Sexing Coturnix Quail

[silkie1472]

I have had pharaoh quail for years, and they have always been easy to sex based on breast color; however, I recently obtained three quail: 2 pharaoh that appear to be males, and a golden Italian (that I am assuming is a female). Does anyone know how to sex this breed? I do not currently have a picture.

 

[el dorado quail]

Vent check?

 

[silkie1472]

I’m not 100% sure on how to do the vent check. They are about 6-7 weeks old, but are still quite small. I know that they should be laying soon if they are female.

 

[silkie1472]

Here’s a pic of the quail. What do y’all think?

 

[Nabiki]

I'm new to this, but I'm going to say female from everything I've read.

Edit: speckled breast, no red

 

[silkie1472]

Any other thoughts? It is possible that it could be a hybrid.

 

[el dorado quail]

Look up on YouTube how to vent check or wait. If you think it's a "hybrid" then colorations won't help you

 

[silkie1472]

What doesn’t help is that the golden Italian variety is technically a hybrid anyways — crosses with a pharaoh.

 

[Maiahr]

I would say female based on head marking. Do a vent check. At this age would be easy.

 

[Ebony Rose]

While holding your quail firmly in one hand, use other hand to move feathers away from vent. If vent has a protruding bulge, take two fingers and place on either side of this bulge and ever so gently give it a delicate pinch. If white foam comes out, it's definitely a male;if not, and you've not heard crowing or seen eggs, then try this test weekly until you either have either crow/foam, or eggs. At timestamp 2:35 (or thereabouts) the following youtube video displays vent sexing both genders of Japanese Coturnix Quail.

Immature males don't foam, which is why you'd need to repeat the procedure weekly until you can make a determination.
Italian quail are crazy difficult to sex by feathering, I know! I have many Italians and those in my flock tend to mature later than my others; by week-10 I've usually got them all sorted out. Makes for a bigger bite by the time I discover which are males