How to choose my breeder stock?

[cookiesdaddy]

Sorry to start a new thread, but I've searched and didn't see any thread dedicated to this subject.

The question is - how do I choose from a new flock which ones to keep for breeding and which ones to cull?

There's a helpful post from Momhunter buried in the "Comparing Quail Sizes" thread. From a flock of JMF quails she culled 1/2 of the smallest males at 6 weeks, and then again both males and females at 8 weeks, I think to keep only the ones she saved for breeding. That's a helpful "plan".

- I wonder if there's other culling plan that experienced breeders apply?

- Do you choose based on weight only?

- What about temperament, crowing behavior and mating behavior? Are these important?

I'm a newbie and preparing for what to do with a new flock of JMF Pharaoh birds (2 weeks old). But I've been observing my first experimental flock (6 weeks old). I saw some big males that are more aggressive, attacking and wanting to mate with everybody, and then some smaller males that are more calm but don't seem to care about mating. Which one would you choose to keep? Big ones can injure somebody, but calmer ones may not produce fertile eggs.

 

[James the Bald]

Sorry to start a new thread, but I've searched and didn't see any thread dedicated to this subject.

The question is - how do I choose from a new flock which ones to keep for breeding and which ones to cull?

There's a helpful post from Momhunter buried in the "Comparing Quail Sizes" thread. From a flock of JMF quails she culled 1/2 of the smallest males at 6 weeks, and then again both males and females at 8 weeks, I think to keep only the ones she saved for breeding. That's a helpful "plan".

- I wonder if there's other culling plan that experienced breeders apply?
- Do you choose based on weight only?

- What about temperament, crowing behavior and mating behavior? Are these important?

I'm a newbie and preparing for what to do with a new flock of JMF Pharaoh birds (2 weeks old). But I've been observing my first experimental flock (6 weeks old). I saw some big males that are more aggressive, attacking and wanting to mate with everybody, and then some smaller males that are more calm but don't seem to care about mating. Which one would you choose to keep? Big ones can injure somebody, but calmer ones may not produce fertile eggs.

The only difference between what MomHunter did and what I do, is that I waited until 8 weeks for my first cull of males (so they would have some weight to them), and then again at 12 weeks. If I'm not mistaken, MomHunter hatches TONS of eggs from several species and I can imagine she wants to maximize her freezer entries while keeping feed costs down. I was going to cull all but one male, then decided to keep 4, and I'm glad I did. One weighed 14 oz at 6 weeks, and I thought he was be a great stud, but he injured 2 of my largest hens and I had to grill him with onions. I have 4 hens for breeders, and they are the largest hens I have, the rest are egg machines on probation. They can live as long as they produce. If they don't drop an egg within 7 days.... quail, it's whats for dinner!
Just as a suggestion, you could keep 2 roos in 2 different cages with with their own hens. Hatch out the eggs from one cage, and keep a record of the hatch rate, their chicks weight, then hatchout the other cage a couple of weeks later. Compare the data to see which male had a better hatch rate and also see which one produces the larger chicks and chop the other one.
James