Coturnix Quail Basics- Information and Pictures Galore

[peewee]

Thank you monarc23 and LilRalphieRoosmama. I was going to wait until next year to get them. Give myself sometime to get the bator together, build them there own run and really read up on them. Even with the wonderful tutorial, I want to make sure I know what I'm doing. Don't want to hurt the little buggers because of my stupidity.

I showed my hubby that pic. and said " That's the kind of quail I want to raise next year" Was waiting for the eye roll and the "Hear we go again" but he suprised me by saying "Well find out what you need and I'll build it for you"

 

[monarc23]

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awesome! You'll be very happy you did your research first before you get them and have everything ready, learn from all our mistakes

.

 

[Heather J]

I got free bobwhite eggs with my bator (OK< so the manufacturer shipped them a couple of weeks later, but it was part of the deal), and they used the quail egg cartons, but no stuffing, at all! 9 of 30 were broken on arrival. Idiots! Just the carton, eggs, then a flat piece of styrofoam, then the top carton taped together in a box.

Found out today the fees for the permit to have bobwhites is $185--yikes!

To rehome or to keep illegally--that is the question!

Anyone have an idea why it's legal to keep seven thousand coturnix with no permit, but six bobwhites cost so much? lol

 

[monarc23]

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all coturnix are technically hybrids. Coturnix are subspecies from allll over the world (where they can be found) bred together. The color from A&M is a mutation....mutations show up in animals all the time..."merle" in dogs for example. It is not a hybrid in itself no way. All colors in coturnix are mutations, except ofcourse the wild color, that was well the base color that people had to start out with when they first started domesticating the coturnix.

I do not agree with that guy though... A & Ms are not hybrids, and all tuxedos are is the result of breeding a tibetan (british range) to an A & M so i find that funny that he says that A& MS and tuxedos are hybrids because 1. Tuxedos are half A & Ms lol.

Having coturnix on the side wouldnt make him an expert, sounds like he'd be more an expert in his pheasants or chukars IMO.

I will do some research on this but no i do not believe there is any hybridization between the A & M and tuxedo.

Now, a Bobbird is a hybrid that's a coturnix bred with a bobwhite.

kay that was easy....lol heres proof that A & ms are nothing more than selectively bred coturnix quail (aka Japanese quail).

"Fifteen years ago Experiment Station research-ers and Extension poultry science specialists sought to improve the quail industry by genetically enhancing the blood lines of selected heavier meat birds. The resulting Texas A&M Gourmet Quail were developed by Extension specialists, includ-ing Fred Thornberry, who received several eggs from a Japanese quail producer. For 2 years and six generations, Thornberry’s birds were crossbred to eliminate carcass abnormalities and make them more uniform in size. These quail were genetically selected for large body size, conformation and increased meat yield at 6 to 7 weeks of age. With the goal of enhancing the quail for the gourmet industry, Thornberry was able to improve the birds breast musculature while maintaining their optimum egg production. More recently, Extension specialist Lee Cartwright crossed the recessive white gene into the improved line to yield a large-bodied Japanese quail without the unappealing pigmentation in the skin and internal membranes. These genetic improvements are the basis of the most sought-after Japanese quail products on the market, and today the Texas A&M Gourmet Quail are raised in about a dozen countries."

Ergo, not hybrids, just time taken to make the birds ideal for meat production. Which breeders can do on their own property as long as they selectively breed.

By the way if you get hung up on the word "crossbred" it means "produced by the interbreeding of different varieties or breeds" but in coturnix quail there is no other breeds theres only other varieties (tibetan, tuxedo--which wouldnt be here if it wasnt for A & Ms, golden, cinnamon). I plan to breed two varieties together (a & ms to my white shouldered browns *they have white feathers on their shoulders i am hoping to make more bold* over time the mixing of varieties of A &M and the white shouldered browns SHOULD *i hope* give me coturnix quails with dramatic white feathering on the wing shoulder more so than im seeing now with my browns----this would be selective breeding by crossbreeding the colors together.

In genetics theres dominant and recessive, dominant colors show up without another of the same color there....but many dominant colors in many animals where not there to begin with, but showed up as a mutation. Mutations are normally uninentional, but when they show up if a breeder likes the color, they work with it to keep it around and if they are lucky it's dominant....but a &ms are recessive, so to get them again you have to already have atleast 2 a & ms. All other colors to the wild type color are mutations of the original color.

I got the above info from (i had to view it in HTML because it's a pdf file): http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cach...df+Texas+A+&+M+quail&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

 

[monarc23]

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the answer is simple bobwhites are native to USA...coturnix aren't....bobwhite can breed in the wild coturnix would most likely die...and shouldtn be released on experiement lol. Plus bobwhites can hybridize with coturnix...and that would distroy the pure bobwhite population...but i see how dumb my coturnix are...they wouldnt even make it to mating they'd get murdered probably through the first few nights of escape-dom lol

it's a way to protect bobwhites in the wild from being infiltrated by inferior lines of bobwhite...and it's a way for the state to know where bobwhite populations are.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Where's everyone at tonight?

 

[BirdBoy88]

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I was gonna ask the same thing

 

[monarc23]

I was gift shopping (for the gift swap on the everything buy sell and trade part), and grocery shoppin

Came home to a second button quail egg, not fertile yet, but i dont expect them to be until my male starts crowing.

My buttons just got to enjoy a bunch of mini mealwormies.

I finnally figured out it IS Pippin who is laying

YAY!

Looked at UAV (sp?) lights today, cheapest was $6 expensive-ist was $8 but since i already spent enough on the gift swap and groceriesa nd other needed items I decided I'll get that for my BQs next weekend along with hunting licenses

EEK i love this time of year lol!

 

[Buster]

Marking this page so I have it when my quail eggs get here the beginning of next week.

 

[monarc23]

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yay to eggies