I love the idea of having an actual standard. I'm getting tired of seeing people with 9oz birds that they are calling Jumbos, with XLD1s that they swear are 20oz, with 60 names for Italian/Manchurian/Light quail, with every white quail being an A&M White, English White, or "rare white Coturnix!".
We need a standard. But we need a _real_ standard. We need obsessive breeders who keep obsessive records to tell us how the genetics work throughout the generations. We need a set name for the "wild type" quail, and a standard name for the Dark Range, and whatever else. Nicknames and "other names" are fine until everyone is working with the same standard. Just like we try to forgive people for still calling Barred Rocks "Dominikers"
It's too confusing trying to get quail eggs only to try to figure out what an A&M Tibetan is, or an English Pied. Then once we can figure out what we have maybe we can sit down and make some new colors and varieties to really liven up the quail world.
I would love to work closely with other breeders in trying to sort out the genetics from one strain to the next, and I would love for us to all _slowly_ come up with terms we can all agree on for what we have. Slowly, of course, so that nothing is rushed and everything is done right the first time around.
Just as an aside, we all know that regardless of the color, a Coturnix is a Coturnix. I would like to propose calling the different colors "Varieties," a term stolen straight from how turkeys are handled. There are no turkey breeds, only turkey colors. And while many of us would _like_ to see turkey breeds (a 19lb Royal Palm is not the same as a 33lb Bourbon Red...), they are still all Varieties.
We can break down Jumbo and Standard(/Production?), or we can leave everything as a Variety. At which point we have the Jumbo Browns, Standard Browns, Jumbo Lights, etc all as distinct Varieties within Coturnix quail. Or we just give each color/size a different name. Italians may be a "Standard Gold" that lays well but isn't very large, while a Manchurian is a heavier "Jumbo" bird that lays fewer eggs but is double the size of the other.
As for the below colors, here's my two cents:
- English [White] I have always heard of the English White as the "dark meat" White, while A&M Whites are white meat.
- Manchurian [Gold] I have seen these quail called Italians, Golds, or Manchurians. Italians or Manchurians seems to be the most common.
- Rosetta [British] I've always seen those as Tibetans. Tibetans come in dark and dark-dark phase.
- Tibetan [Dark British] These are the double-dark Tibetans, I assume. Someone else will have to elaborate more on the genetics.
- Fawn Seem to be a darker phase of the Golds.
- Red Golden No idea. I can't find the color. A darker Gold or lighter Tibetan?
- Tuxedo Tuxedo has been the common name for a pied quail. I'd rather see Tuxedo be a set _pattern_. Then there is more room for other pied Varieties to show up, like Bibbed, Hooded, etc.
- Golden Manchurian/Italian?
- Jumbo
- Texas A&M I've always thought these were a genuine white meat bird. Someone said they don't exist?
I like the bare bones standard found here:
http://www.poultry.allotment.org.uk/Poultry/Keeping_Quail/quail-coturnix-color.php that someone else posted. I've used it in the past. Eventually I'd like to buy the book and see what she says about the genetics of each color. The lethal gene for Golds is a fantastic example of the sort of information that needs to be used to determine various Varieties and how to breed each.
Maybe we could use that as a base and elaborate from there? It'd be better to build off of a standard rather than reinvent the wheel from the ground up.
Belolw is the distinction and information I have been using on my website. Correct/clarify/comment as needed:
A&M Texans/A&M Whites
These pure white quail were developed at A&M Texas University to be an all-white meat bird for restaurants. They have become extremely popular and are nearly as common as the regular brown Coturnix. To avoid a lethal gene associated with albanism, A&M Whites should have a spot or two of color on the head. At times there are spots on the back and wings, which are undesireable (the color can leave spots on the skin that some people don't like). There have been a few reports of "pied" quail, or quail that are white with brown patches, these are more than likely A&M Whites with excessive spotting or an A&M White crossed with another variety of Coturnix.
Gender cannot be determined by color with these quail and vent sexing is the best way to know what you have. Females are generally a little larger than males, but going by size runs the risk of keeping a runt female as a male.
A&M White chicks are pure yellow with one or two dark spots on them. These dark spots will stay with them into adulthood.
Brown/Standard/Wild
The most common color of Coturnix is called brown, standard or wild depending on with whom you are speaking. All other colors of Coturnix are a mutation of the brown by lightening or darkening the existing pattern. Of all the colors, the brown is the easiest to sex by sight.
Brown chicks are dark in color with two golden stripes running down their back and three golden stripes on the face like some sort of bizzare black and gold skunk. The color is extremely similar to Ringneck Pheasant chicks.
Gold/Manchurian Gold
Gold is a lighter mutation of the brown coloring, causing the quail to be a milky fawn color where the brown would have been. The black spots remain, and the color can still be sexed by the breast feathers (all orange are males, creamy with black speckles are females).
The chicks are a pale fawn color with thin dark stripes. They will not have any blotches on them like the A&M Whites and should be more tan or fawn than yellow.
Tibetan
Tibetans are a dark mutation of brown and are almost black in color. There are two types of Tibetans: single diluted and double diluted. Single diluted are a dark rust color and only have a single "dose" of darker coloring to the feathers. Double diluted most commonly occurs when two Tibetans are crossed together, resulting in a much darker quail.
A Tibetan's gender cannot be determined by its color, so vent sexing is recommended when selecting your breeders.
Chicks are a rust or near-black color depending on whether they are single or double diluted. There should not be any yellow patches around the throat or chest area.
Tuxedo
These quail are almost identical to the Tibetans, with their only difference being a white patch around the face, throat and chest area. A nicely marked Tuxedo will have an even line of white down the throat that connects with a symmetrical white bib on the chest. As with the Tibetans, Tuxedos can be single or double diluted, affecting how dark the quail ends up being.
Tuxedo chicks are dark in color with yellow markings around the face, throat and chest. These markings will stay with the quail when it is mature, allowing you to select the best markings in the brooder to choose breeders from at a later time.
