Breeding traits out of Japanese quail

[702Quails]

I incubate eggs and brood the chicks in my house. The chicks were being quite noisy so I decided I would try to change that. I observed which ones were making noise and tagged one of their legs. If they were making noise a second time, their other leg would be tagged. For the third time, they would be moved to a separate brooder.

All of the chicks set aside in the separate brooder would be culled for sure. The chicks that had the least amount of tags on their legs would become breeders. I just hatched the third generation of chicks using this process and none of them are incessantly making noise. After they settled in the brooder, I haven't heard a single chirp out of 54 chicks for three days now.

It's amazing how fast you can breed specific traits out of these quail. If only dog breeders could use the same technique.

 

[sourland]

Good dog breeders do use the same technique. I have a friend who says, "The more you tolerate, the more you will have to tolerate." The problem lies in the number of animals needed to select from, and what do you do with the dogs that do not meet the standards. It just takes longer.

 

[Kiki]

What size is your brooder and what temp do you keep it at?

I've hatched quail from different sources and I never have noise makers.