Comparing quail sizes

[COsteveo]

I have been checking back on this thread often. I didn't do any sort of reliable weighing of my first set of jumbos (from ebay). Second set (different ebay source) are averaging 55g at 13 days. First set was selected for size so I'll be hatching out F1s from them in a week. The largest were weighing in around 11oz in the 3 month range.

On the one hand, I really would like to get the biggest birds possible so I want to get some JMFs. On the other hand, I'm already getting 10-15 eggs per day from some pretty big birds and I get the same price for them no matter the size. I think I will suck it up and do the fiscally responsible thing and stay with what I have. I'm gonna try to catch these numbers though!

 

[COsteveo]

I've decided to keep a bit of a log of my quail sizes to not only help choose my breeding stock but to also possibly help other decide where to purchase their next stock from. I originally got my first brown coturnix quail from a random person on eBay advertising jumbo quail. I have had this stock for over a year now but have become frustrated that even with choosing the biggest eggs and feeding Gamebird feed with 30% protein my birds are only 6.5- 7ounces at six to seven weeks old.

I now have hatched 40 chicks from JamesMarie farm, 45 chicks from another source in California claiming to have jumbos, and a dozen chicks from my own stock for direct comparison under the same conditions. I hope to make weekly weigh ins on the chicks and choose the best for my new breeders. The JMF chicks are now three weeks old and have had the first two weigh ins and the other two sets have just been born the last two days.

I was happy with the first results:

JMF 2wk hens range (69-110 grams) average: 84.55gram
JMF 2 wk Roos range (69-91 grams average: 83.11gram

JMF 3 wk hens range (116-172) average: 138.71gram
JMF 3 wk roo range (117-148) average: 137.82

This makes them on average close to 5 ounces at three weeks. Hopefully this comparison once complete will help me make some good choices in my breeders and maybe help some others out there too.

For comparison:

Admittedly, a small sample size (n = 9). But it's what I have from some ebay jumbo eggs. An A&M egg slipped into the mix as well.

Day 15 (a day late for the 2 week mark): unsexed 60-75g, avg 69.6g

Week 3 hens (n = 3): 105-119g, avg 113g
Week 3 roos (n = 5): 98-125g, avg 110g
Week 3 unsexed A&M (n = 1): 110g

Looks like JMF birds are the way to go if you want good starting stock. At 3 weeks, my birds would need about 3 days to catch up to the JMFs at the same age. I guess you could say the JMF birds grow about 1/7 faster, which is nearly 15%.

I just hatched out some F1s from my original jumbos of unknown origin, and I can post those too as they grow if anyone is still following along.

 

[Reedgirl20]

Definitely good to see some other comparisons. I agree of the three lines I've looked at I would go with the JMF birds for sure. It looks like your eBay birds are more in line with what I saw from my eBay so-called jumbos that I called standard browns during my comparisons.....

SB 3 wk hen range (122-136) average 129gram
SB 3wk roo range (97-134) average 116gram

 

[cookiesdaddy]

Want to add my weighing in, to contribute to this thread. I bought 50 eggs from JMF back in May, standard c-line. 28 hatched.

- Egg size average 14-16g

- Right after hatch: 10-12g

- Week one: 38.9g average of 15 random birds

- Week two: 94g ave of 10 random birds

- Week three: 165g ave for hens, 160g ave for roos

- Week four: 205g ave for hens, 202g roos

- Week five: 248g for hens, 242g for roos

All above numbers are average. After that I selected the largest hens and roos for eggs and breeding and stopped weighing in the rest.

- At week seven, my breeding hens were averaging 330g and roos 300g.

Hope this helps.

 

[Professor53]

I dont see many recent forum notes here on quail, so I thought Id say hello and try and get some chat going again for Quail breeders and growers.
Im In hawaii and dont have the cold or the varmints many people have.

 

[Sill]

What time of day do you all weigh your birds? Sometimes, especially in summer, they can have a crop full of water or food. That's got to weigh something! Do you weigh before you feed in the morning?

 

[Reedgirl20]

What time of day do you all weigh your birds?  Sometimes, especially in summer, they can have a crop full of water or food.  That's got to weigh something!  Do you weigh before you feed in the morning?

My birds have access to food 24/7. I work full time so generally the birds get weighed in the evening after all the other chores are done...about 7pm I would say is average. I currently have a set I am growing out to be my replacement breeders. My original set is now over 14 months old and I am slowly swapping them out. The JMF birds are now down to only laying about 2 eggs a day per six bird pen. The CL birds are still laying almost daily but much smaller eggs. I have decided after following both lines for over a year to actually drop the CL birds and stick with only the JMF birds. I like the larger size eggs.

 

[COsteveo]

It's been a while... on 11/10 I culled my ~3 month old F1s down to 2M and 8F, then brought them into the garage and put them on light. No eggs yet. The F1s were not strictly from my biggest birds; I set ALL eggs and have selected the largest from that group. IIRC, both roos were over 8oz and all hens were 8.8+.

Still not in the same ballpark as the JMFs but I have not heard anything about their order backlog clearing up, so I will have to press forward with what I have available. My tentative goal for 2015 is to sell a thousand quail and put another hundred or so in the freezer. I'll have to talk to people and feel out the market soon.

 

[Sill]

I'm just hatching my third generation. I only set the biggest eggs, 13-16 grams. They started hatching today and the first chick looked huge compared to my past chicks, even before it dried off. I'm hoping to replace one or two of my original groups of coveys with these. My second generation birds are 7-10 ounces, I'm hoping these will be bigger. I had an increase of average egg size of 1.5 grams in just one generation so it will be interesting to see how these new chicks improve both in egg size and carcass size. The nice thing about coturnix is we don't have long to wait between generations!

 

[Tammy N]

here is one i did up
and a hen now