Coturnix quail sexing and color variety

[LisaChick1]

Hi everyone,
I hatched my first batch of coturnix quail eggs about 2 1/2 weeks ago and am wondering if you have any opinions on gender and color variety these babies might be. I have heard it is easy to sex them at or around three weeks (especially the pharaoh) typically due to their feathering. I am eager and a bit impatient to find out the sex and color variety (pharaoh, Rosetta, tuxedo or ?) so it may be a bit too early, but I greatly appreciate any help you have to offer. Thank you so much in advance. Hope you are all doing wel!!

 

[SemiQ]

Hi everyone,
I hatched my first batch of coturnix quail eggs about 2 1/2 weeks ago and am wondering if you have any opinions on gender and color variety these babies might be. I have heard it is easy to sex them at or around three weeks (especially the pharaoh) typically due to their feathering. I am eager and a bit impatient to find out the sex and color variety (pharaoh, rosella, tuxedo or ?) so it may be a bit too early, but I greatly appreciate any help you have to offer. Thank you so much in advance. Hope you are all doing wel!!

I don't think you can feather sex them just yet unfortunately. I waited until week 4 to sex mine (they normally have most their adult feathers by then). Now with rosetta's, tibetan's, and any other colour varieties, except for the Pharoah and Italian, you can not sex by feathers you'll have to wait until they reach maturity to figure out what they are. As for the colour varieties you have, it looks like most of them are tuxedos, 2 look like pharaohs, one looks like a rostta\tibetan (or a tuxedo with a lot of dark feathers), the 3rd one I can't quite make out but it might be a Italian or a pharaoh dilute (it could also be cinnamon or another tuxedo, I'll need a better picture to see), you might also have an english white or another tuxedo. You can actually tell what colour they are at one day old aswell.
Have fun with your quail and I hope this was helpful.

 

[LisaChick1]

I don't think you can feather sex them just yet unfortunately. I waited until week 4 to sex mine (they normally have most their adult feathers by then). Now with rosetta's, tibetan's, and any other colour varieties, except for the Pharoah and Italian, you can not sex by feathers you'll have to wait until they reach maturity to figure out what they are. As for the colour varieties you have, it looks like most of them are tuxedos, 2 look like pharaohs, one looks like a rostta\tibetan (or a tuxedo with a lot of dark feathers), the 3rd one I can't quite make out but it might be a Italian or a pharaoh dilute (it could also be cinnamon or another tuxedo, I'll need a better picture to see), you might also have an english white or another tuxedo. You can actually tell what colour they are at one day old aswell.
Have fun with your quail and I hope this was helpful.

Oh How awesome, thank you so so much for your reply! That was wonderful .
I do have quite a bit more babies I didn’t picture, as I didn’t want to overwhelm the thread with too many photos. Sounds like I may have more color variants than I thought ). I was assuming the dark brown ones were most likely male pharaohs- im excited to hear that they could possibly be female. Sorry for the typos previously (rosella) and the poor photos! I’ll attach better pics in a couple of weeks when they’ve feathered out.
I thank you again for your help! I hope you have a beautiful day!

 

[SemiQ]

Oh How awesome, thank you so so much for your reply! That was wonderful .
I do have quite a bit more babies I didn’t picture, as I didn’t want to overwhelm the thread with too many photos. Sounds like I may have more color variants than I thought ). I was assuming the dark brown ones were most likely male pharaohs- im excited to hear that they could possibly be female. Sorry for the typos previously (rosella) and the poor photos! I’ll attach better pics in a couple of weeks when they’ve feathered out.
I thank you again for your help! I hope you have a beautiful day!

No problem, dont worry about typos. You got your message across. I look forward to seeing how they feather out! Have a good week.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

They are definitely a little too young to definitively sex, even the feather-sexable patterned ones, but not too young to guess color.

I see two pharoahs, one roux dilute, three tibetans (one with a tuxedo pattern, a different one with rosetta lacing pattern), and two weird silver/cream thing tuxedos.

BUT I'd need good photos of their backs to really be sure and the color can change a little still, too.

Gorgeous youngsters!

 

[LisaChick1]

They are definitely a little too young to definitively sex, even the feather-sexable patterned ones, but not too young to guess color.

I see two pharoahs, one roux dilute, three tibetans (one with a tuxedo pattern, a different one with rosetta lacing pattern), and two weird silver/cream thing tuxedos.

BUT I'd need good photos of their backs to really be sure and the color can change a little still, too.

Gorgeous youngsters!

Oh my goodness thank you so much for writing and sharing so much information- I greatly appreciate it!! <3 I guess I’ll have to wait it out on the sex but I’m so excited to learn more about their colors. I’ll post a few better pics when I get the chance just for fun. and will come back in a couple weeks to share the progress- see if there’s any thoughts on boys or girls then! Thank you so so much again for your help! )

 

[cosmosue]

They are definitely a little too young to definitively sex, even the feather-sexable patterned ones, but not too young to guess color.

I see two pharoahs, one roux dilute, three tibetans (one with a tuxedo pattern, a different one with rosetta lacing pattern), and two weird silver/cream thing tuxedos.

BUT I'd need good photos of their backs to really be sure and the color can change a little still, too.

Gorgeous youngsters!

What this one said. Lol. CC is quite reliable and good with guessing color.

I usually place bets on mine (the ones that can be sexed visually) around 2 weeks and I’m usually 99.9% right but I can’t tell with yours without good breast pics and even then I dunno if I could because I like to hold them and really study them in the light and then make a fancy proclamation like “OK WE HAVE X HENS AND X ROOs!” And then in a few weeks I can confirm or admit my failure!

It’s a game I play...

Funny cause I also hatched a similar batch to yours just under 2 weeks ago now and I’ve proclaimed my Italian looking one is a female and my normal looking one is a female as well...now we will see if they make a liar out of me ha!!!

 

[cosmosue]

Now when they get older if you have similar looking ones that can’t be visually sexed if you see one crow (or lay an egg) you could band it’s leg if you definitely want to remember and have some that look alike.

I use a zip tie. You can also buy colored small size zip ties. It’s like banding a parrot but only for yourself to identify them, people also do it so they know age and don’t forget like x batch will be blue, x batch would be red, etc. I haven’t done that yet but I may soon.

I have banded a couple boys that are breeders or for whatever reason I wanted to keep them.

I had one named lucky toe. I handed him. I did a big culling for the freezer. I didn’t notice the band and I forgot. After it was too late I noticed I had butchered lucky toe and that lucky toe was not so lucky afterall.

I have a Texas names Widget for being a runt as a baby. He is banded and we are friends. Widget is safe from the freezer.... unless I screw up. Widget greets me when I go outside he is always super happy to see me more so than the others because he was “babied”

I say he but I honestly have no clue if widget is a boy or a girl and I hope it’s a girl. *shrug* spring will tell me soon lol. Was a bit late in the season when that bunch matured and they all stopped bumping uglies and crowing/laying.