James Marie Pharaoh vs. American Pharaoh quail?

[Sid Post]

http://www.jamesmariefarms.com/

Does anyone have experience with both of these quail from James Marie Farms? I would like to know what differences you found in them.

I believe the James Marie Pharaoh are bigger bodied but, are less dual purpose than the American Pharaoh.

How many eggs should I expect from each?
How big are the eggs?
How big are the adult birds?

TIA,
Sid

p.s. My searches didn't yield anything useful so, if I missed a good post please let me know.

 

[cobb4861]

I ordered some of these. I'll let you know what I think of them in a couple months. Here is what I found on them.

http://www.toltallyice.com/CoturnixQuail.html

 

[Sid Post]

Thanks Cobb! I'm looking forward to your report.

 

[James the Bald]

http://www.jamesmariefarms.com/

Does anyone have experience with both of these quail from James Marie Farms? I would like to know what differences you found in them.

I believe the James Marie Pharaoh are bigger bodied but, are less dual purpose than the American Pharaoh.

How many eggs should I expect from each?
How big are the eggs?
How big are the adult birds?

TIA,
Sid

p.s. My searches didn't yield anything useful so, if I missed a good post please let me know.

Sid,
When I first was interested in raising quail, I did plenty of research, and decided on the A&Ms. I eventually purchased some eggs from a source that I will not name. The quail that I hatched out from this "other source" never produced quail bigger than 8oz. The first roo that hatched is my daughters pet, and I've had other eggs from a final hatch from the other source. I then ordered JMF A&Ms, and all of them hit 14 oz in 5 weeks. While I've never weighed any of my eggs from either source, the JMF eggs are noticeably larger than the "other" source eggs. And like other pharaohs, they lay one egg a day unless they are molting or there are other environmental changes.
One day just for the heck of it, I put my daughters roo in with a cage of hens, and the JMF hens were so big he couldn't mount them. I laughed my tail off at his determination, and when he grabbed one hen to mount, she flipped him off like he was nothing. While he tried and tried, he never did mount on of the JMF girls.
If you do go with the JMF quail, tell Robby I said Hi.... OH, and have a pen and paper ready to write down anything he tells you.
James

 

[Sid Post]

Thanks!

 

[cobb4861]

Well I got my first round of eggs in today. And they are quite a bit bigger than the eggs I'm getting from the local Jumbo Browns I bought. Really excited to hatch this batch out!

You can see here the one on the left is from James Marie Farms and the other is from my current set of Jumbo Brown. These eggs were so big that I couldn't fit them all together in my incubator racks. I had to do one row of JMF eggs and then next row of my bitty eggs.




I'll keep y'all posted on them when they hatch. Next update in 18 days!

 

[Sushi Ferret]

There's no description on the website of their different breeds. Does anyone know what they mean by "specialty"? Also if their XL Meat birds are good layers or just for meat only? If anyone could answer that would be great! I'm looking to make a go at raising quail & need to find a place that sells good stock. Thank you

 

[Sid Post]

Quote:
Their website is a little basic but, their quail are the best you will find in the USA. Don't follow in my foot steps with a local hobby breeder only to have a very poor hatch (~33%) with most of the chicks dying in the first few days. The XL birds are all bigger bodied birds meant primarily for meat. The JMF Pharoah are dual purpose quail with slightly smaller bodies (~2 ounces?) and very good egg production. Their bigger bodied quail obviously lay eggs, just not as often. The specialty quail are just that. Special colors, special features, normal size. You won't find a better source than Robby at JMF for your quail needs. He is the best in the business and is a VERY HIGH VOLUME breeder. Most of us think in the hundreds of quail volume, a few in the thousands, Robby is in the TENS of THOUSANDS - truly high volume in addition to high quality.

 

[Sushi Ferret]

Thanks Side Post! You have cured me of my eBay or iffy Craigslist purchase! I was hesitant to have quail because of not being able to find a good source but I now know where to go. Also seems reasonably priced for that kind of quaility. Other pricing was to low or like $50 for 12

 

[Sid Post]

Thanks Side Post!

You're WELCOME!

You have cured me of my eBay or iffy Craigslist purchase! I was hesitant to have quail because of not being able to find a good source but I now know where to go. Also seems reasonably priced for that kind of quaility. Other pricing was to low or like $50 for 12

It looks like you can get a small batch of 15 eggs delivered for $30!

That pricing competes with the local hobby breeders around where I live. My incubator holds ~120 eggs so, I haven't really considered a hatch that small myself. However, it sure makes it easier to get some of the specialty birds for a variety to show off at farmers markets and to give to the nieces and nephews.

What incubator do you have? Quail seem to be a little harder to hatch than chickens in my limited experience. Precise temperature and humidity control are very important. Also, be sure to get good feed for your chicks. Purina Startena is available locally where I live and it is cheaper, in addition to being better, quail chick feed. The chicks will eat a lot more feed and drink a lot more water than you think they will so, plan ahead to have a good waterer and feeder in place by hatch time. For the first two weeks, a large cardboard box works well when lined with newspaper but, after that they start stretching their little wings.

The next easy housing option is ... a cheap plastic pet carrier lined with wood shavings. They will stick their heads through the wire door in front to eat and drink which keeps the mess under control. Plan on moving them once a week to clean it out and to lay down fresh "litter". At four weeks, they should be fully feathered and ready to move to permanent housing so, plan on having your quail coop/housing in place ready to go no later than week 5. If you need to stretch the timeline out a little, plan on using multiple animal carriers because at this stage they are getting pretty big for a small dog or cat carrier. Of course real housing is best but, hey sometimes life gets in the way, weather turns bad, etc. and a backup plan is needed to buy some time.

Also, if you email Robby and don't get a response, give him a call. He obviously gets a lot of email and some messages end up in the SPAM trash can. Also, Monday is not a good day to call since that is a big shipping day and when they are apt to process large numbers of birds. Mid-week through Friday seemed to work best for me.