Are my Coturnix Quail a Male or Female?

[Helen2]

The quail at the front has a bulbous vent with foam and a little comes out on its poo!
The quail at the back - Its vent is not bulbous and has no foam!
Now, I know by that they are meant to be male at the front and female at the back.
But, by the looks of them they are female at the front and male at the back.
Does a male Coturnix have a flat vent area when not in season?
Now, to confuse matters, these quail are in a different cage than they are usually and are fine towards each other.
The cage/ aviary they are normally in with other Coturnix Quail, the quail at the back cases the one at the front almost constantly.
Help!

 

[CoosaQuail]

The quail in the front looks to be female because it looks like a Brown Pharoah and has no red breast. As far as the quail in the back I can't tell but watch it to see if it crows or not.

 

[Helen2]

Hi CoosaQuail,

Thanks for replying to my post.
Yeah, female, that's what I thought (spots on the front also!) but the bolbous behind with the foam is confusing.
It is a Jumbo Pharoah Coturnix. I had some normal size Pharoah quail and they were smaller.
I am clutching at straws but maybe the bigger size has something to do with it!?
If I knew if the males went flat at the vent due to no foam when it is out of season, that would explain the look of the vent area of the ?male quail at the back. It is a Golden Coturnix Quail (Manchurian Golden), sometimes called Italian Coturnix Quail. Females = spots at the front.

The reddish breast happens to male pharoah when they are in season and if the quail at front is a male who has the foam it should be reddish on the front also, your right.

 

[Stellar]

It looks like you have two females but some males have female markings and vice versa. Like CoosaQuail mentions, just wait for that crow. I have had some female that crowed though.

 

[kovalines]

I'll stay with female because of the spots at the breast and it has almost any brown feathers at the breast too.

 

[Helen2]

Sorry about the picture quality! This is the vent of the quail in question - front quail in first photo above. Are they good enough picture to tell?
Thanks.
And many thanks again for your help.
I made the mistake I think of buying "mixed gender" quails at auction!
Most of them are turning out to be male!

 

[Stellar]

Looking at her vent and then the vent I posted on my website http://www.stellar-gamebirds.com/Coturnix-Quail-Information.html (scroll all the way down to the female vent) there is a huge difference. This seems to be a hermaphrodite (female that is a male). I had 2 cases of this with one line of Jumbo browns and culled both individuals. But I don't know what your plan is with your birds but it is a pretty fella just odd

 

[Helen2]

Wow! That was out of left field! Could this happen from inbreeding quail?
It is possible for it to fertilize a hen? I guess it would depend how much male it is!?

Thanks so much Quail Lady

 

[Helen2]

The Golden Quail at the back layed eggs yesterday and today! Looks male!

Does that mean she might be an hermaphrodite? She would be if the eggs didn't have yolks - right?
They have yolks and were delicious! Maybe the brown Jap male might be ok too!?
If I put these two together and I get chicks - wouldn't this proove they are not hermaphrodite?
There is hardly any info on the internet about this so if anyone could help me out, it would be appreciated.
Aren't hermaphrodite birds sterile?

 

[Helen2]

Hi All,

The first post and the last post by me to this thread was in 2012 as you can see. It is now 2014 and I just came across this yet again in my internet adventures on anything new about quail out there. Anyway, I thought I had better update this thread.

The two quail in question both were female. Also, I have learnt a lot since 2012. The quail in the background is a Manchurian female with a little Italian thrown in. Manchurian females don't necessarily have spotted fronts. The quail in the front, well I have no idea now why I questioned if it was a girl or not. It is sooo.. obvious it was a female just by looking at those spots! No male ends up having black spots on their front, especially the Japanese Colour of the Japonica Coturnix. Even what I now call and breed "Brown Goldens" who have beautiful colourful fronts, shouldn't have black dots on their front after 12 weeks of age.

All the best and enjoy your quails.

Kind Regards,
Helen2