Came across this from a breeders website was wondering if anyone was familiar with this? http://www.klansgamebirds.net/resources.php
How about a Sexing String ?
Well I learned this one from one of the best Mountain Quail breeders from Ohio, Robert Roney. Bob as he was known to most was 80 years old when I had the chance to meet him in person after a few years of talking with him on the phone and letters back and forth, he was a very nice man and always took the time to teach you about the birds. I was at his house on the way to visit Marvin Trice and stopped to pick up a few birds for him on my way over. Mr. Roney took me out back his home and I was really taken back by his set up. He had a three foot chain link fence around an area no more than 15' x 15' inside this area were his pens of rusted chicken wire that I'll bet you could have stuck your hand right through it and all the birds would get out, his pens, from what I can remember they were only about two foot high and at the most six foot long, but he could hatch and raise the Mountain quail, they were packed in there, no fighting, no nose or toe pecking, they were well taken care of. He told me always give them greens (lettuce or apples) everyday. I can remember he told my dad that when lettuce was selling for 1.25 a head he still gave them one everyday, well the average price of lettuce back in the day I knew him it was right around 33 cents a head. We thought that was unheard of to spend that kind of money on birds. As Bob pulled a few Mountain quail out of the pens to put in a box for Marvin, he asked me if I knew how to sex a mountain quail, I replied, that no I did not , being this was actually the first time I had gotten to see a live mountain quail in person. He gave the bird to me to hold, as I held the bird, I thought for sure I was going to crush it to keep it from flying away, the price back then $125.00 a pair, a lot of money for me since I was just getting into raising other quail besides common Bobwhites. As I held the bird at his request, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a string with a small nail tied onto the end of it. He said that this was the way that he sexed his birds and said that I could also sex my birds at home the same way if I could never tell the difference in my birds when they were young. He held the nail that was suspended from the string about an inch from the top of the birds head, I just looked and said, what is this going to do. In a split second the nail had began to move, he told me if it moves in a circular motion it will be a hen, if it swings back and forth, tail to beak it is a male, I was kind of skeptical of what I had just witnessed and he knew it, because he said, here you try it, as he grabbed another Mountain quail from the cages below. He told me to hold the bird back as far as I could with out getting my hand it the way of the hanging nail. I held the nail above his head and well, who would have guessed, it was doing the same thing that he said it would, amazing. He then told me that this is the way that they sexed chickens on his parents farm back in the old days, remember Bob was in his 80's when I met him. Now there are a lot of people out there that would chalk this up to hog wash, or folklore, but it works, I use it all the time, I think that if someone else, perhaps younger would have showed me this I would not believe in it at all, but you really have to trust the old guys and what they say, don't you ? Below is a diagram of how the string and nail should work for you, the main thing to remember is to keep yourself away from the string and nail, it all works on magnetism in the body, you can try in on yourself or others, or you can try it on birds you are 100% sure of like a male ring-neck pheasant or something of that nature. I used it on my wife when she was pregnant with both our children and it worked. Here is the swing direction of the string and the sex that it implies. Male: String will swing from beak to tail or front to back. Female: String will circle around the head. Picture of the simple string and nail set-up. I hope that maybe you will try one or maybe both of these ideas I have sent your way, if not, I did my part in filling another space in this issue.
How about a Sexing String ?
Well I learned this one from one of the best Mountain Quail breeders from Ohio, Robert Roney. Bob as he was known to most was 80 years old when I had the chance to meet him in person after a few years of talking with him on the phone and letters back and forth, he was a very nice man and always took the time to teach you about the birds. I was at his house on the way to visit Marvin Trice and stopped to pick up a few birds for him on my way over. Mr. Roney took me out back his home and I was really taken back by his set up. He had a three foot chain link fence around an area no more than 15' x 15' inside this area were his pens of rusted chicken wire that I'll bet you could have stuck your hand right through it and all the birds would get out, his pens, from what I can remember they were only about two foot high and at the most six foot long, but he could hatch and raise the Mountain quail, they were packed in there, no fighting, no nose or toe pecking, they were well taken care of. He told me always give them greens (lettuce or apples) everyday. I can remember he told my dad that when lettuce was selling for 1.25 a head he still gave them one everyday, well the average price of lettuce back in the day I knew him it was right around 33 cents a head. We thought that was unheard of to spend that kind of money on birds. As Bob pulled a few Mountain quail out of the pens to put in a box for Marvin, he asked me if I knew how to sex a mountain quail, I replied, that no I did not , being this was actually the first time I had gotten to see a live mountain quail in person. He gave the bird to me to hold, as I held the bird, I thought for sure I was going to crush it to keep it from flying away, the price back then $125.00 a pair, a lot of money for me since I was just getting into raising other quail besides common Bobwhites. As I held the bird at his request, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a string with a small nail tied onto the end of it. He said that this was the way that he sexed his birds and said that I could also sex my birds at home the same way if I could never tell the difference in my birds when they were young. He held the nail that was suspended from the string about an inch from the top of the birds head, I just looked and said, what is this going to do. In a split second the nail had began to move, he told me if it moves in a circular motion it will be a hen, if it swings back and forth, tail to beak it is a male, I was kind of skeptical of what I had just witnessed and he knew it, because he said, here you try it, as he grabbed another Mountain quail from the cages below. He told me to hold the bird back as far as I could with out getting my hand it the way of the hanging nail. I held the nail above his head and well, who would have guessed, it was doing the same thing that he said it would, amazing. He then told me that this is the way that they sexed chickens on his parents farm back in the old days, remember Bob was in his 80's when I met him. Now there are a lot of people out there that would chalk this up to hog wash, or folklore, but it works, I use it all the time, I think that if someone else, perhaps younger would have showed me this I would not believe in it at all, but you really have to trust the old guys and what they say, don't you ? Below is a diagram of how the string and nail should work for you, the main thing to remember is to keep yourself away from the string and nail, it all works on magnetism in the body, you can try in on yourself or others, or you can try it on birds you are 100% sure of like a male ring-neck pheasant or something of that nature. I used it on my wife when she was pregnant with both our children and it worked. Here is the swing direction of the string and the sex that it implies. Male: String will swing from beak to tail or front to back. Female: String will circle around the head. Picture of the simple string and nail set-up. I hope that maybe you will try one or maybe both of these ideas I have sent your way, if not, I did my part in filling another space in this issue.
