➡ Quail Hatch Along🥚

[CoturnixComplex]

Ho ho ho ho oh my goodness.

So, I got a few oddballs in the first hatch - my homebred with a wonky foot, a bowlegged stubby-legged quail that's doing great destined for the BBQ from the shipped eggs, the shipped albino, and then this guy.

I think I just confirmed my suspicions that he is a homozygous recessive curly feathered. It is the ONLY modifier gene they have found that the initial study reported a higher finish weight over wild types at butcher time. Well guess what - this little dude is a BEAST compared to his siblings. He is bigger than the pharoah in the same batch, which is unusual, as he's a falb fee, which normally restricts growth a little. That same study also found that when combined with roux dilute, the curly gene won out and they STILL had had the same higher growth rate.

EXCUSE ME I MUST GO DIE OF HAPPINESS.

(And yes, I think this source flock has been closed for a long time and is in need of some fresh blood - but luckily, I have that! In the form of 5 more or less unrelated lines)

Ok it is much harder to see now than it was earlier in the baby moult, but hopefully you can see what I'm talking about with the curly feather shafts across the back and shoulders. He is the one on the right, although if you can't tell it's certainly not a strong expression of it.

 

[muddy75]

Yep, about the size of your thumb nail. And in 16 days you'll know where the saying, 'cute as a button' came from

I originally ordered these eggs because a girl in one of my groups was looking for button chicks to purchase.....now I don’t know if I’ll be able to give them up!!

 

[CoturnixComplex]

I originally ordered these eggs because a girl in one of my groups was looking for button chicks to purchase.....now I don’t know if I’ll be able to give them up!!

Keep the nicest pair! Sell the rest

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Keep the nicest pair! Sell the rest

Or nicest 4 chicks, I guess.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC555543/

 

[Sara L]

That is AMAZING! I am so jealous, predators and weather rule out outdoor setups here.



Argh! And I want to send them to everyone! Next year or the one after I am going for NPIP but I have to finish building my proper electric greenhouse setup once the snow melts first. Then you will all be inundated with eggs against your will, haha!

This is their momma. She is one of only two chicks I got from my favorite pair in my original flock, a blue hen and German pastel red roo, both perfect tuxedos.
View attachment 1684040

I think half of those eggs came from her previous mating with this guy
View attachment 1684043

And the non red ranges came from her current pharoah mate who is also my largest male.

How long do you wait in between switching mates to be fairly sure the eggs are from the new mate? Is it about a month like for chickens? Or do you just check for bullseyes?

 

[Kiki]

Ho ho ho ho oh my goodness.

So, I got a few oddballs in the first hatch - my homebred with a wonky foot, a bowlegged stubby-legged quail that's doing great destined for the BBQ from the shipped eggs, the shipped albino, and then this guy.

I think I just confirmed my suspicions that he is a homozygous recessive curly feathered. It is the ONLY modifier gene they have found that the initial study reported a higher finish weight over wild types at butcher time. Well guess what - this little dude is a BEAST compared to his siblings. He is bigger than the pharoah in the same batch, which is unusual, as he's a falb fee, which normally restricts growth a little. That same study also found that when combined with roux dilute, the curly gene won out and they STILL had had the same higher growth rate.

EXCUSE ME I MUST GO DIE OF HAPPINESS.

(And yes, I think this source flock has been closed for a long time and is in need of some fresh blood - but luckily, I have that! In the form of 5 more or less unrelated lines)

Ok it is much harder to see now than it was earlier in the baby moult, but hopefully you can see what I'm talking about with the curly feather shafts across the back and shoulders. He is the one on the right, although if you can't tell it's certainly not a strong expression of it.

View attachment 1684158

I would really like to read what you do.
Is this study online?

 

[Kiki]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC555543/

Thanks!

 

[CoturnixComplex]

How long do you wait in between switching mates to be fairly sure the eggs are from the new mate? Is it about a month like for chickens? Or do you just check for bullseyes?

It is like a month or whenever they stop laying fertile ones and then start again, but I didn't have time to wait for that before this last hatch so I'm mostly guessing There's a bunch I can be sure on just because of the colors of the potential parents.

Thanks!

Do you want me to compile all the articles related to color and other genes I find? There are a TON of studies on them, they use them to study similar chicken genes because of the quick lifespan. We could make a separate thread for it. That pdf I already listed way back is the most complete but there are a bunch more (including a bunch it references).

 

[Kiki]

It is like a month or whenever they stop laying fertile ones and then start again, but I didn't have time to wait for that before this last hatch so I'm mostly guessing There's a bunch I can be sure on just because of the colors of the potential parents.




Do you want me to compile all the articles related to color and other genes I find? There are a TON of studies on them, they use them to study similar chicken genes because of the quick lifespan. We could make a separate thread for it. That pdf I already listed way back is the most complete but there are a bunch more (including a bunch it references).

YES!