We Donated Quail Eggs to a School - and What Came Back Made Our Week

Here at Beeswax Bay Farm, most of what we do is quiet, unglamorous work - collecting eggs at dawn, monitoring incubators, making sure our little flock is healthy and happy. It rarely ends with a letter through the door and a pile of children's drawings on the kitchen table.

A few weeks ago, we were contacted by Ormskirk West End Primary School in Lancashire, who were running a quail hatching project for their Year 6 class. They asked if we would be able to donate some fertile Coturnix quail eggs to support the project. The school covered the postage themselves. We said yes without hesitation.

We packed the eggs carefully - bubble-wrapped, pointed end down - and sent them off to Lancashire, hoping for a good hatch and not thinking too much more about it.

Then the post arrived.

A Letter from the School

Miss Molly C., Year 6 SEN TA and EAL Coordinator at Ormskirk West End Primary School, wrote to us on behalf of the whole school. She described the project as a wonderful hands-on learning experience, giving children the chance to learn about animal care, nature, and responsibility in a meaningful way.

What struck us most was a detail she mentioned in passing: that some of the children in her class are not allowed pets at home. For those pupils, this project was giving them something genuinely rare - time with living animals, and a responsibility that was entirely their own.

That sentence has stayed with us.

Letters from the Children

Alongside the school's letter came letters written by the children themselves - and honestly, they are some of the nicest things we have ever received.

Theo, wrote that his favourite part of the project was going to be "watching them waddle around when they're out or in their cage." He also noted, with impressive clarity, that the donation helps "support our school community." We think Theo might have a future in thank-you letter writing.

Darcey, told us that our generosity is "extremely kind" and that without us, the whole quail project wouldn't have been possible. She also made sure to reassure us that the quail will be looked after and taken care of properly by their amazing teacher Miss C. and all the pupils at West End. Miss C. - you have clearly made quite an impression.

Hoshmat, sent us a drawing alongside their letter - a beautifully detailed, wonderfully round quail with careful feather markings, rendered in colour with real care and attention. It is now one of our favourite things in the farmhouse.

And then there was Lottie, Reception Class, who drew a quail in a garden - trees overhead, eggs scattered happily across the ground, a little bird going about its day with complete confidence. Lottie is approximately four or five years old and already a more accomplished quail illustrator than most adults we know. If you have never seen a child's drawing of a quail, we highly recommend it.

Why We Do This

We are a small working smallholding in Atherstone, Warwickshire. We are not a large organisation with a CSR budget. But when a school gets in touch and asks for help with a project that will give children - some of whom have never had a pet - a chance to hatch, raise, and care for living birds, it feels like exactly the kind of thing a small farm should say yes to.

Coturnix quail are brilliant for schools. They hatch quickly (just 17-18 days), they are small and manageable, and the whole project from egg to chick is fast enough to hold a child's attention completely. Theo already knows they waddle. That feels like a win.

Thank You, Ormskirk West End

To Miss C., to Theo, to Darcey, to Hoshmat, to Lottie, and to everyone at Ormskirk West End Primary School - thank you. You sent us a letter and some drawings and made our week considerably better than it would otherwise have been.We hope the hatch went brilliantly. We hope the chicks waddled exactly as promised. And we hope the pupils who were not allowed pets at home got every bit of time with those birds that they deserved.

If you are a school, community group, or educational project interested in hatching quail eggs, feel free to get in touch. We cannot always say yes, but we will always listen.

Our fertile Coturnix quail hatching eggs are also available to buy for home hatching projects.