Finally have my flock! Can anyone help with colours?

[SpotTheCat]

That's a great reference, thank you! I did have my suspicions about that one, and I'm fairly certain that they were the first one to leave the cage and go investigate the space.. I would assume that's roo behavior? Tough though because of the three that look the same, I'm not sure which is which

I wouldn’t say that is male behaviour, my most adventurous quails have been my females. what I do with identical quails is a take a carrier and put them in it once I am done doing what ever I was doing

 

[ozzie]

Hmm…did the person who sold you these sex them (vent) before selling them to you? The bulk of them can’t be feather sexed. I will leave it to the experts here to help you.

 

[QuailTail]

I wouldn’t say that is male behaviour, my most adventurous quails have been my females. what I do with identical quails is a take a carrier and put them in it once I am done doing what ever I was doing

Strong independent ladies, I like it! Ok great, that's a good tip thanks!

 

[MadamContrary]

Amazing, thank you!

I got a photo of #1's face this morning - didn't realise she had white on it and not sure if that changes her colour.
View attachment 2838888

And this is the suspected roo - one of the Pharaohs definitely crowed this morning, so now I just have to figure out which one
View attachment 2838889

That's a male and the white on the other means technically it's a tuxedo (dotted white genetics in there), the color may be blue over Rosetta. You'd only know for sure by test breeding, so if you're curious you have the perfect male to use.

 

[ozzie]

@QuailTail PS if you want local advice and also list of breeders in Australia, there’s a Facebook group Backyard quail Australia. I just joined.

 

[FloorCandy]

Just reviving this thread with a little update - turns out I have 3 males, 2 pharaoh and 1 range pattern with roux, silver and fee (thank you @FloorCandy for the colour ID).

I'm swapping out 2 of the males for females with the original breeder, and I've decided to keep one of the males in case I do pluck up the courage to hatch eggs in the future. So, which of the males should I keep if I want pretty colours? I'm not a huge fan of the pharaoh colour, so I would assume that means I should keep the range pattern male? But I know nothing about breeding for colour so .

I have the following females: rosetta, italian, pharaoh and Texas A&M.

Thaannkkss!

I would keep the range pattern one, crossing the pharaohs to their offspring can easily make you more pharaohs, so their offspring will be carriers, and when crossed to their sons, half the chicks should be pharaoh.

 

[MadamContrary]

Breeding sounds terrifying! I was set on not having any males, but if this roo is nice and quiet and well behaved (which so far he is) then maybe I'll keep him and in the future if I muster the courage I'll give it a go. The girls seem happy with him there, and the ratio is good, no risk of overbreeding..

Nothing to be afraid of! Except maybe getting addicted to chicks You can just let them do their thing, they do go broody and raise chicks on thier own sometimes. Especially when raised on the ground. But, I'm a bit of an incubating addict so my view might be skewed lol!

 

[QuailTail]

Just reviving this thread with a little update - turns out I have 3 males, 2 pharaoh and 1 range pattern with roux, silver and fee (thank you @FloorCandy for the colour ID).

I'm swapping out 2 of the males for females with the original breeder, and I've decided to keep one of the males in case I do pluck up the courage to hatch eggs in the future. So, which of the males should I keep if I want pretty colours? I'm not a huge fan of the pharaoh colour, so I would assume that means I should keep the range pattern male? But I know nothing about breeding for colour so .

I have the following females: rosetta, italian, pharaoh and Texas A&M.

Thaannkkss!

 

[QuailTail]

@QuailTail PS if you want local advice and also list of breeders in Australia, there’s a Facebook group Backyard quail Australia. I just joined.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[QuailTail]

I would keep the range pattern one, crossing the pharaohs to their offspring can easily make you more pharaohs, so their offspring will be carriers, and when crossed to their sons, half the chicks should be pharaoh.

Breeding is just such a crazy thing! Thanks - this is the answer I was hoping for, so perfect!