Jumbo Coturnix size disparity

[Czech's_chicks]

My JC chicks are almost 2 weeks and already we have some that are about the same size as they were and some are almost as big as 2 week maran chicks (housing together for short period of time).

They are on flock raiser which is about 18-20%. Is the size disparity becase hens are supposed to be bigger than the c*cks? Does that happen now our after they are finished growing?

Help would be appreciated so I know if there is something else I need to do with them or start counting how many girls n boys we have.

Thank you.

 

[TheRealTimShady]

you'll hear this time and time again, move them from flock raiser to GBS 24% or higher non-medicated, quails require more protien to grow properly then chickens do, this could be the cause of odd growth. as for males/females, yea the females tend to be a little larger, but i don't think this happens until later down the road.

imo i think its a feed issue, the bigger birds might just be eating more, but they still ALL need higher protien food

here are 2 products that are good

Purina startena 30% gbs (imho the BEST quail feed out there)
Nutrena GBS 28%(i THINK its 28% might be 26, 2nd best imo)
Manna Pro 24% gbs(i used this until i found purina)

those are of course only a FEW feeds that are out there, there are tons, you want something 24% or higher NON-MEDICATED(as medicated feeds have led, SOMETIMES, to infertile birds)

 

[kahlertm]

I am relatively new (from Jan of 2011), but I do see that I can almost count females from the first week just looking at the size diff. Just me guessing, but it is almost always true that the bigger are the girls, even at that little. It is not a "rule".
Yes GBS is how I start them and now I change them over to an organic turkey starter with other suppliments to meet the organic demand of egg customers at onset of laying for 30 days. 30 days being the required amount of time by the State of Colo, of consuming organic feed to be considered "organic" (tangent...sorry). Also a good way to slowly introduce a new feed and get rid of your old feed and not shock the system by changing feed all at once.

Not sure what you would offer if you want to feed the same ration to an entire bunch of different species hatched around the same time and what effects you would have from one species to the other due to the need for high protein in the quail. Believe JJ mentions one effect on the chickens of feeding high protien or qame bird rations can cause binding up and sticky butt in the littles which can cause losses quick unless you are on top of it constantly...even then there must be some issues, not sure and would want others to weigh in.

Hard when you have a small budget and wish you could purchase ONE feed and suppliment from there for specific species otherwise. Like a safe base ration and then add x,y,z for the quail, turkey, or other babies...

Tonya

 

[JJMR794]

Mibotsu You Do Realize That Manna Pro Makes A 30% Starter As Well?

 

[syble]

i'm by no means a pro, but i fed high protein feed like you were supposed to and ended up with varried results on my first batch. some seam to have stayed around the 6 oz mark while others got to the 10 oz mark... they will be 8 weeks next weekend and my biggest is a wee bit over 11oz... I plan to keep the biggest and eat the rest

so expect some variation no matter what.

 

[saddina]

Genetics can matter too. If the eggs/chicks came from someone who isn't selecting for size you can have smaller 6 oz birds to larger 10 oz birds. Here we have an eat the small, breed the best rule. I'm starting a second colony to work with the "pretty" colored birds, they tend to be the smaller ones, the idea is to see if I can improve size there too.

 

[syble]

I'm with saddina, all hatches we do will be eat the smallest keep the biggest for breeders. thats the goal with all the colors too. good progress on my goldens and rosettas... not so much on the tibetans

 

[Czech's_chicks]

We plan on keeping the big ones for breeding.

As for feeding them, I came up with a feeder for less waste since I pulverize the feed and cat food into a mash. They can still bathe in it, but it stays inside the container.

This is a salad mix plastic container with a whole cut out of the top so the chicks can jump in, and a hole cut in the side so the quail chicks can go in and out.

Here are a few of the little guys. As you can see, some are more than double the size.

 

[mhwc56]

Czech's_chicks :

We plan on keeping the big ones for breeding.

As for feeding them, I came up with a feeder for less waste since I pulverize the feed and cat food into a mash. They can still bathe in it, but it stays inside the container.

This is a salad mix plastic container with a whole cut out of the top so the chicks can jump in, and a hole cut in the side so the quail chicks can go in and out.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/101155_feeder.jpg


Here are a few of the little guys. As you can see, some are more than double the size.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/101155_quail_size.jpg

just a bit of warning ...catfood is for cats not quail. when fed to quail it's damaging to their internal organs . There's lots of other ingredients that can safely be fed to quail to hike the protein level..hardboiled or scrambled eggs for example.​

 

[Fat Daddy]

Quote:

I was just wait'n for somebody to feed the polar bear!!

Bill