Confused

[Dani xxx]

Hey 2 of my quail are a lot paler than the rest the breeder thought they were all female but I'm pretty sure one crowed it has a lot darker head and no speckles
neither have spots on their chests but the very pale one doesn't have a dark head and is a lot smaller than the other females with speckled chests
not heard any further crowing so confused and the more images I look at the more confused I get ! I will post pics tomoz as late at night at the mo ! X
as breeder said he would swap them if they are male ?

 

[Dani xxx]

Ok photos just caught them they were not happy bless them

The dark head one is the one I'm sure I heard crow but not done it since the rubbish vent photo is of the dark head the other was so wriggly but didn't look quite as pink but I'm not sure
Hope you can help

 

[Dani xxx]

My mum held them for me to get better vent photos but still none the wiser the first one is the dark headed one the second is the pale one

 

[nikirushka]

You need to pull the vents open to sex them - thumb at the base and gently pull back the tail so you can see inside. Males have a distinctive dimple in the centre that sticks out below the bulge, females do not. Males will also produce foam when mature/in breeding condition, this should also be produced when you pull the tail back if you apply a tiny bit of pressure to the base of the vent just below the opening.

 

[CaloosaBirds]

These are beautiful birds! The dark hooded one looks male to me (pretty certain about that.) The other looks like a hen, but my golden hens are a bit different from that one. The other looks like my golden males, however. How old are they? If they're laying, throw a few meal worms (or other treats in there) and the males make this adorable sound to call the hens over.

 

[Dani xxx]

Thanks if he is the only male that's ok cos the other 5 have spotty chests so def girls and hopefully the the pale one in pic Is a girl ! X 1 roo - 6 hens they are about 7 weeks old at the mo ! I will have a go at sexing them this weekend to be sure thanks for all the help guys I'm new at this ! X

 

[lomine]

Those look like Manchurian. I agree the one with the darker head looks male and the other female. If you hatch eggs you will get Italians from the Pharaoh eggs and more Manchurian from the Manchurian eggs.

 

[Dani xxx]

Thanks I thought it looked like the pic on the sticky thread but the other looked nothing like the male Manchurian but looks like the Italian male,my other females look like the Italian females the breeder must of got a mixed batch of eggs

 

[nikirushka]

I think the genes are fairly close with the golds and italian - they aren't completely distinct breeds. I have birds here ranging from completely gold to very dark italian and every shade inbetween.

 

[lomine]

To clarify, Italian and Manchurian are colors not breeds. The breed is Coturnix, also called Japanese.

He is much lighter than my Italians but he could be. If you breed two Italians you get 50% Italian, 25% Manchurian, and 25% Pharaoh (or Wildtype). Of course that is assuming they are pure. So it is very possible the breeder started with Italians and ended up with a few different types.

If you are going to breed just remember that the gold gene carried by Italians and Manchurian is a lethal homozygous gene. There is a 25% chance a chick with receive a gold gene from each parent. If this happens the chick will die in egg. So if you incubate and find that a small percentage of the eggs seem to develop fine but never hatch that is why.