Sexing quail and colour

[Ruskin_Roost]

Just warning you, vent sexing them this young isn't always reliable. I bought some seven week old 'hens' and three of them turned out to be males (they were vent sexed).

Thank you for the warning! I am hoping some spotty cheats on my “Roos” will start appearing. I definitely have four males confirmed by crowing.

 

[Ruskin_Roost]

I’ve been vent sexing, mine are 6.5 weeks, I catch a couple per day, but I have very little foam so far, no eggs so female vents are small. So Ive been banding Roos as they crow.

As long as they get along I’m in no rush to cull, but I accept it has to happen, they have good lives and swift deaths. Most grocery meat is not so lucky. Plus we make sure we put the meat to good use, we try to show gratitude by not being wasteful, it makes me feel better about it.

as for how to get females, you can order sex link chicks from breeders, all females of a certain mix are born one color, all males another, I think it’s roux and pharaoh, but not sure which parent is which.

I watched a hysterical video of a guy sexing eggs based on shape, and I plan to try it haha. It’s obviously hogwash, but it might make a fun “experiment“ for my kids, they had a science after school program, and now they’re always wanting to do experiments lol.

Hahaha experiments are fun! I kept each of the eight eggs that hatched so I could compare them to the “adult bird” as a fun little side project. I used to teach “MadScience” which offered after school programs too! I am always experimenting! How fun for your kids

Banding is a great idea! What do you use? I haven’t found anything small enough. I guess I could use zip-ties and cut off the extra.

I have read articles and watched videos on sex-linked chicks and I am still a little untrustworthy of the process! I need to learn more. I think the Pharaoh is the male and the Egyptian or Roux is the female?

What age do you start to cull for meat? I have read from 40 days onward. 6-8weeks, but that seems too early. However, with four Roos crowing at 4:30am in my living room....

Thank you!

 

[Pandaisy]

I started culling my roosters at 6 weeks old, I think they were perfect. The last one went to the freezer at 15 weeks, he was more fat than meat.

 

[Kale the Quail]

Th
that’s hard! I empathise with you! That was a question I had, what to do with the extra males... do you sell them or give them away?

i was thinking of selling, but then i thought: now, i'd like to get them out as soon as possible because they're living in a box in the garage, and selling them would take quite a while.

so i gave them away
I also didn't particularly like that boy that mauled my female (because they're my prescious babies ) so it wasn't too hard

 

[Fenrisulfr]

Yes... as I wrote somewhere else, my "pets" will not been harvested. They will live their life. In case of suffering, I will end the suffering quick and they will be buried.
I know, a bit shizophrenic

For all, who don't want to know details, please stop reading here !!!

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I tried several methods,...

The pigeon method (ripping of the head), which I sense kinda brutal, even it is fast.

The scissors method, for which I am not fast enough. I always had the feeling, till the scissors are through from back to throat, the birds are struggling, as I do it. Others are maybe faster.

I do it good old and fast chopping method. Bought a very sharp and heavy chopping knife, calm the bird (interesting that they never move, when you lay them on the chopping block) and within milliseconds it is done.
This is my way, just like my grandparents did harvest chicken.

I also tried to paralyse the bird, before chopping of the head, with a hit on the head, like demanded by EU laws, but these guys made the law should try this by themselfes. My empathy told the animal suffers more, than with a fast quick death.

If you never harvested an animal, you should be aware, that after the death the nerves are shaking. This is normal and nothing you did wrong. Hold the bird steady, till the nerves are stopping (15-20 seconds), otherwise the corpse will flap wild and blood will spill all around.

All this sounds harsh, but this is how meat comes to the table.
I can understand that some people can't do it.

Death is not as clean as Hollywood tries to tell us (shot, one cry, fall and finish).
I was at my fathers bed, holding his hand, when he died.
I know what I am talking about.

 

[Fenrisulfr]

I started culling my roosters at 6 weeks old, I think they were perfect. The last one went to the freezer at 15 weeks, he was more fat than meat.

Yes, 6-7 weeks is the perfect age to harvest. Later they start to mould the teanager plumage and removing the feathers is a pain and the roo hormons change the taste.

 

[Nabiki]

This is so helpful to know. Do you use the suggested butchering method of using scissors? I want to know the most humane way. Thank you for all of the information! I wasn’t sure if you butchered because you have quail for livestock but also you have quail as pets.

I use sharp shears. You have to be quick and decisive, but it's over very quickly except for the twitching. Make sure you have a good hold of the wings so you don't splatter blood everywhere.

 

[FloorCandy]

Yes... as I wrote somewhere else, my "pets" will not been harvested. They will live their life. In case of suffering, I will end the suffering quick and they will be buried.
I know, a bit shizophrenic

For all, who don't want to know details, please stop reading here !!!

.
.
.
.
.
.

I tried several methods,...

The pigeon method (ripping of the head), which I sense kinda brutal, even it is fast.

The scissors method, for which I am not fast enough. I always had the feeling, till the scissors are through from back to throat, the birds are struggling, as I do it. Others are maybe faster.

I do it good old and fast chopping method. Bought a very sharp and heavy chopping knife, calm the bird (interesting that they never move, when you lay them on the chopping block) and within milliseconds it is done.
This is my way, just like my grandparents did harvest chicken.

I also tried to paralyse the bird, before chopping of the head, with a hit on the head, like demanded by EU laws, but these guys made the law should try this by themselfes. My empathy told the animal suffers more, than with a fast quick death.

If you never harvested an animal, you should be aware, that after the death the nerves are shaking. This is normal and nothing you did wrong. Hold the bird steady, till the nerves are stopping (15-20 seconds), otherwise the corpse will flap wild and blood will spill all around.

All this sounds harsh, but this is how meat comes to the table.
I can understand that some people can't do it.

Death is not as clean as Hollywood tries to tell us (shot, one cry, fall and finish).
I was at my fathers bed, holding his hand, when he died.
I know what I am talking about.

I did it with sharp shears, I held the bird, calmed it, and my husband did the quick snip. I think the birds never knew what happened, don’t look in the bucket and see the head tho, that bothers me.

when I worked at a pet store many years ago, we tried the knock on head method, for feeder animals, but I also found it more cruel than a fast death when used on small animals.

Mine were 1 day shy of 6 weeks when I culled 4 for bbq last week, it went fine, my husband and I each got 2 quail, I made hot dogs for my kids. The kids never saw anything besides regular looking meat going on the bbq.

 

[FloorCandy]

Hahaha experiments are fun! I kept each of the eight eggs that hatched so I could compare them to the “adult bird” as a fun little side project. I used to teach “MadScience” which offered after school programs too! I am always experimenting! How fun for your kids

Banding is a great idea! What do you use? I haven’t found anything small enough. I guess I could use zip-ties and cut off the extra.

I have read articles and watched videos on sex-linked chicks and I am still a little untrustworthy of the process! I need to learn more. I think the Pharaoh is the male and the Egyptian or Roux is the female?

What age do you start to cull for meat? I have read from 40 days onward. 6-8weeks, but that seems too early. However, with four Roos crowing at 4:30am in my living room....

Thank you!

Their after school program was MadScience. They love it.

I bought bands on amazon, chicken hill baby poultry leg bands,xs fits and stays on newly hatched chicks, but they will outgrow. The small size, 2 out of 3 fell off before they got big enough, but they won’t outgrow them. They look like the rainbow rubber bands that are used for braces.

 

[Pandaisy]

My neighbor uses a funnel to hold them still. He uses a cut out plastic water bottle, puts the bird in there so that the head sticks out at the smaller end and then cuts it off quickly. I haven't tried it yet.