One breed two sizes? Do they mix well?

[SaishoQuail]

I have to four different quail I just received from a friend. Two are the larger breed japanese quail (coturnix japonica) and two are the smaller breed japanese quail (coturnix japonica). She said the larger ones do not lay nearly as many eggs, if any at all, and that they are much more calm and less poppy. She said the smaller ones lay many more eggs but pop up and down a lot in the cage.
I was curious, can the large and small quail breed together (figured the bigger calmer bird mixed with an avid egg layer would be a good crossover)? Will these two species even get a long well in the same aviary?

Thank you for any help!

SaishoQuail

 

[SeptemberQuail]

First off, welcome to BYC!

I'm a little confused as to what you're trying to explain here. Are you saying that they're both coturnix quail, but two are bigger than the others? Or are these two completely different species? If I'm just misunderstanding, I'm sorry about that.

If they're both coturnix japonica, the bigger ones could be jumbo quail. They're specifically bred to be bigger.
The smaller quail I'm presuming are just regular quail.

I would keep an eye on them if keeping them together, but be aware that the bigger ones may bully and pick on the smaller ones. If that were to happen, separate them ASAP before any bloodshed occurs. But, it really depends on the behavior of the birds and how much space they have.

 

[James the Bald]

Saisho, another thing to point out, is that the "larger" jumbo quail have been selectively bred to carry the "large" trait. If you were to "intentionally" breed the jumbo quail and the other smaller quail, you will effectively be "undoing" generations of work that breeders took to achieve the Jumbo that we have today.
As for myself, I would not recommend breeding the 2 different sizes, and suggest you keep the 2 large quail and 2 small quail separated. I wish I had a better response. If somebody else has another point of view, please post it.

Here is some suggested reading, and welcome to the Quail forum on BYC.
James