Quail eggs for cats work the same way as for dogs, in smaller numbers, one a day or a few a week. Cooked plain or freeze-dried both work. A freeze-dried egg can be soaked in a little warm water if your cat prefers soft food.

Can dogs eat quail egg shells?

Many people feed quail eggs shell and all, whole or crumbled into food, and our freeze-dried eggs come with the shell on. Freeze-dried, the shell is brittle and easy to crunch. If you would rather leave it out, crack the egg and discard the shell.

Quail eggs or chicken eggs for a dog?

Either, plain. The practical difference is size. Three or four quail eggs make one chicken egg, so a quail egg fits a small dog or a topper without scrambling and dividing a bigger egg. For a large dog that already gets a whole chicken egg over breakfast, there is no reason to switch. Pick the egg that matches the portion you want.

Why are some of the eggs in the bag broken?

Because a freeze-dried egg is about as fragile as a food gets. Cracked pieces and shell dust are normal in our bags, and they are the same egg in smaller form. Sprinkle them over a meal.

Do freeze-dried quail eggs need to be refrigerated?

No. Freeze-drying takes the water out, so the eggs keep in a resealed bag in a cool, dry pantry. Keep raw and cooked eggs in the fridge as you would for yourself.