Quail Hatched! Update: 1 week old today!

[Overeasyplz]

wow if they grow that fast I might need another tupperware tub to put the overflowing quails in!

 

[peewee]

Very cute little babies.

I just love them when they are that small.

 

[darkfur]

Here's the genetics skinny on golds and browns:
two copies of the gold allele is lethal - the bird dies in the egg or as a young chick
gold is also dominant over brown
this means that every adult gold bird has one gold allele one brown (since if it had both gold it would be dead).
If you cross gold x gold you get 1/4 lethal ie dud egg or dead chick, 1/2 gold which are split for brown, 1/4 brown
If you cross gold x brown (recommended over gold x gold) you get 1/2 golds which are split for brown 1/2 browns
since brown is recessive the browns are not carrying gold, this means brown x brown produces brown
HOWEVER
both brown and gold are dominant over some other colours such as white which means you can get white babies for instance if both parents were split for white
eg
brown (split for white) x brown (split for white) produces 1/4 brown (not split) 1/2 brown (split for white), 1/4 white which usually have brown blotches

I've worked out the genetics for the colours we have in New Zealand, which are: gold (aka speckled, fawn), brown (aka wild type, pharoah), rosetta (this is the name I have chosen for an auburn kind of colour that is lighter than range but darker than brown - it seems to have all sorts of different names from different breeders and some people seem to think its a form of british range because it looks similar and strombergs call it a hybrid which is a bit misleading if you ask me as it is just a colour - anyway I digress, it's a genetically different colour of quail is all), british range (aka tibetan), white (aka English white), and tuxedo. I would do the other mutations not available in New Zealand but am hesitant to pronounce on mutations that I cannot check by my own breeding. If anyone REALLY REALLY wants the chart and explanatory .pdf they can have it by sending me a message but should be aware that if there are other mutations such as dilute in their gene pool this will have an effect on their breeding. They should also be aware that I have tried really hard to make it understandable but it is kind of heavy going when you get into the effects of several genes at once. I can promise the info as it stands is correct as I gathered it from published scientific articles and checked it against my own breeding (I have a genetics degree).

love and genes and quail
Emma

 

[zaylinda]

Wow, thanks for the genetics lesson, darkfur!
This info is good to know!
-Zay