Free rein feeding method

[Kiki]

Male or female pics?

Light on the right and dark blue left. I’ve been able to pick these out since they were eggs, I think they must be siblings from the same hen..View attachment 3568085View attachment 3568089

Remind me how old they are in these pics?

 

[Ital]

@Kiki Just under 4 weeks and the description for the eggs said feather sexable at 4 weeks.
I reckon this coccidiosis problem has set them back quite a bit though.
What about purple, yellow, pink and orange?

 

[Ital]

These were the pics of their parents on the listing, the male looks really different from all the ones I’m not sure about gender so maybe I’ll be lucky and get some eggs, he has some strange feathering similar to pink which is what made me think it could be genetic.

Also this from the info..

‘Standard Coturnix Quail hatching eggs. From separate pure pens of gold Italian quail. Fantastic egg laying strain and can be sexed accurately at 4 weeks old. Males will have a darker head and a richer overall orange tone. Don't go by chest feathers.’

I misread this first time around so was just looking at their chest feathers, should have been checking their heads.

 

[Ital]

It got worse before getting better, possibly because I removed the kefir according to instructions on the coxoid.
Green yellow and purple still struggling but improvement in behaviour, appearance and stools back to normal with the others.
I’ve also started mixing the oregano with their meal/calci worms to make sure they’re getting an effective dose.

Weights for 31 days..
Red -21g
Pink 104g
Green 113g
Purple 120.3G
Orange 120.7g
Yellow 121.4g
Light blue 125.5g
White 126.9g
Dark blue 130.2g
Black 166.5g

Red boinked again and was injured too severely to save.
The height of their coop is 36cm so slightly over the recommended maximum, getting some ping pong balls to dangle from the roof.
Haven’t noticed any of the others boinking but if they do it might help absorb the impact.

From now on pink will be painted red, always felt a bit sorry for her being pink but only had 10 colours.

@Kiki you were right about black, he’s started mounting the others and crowing.

 

[Kiki]

@Kiki Just under 4 weeks and the description for the eggs said feather sexable at 4 weeks.
I reckon this coccidiosis problem has set them back quite a bit though.
What about purple, yellow, pink and orange?

I think they all might be boys too.

 

[Kiki]

@Ital My babies that hatched soon after yours...almost all of them are males.
I think there are only 4 female.

 

[Kiki]

@Ital How are they doing?
All but 8 of mine from this hatch ended up being males. All but one male will be butchered soon. I'll weigh them on that day.
Some of the females I'm keeping.

I'll get better pics soon.

 

[Ital]

Hi @Kiki, awe yours look happy, you were right about mine, mostly male.

I got 3 female out of ten and one was vicious so had to go, tried to keep the remaining males as a bachelor group but that didn’t work so I’ve ended up with two males but seriously considering reducing that by one because he’s a bit mean to his misses, only reason I haven’t already is she does seem to like him.

Getting some more females to the improve the gender ratio but probably won’t hatch any more Italians because of all the surplus males.

Found some harlequin eggs and hatching them instead, supposed to be happier in pairs than the Italians so hopefully won’t end up with all the extra males.

These are getting preventative coccidiosis treatment from week two onwards, feel bad it took me so long to figure out what was up with the Italians, it’s been a steep learning curve so far.

 

[Kiki]

Hi @Kiki, awe yours look happy, you were right about mine, mostly male.

I got 3 female out of ten and one was vicious so had to go, tried to keep the remaining males as a bachelor group but that didn’t work so I’ve ended up with two males but seriously considering reducing that by one because he’s a bit mean to his misses, only reason I haven’t already is she does seem to like him.

Getting some more females to the improve the gender ratio but probably won’t hatch any more Italians because of all the surplus males.

Found some harlequin eggs and hatching them instead, supposed to be happier in pairs than the Italians so hopefully won’t end up with all the extra males.

These are getting preventative coccidiosis treatment from week two onwards, feel bad it took me so long to figure out what was up with the Italians, it’s been a steep learning curve so far.

I'm not familiar with what Harlequin means but if they are coturnix quail the color doesn't really make them behave differently.

I am trying something new with this batch.
I usually only keep 1 male with 5 or 6 females but with this group I'm going to keep 1 male with 7 females and see how things work out when it comes to fertility.

I almost considered putting a second male in the cage but I decided against it.


I do have a 1 male with only 3 females and they are doing great.

I don't think I would try 1 male with 2 females and I know I won't ever try a pair.

 

[Ital]

I’ve read that 5:1 is best for fertility, I’ll buy enough females to get to 3 each for the Italians, should keep them happy.

The harlequin are Coturnix delegorguei, South African quail.
Most people recommend keeping them in pairs so I guess they’re not as shaggy as the Italians.

Fertility is very low for them except during rain season, I might try keeping them as a big mixed group and just putting a pair of them in the shower together when I want fertile eggs.