How HP Murray Built a Quail Operation: Imports, Brooder Houses, Automatic Waterers & Quail Math

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In this episode of the Poultry Nerds Podcast, we sit down with HP Murray of Gopher Ridge Farms for an honest, behind-the-scenes conversation about raising quail, building efficient farm systems, and how quail math can turn a small hobby into a full-time operation.

HP shares his journey from growing up on a farm, stepping away from agriculture, and then returning to it through quail after retirement. From early brooding mistakes to importing German quail lines, this episode is packed with real-world experience you won’t find in a textbook.

Topics covered in this episode include:

• How HP got started raising quail and what he learned the hard way
• Why quail quickly become a 7-day-a-week commitment
• Importing quail eggs from Germany and introducing new genetics
• Building your own quail lines through selection instead of constantly adding “new blood”
• Designing a brooder house for heat, ventilation, and ammonia control
• Moving away from stacked cages to a low-maintenance, one-level cage system
• Why automatic waterers can dramatically reduce daily labor
• Raising and managing gamebirds like chukars and bobwhites
• Lessons learned from decades of breeding, hatching, and scaling production

Whether you raise quail for eggs, meat, breeding, or business, this episode offers practical insight from someone who has lived it—mistakes, successes, and all.

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