Birdentification Help Identifying 23 Cortunix Quails

[pinoyathletics]

I need help identifying 23 - 5 week old Cortunix Quails. I am planning to sell the excess males as i have some buyers. And keep the females to boost my egg laying colony.

Their is a mixture of Pharaoh (mainly), Italian, Rosetta, and maybe some Manchurian in there.

I would really like Texas A&M's, Golden Manchurian and other colorings.

 

[pinoyathletics]

Cross off the last one #23 that one died at 4.5 weeks couldnt walk properly. There is now 22 left and they are 5 weeks old now.

 

[Crazydoglady99]

Oh darn! I was wondering how this thread went.. waiting for some expertise to pop by..

 

[DK newbie]

I'm not really an expert on sexing cots, but as far as I know, only wild colored and italians can be feather sexed. Rosettas definitely can't. From your pictures, there are very few I'm actually certain are males, but as there are usually more males than females, my guesses are probably inaccurate.
#3 is definitely male. #6 the picture is too bad to tell. #12 and #19 have spots but also red color so I'm quite unsure about those.. #15 has very few spots, but no red, so I'm guessing female.
The birds are 4 weeks on the pictures? Seems strange, as in my only hatch this far, I could pretty reliably sex all the feather sexable ones at 2-3 weeks. But maybe they were just developing faster.

 

[pinoyathletics]

T

I'm not really an expert on sexing cots, but as far as I know, only wild colored and italians can be feather sexed. Rosettas definitely can't. From your pictures, there are very few I'm actually certain are males, but as there are usually more males than females, my guesses are probably inaccurate.
#3 is definitely male. #6 the picture is too bad to tell. #12 and #19 have spots but also red color so I'm quite unsure about those.. #15 has very few spots, but no red, so I'm guessing female.
The birds are 4 weeks on the pictures? Seems strange, as in my only hatch this far, I could pretty reliably sex all the feather sexable ones at 2-3 weeks. But maybe they were just developing faster.

Thanks for your feedback i might take some more pics soon as they are now nearly 5 weeks.

 

[paneubert]

Those are all going to be really hard to sex based on chest color. You are either going to need to vent sex once you start to hear crowing, or do some good old fashioned "beer sexing" where you sit out there with them for a couple hours to see who crows, and who mounts who. Then zip tie one of their legs with a color for boy, and a color for girl. Eventually you will get thru them all.

 

[paneubert]

Are they all housed together? Another option is to sit out there and see who fights with who......almost certainly going to be boys fighting other boys.

 

[igorsMistress]

I have no fighting or mounting and no evgs. You may not until Spring. We have similar colored birds so following, but @007Sean told me anything mixed with a&m will need to be vent sexed. I haven't done it yet.

 

[paneubert]

I have no fighting or mounting and no evgs. You may not until Spring. We have similar colored birds so following, but @007Sean told me anything mixed with a&m will need to be vent sexed. I haven't done it yet.

This is a good point. They may not show mating behavior this late in the year. Plus side is you don't need to worry as much about hormone fueled fighting. Negative side is you have stealth boys until Spring.

 

[pinoyathletics]

Thanks for the advice. What i had to do last time. Was seperate them and see who lays the eggs. But with 22 birds left that will be hard. Last time i only had 5-10 birds to sort through. I guess installing a video system might be the better option.

The problem i have with vent sexing sometimes is if the males sperm in the females. And then went u vent test sperm comes out of the females.