Tatanka Breeders Club: Meat Quail project with history, discussion, pictures and videos

[LavLady]

My quail rails arrived at the feed store today, waiting on eggs due to arrive Wednesday. I feel like a kid the week before Christmas.

Sorry, but I had to share; my family is sick of hearing it...

 

[Sill]

Im not sure what one but i just got a huge egg size of a golf ball and inside it was another huge egg Single Yolk. I think i may have to cull that hen before she prolapses

i dont ant anything to suffer she is just a meat bird not a tatanka

I think that happens when an egg travels backward in the oviduct and gets more white and another shell deposited on it's way back out. Did anything happen to upset her that the egg didn't follow the normal route?

Sometimes you just got to cull if they start to lay abnormally.

My quail rails arrived at the feed store today, waiting on eggs due to arrive Wednesday. I feel like a kid the week before Christmas.

Sorry, but I had to share; my family is sick of hearing it...

Who did you order your's from?

 

[LavLady]

Who did you order yours from?

I didn't order them I was offered them. If that person wishes to make them self known they will. I will just say that I am grateful, and looking forward to passing some along once I have enough birds that I comfortably can.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My quail rails arrived at the feed store today, waiting on eggs due to arrive Wednesday. I feel like a kid the week before Christmas.

Sorry, but I had to share; my family is sick of hearing it...

Hehehe i get eye rolls a LOT

Its ok, they just aren't bird people, their loss!
My DD and I share the passion of raising birds, so we can at least talk to each other! But here on BYC, we all understand! I for one, enjoy everyone's excitement over their birds of any species

DD bought me a pair of prize winning Bourbon Red turkeys for my 50th birthday last October. I cried I was so excited, and their fist poult hatched today

 

[LavLady]

Hehehe i get eye rolls a LOT Its ok, they just aren't bird people, their loss!
My DD and I share the passion of raising birds, so we can at least talk to each other! But here on BYC, we all understand! I for one, enjoy everyone's excitement over their birds of any species
DD bought me a pair of prize winning Bourbon Red turkeys for my 50th birthday last October. I cried I was so excited, and their fist poult hatched today

Thats AWESOME!

I suggested turkeys to my SO and he said simply "I'll kill it!" and that was the end of that discussion. :rolleyes

 

[Sill]

I didn't order them I was offered them. If that person wishes to make them self known they will. I will just say that I am grateful, and looking forward to passing some along once I have enough birds that I comfortably can.

Awesomeness!

 

[Da Falconer]

Sill, I said the bigger eggs of the same Coturnix breed that are being called the Tatanka. I am not saying a bigger egg from another breed. Your right that it takes longer for them to hatch, but no longer for the cellular division. The breed hasn't changed just that time it takes to get out of the egg. A lot of the time I see fecal matter in the hatched egg, this isn't right. This tells me the chick is slow or sluggish because it has already used it's food source, it has been bred to be huge not healthy. Also some of these huge eggs are defective, and in my opinion are some of the chicks problems. For a lack of a better term the eggs are not "egg shaped" ie long thin, come to a point, have bumps in them or ribs. I believe all eggs are pretty much the same shape because the chick needs it not only to grow in but also to hatch out of. This is why I choose to hatch the select eggs that barely fit the quail trays, look like eggs, but may not be the largest ones my hens lay. I don't need to redesign/reconstruct a tray to hatch chicks that need special care the first week because they are basically being hatched starved. I am using trays I can buy, hatch healthy chicks I can mix with other chicks a few days older and not have a problem.

 

[LavLady]

Excellent point, Da Falcomer. There is more to it than selecting by simply bird and egg size to develop a healthy animal. I come from an equine background and have seen narrow minded selectibe breeding ruin two noble breeds. The paint breeders and apaloosa breeders ruined both breeds by breeding just for color. The native americans developed them for hunting and hardiness for 300 years and white folks ruined them in about 70 years by indiscriminantly breeding them into tall, awkward creatures with bad feet. They were supposed to be nimble, surefooted, fast and brave. I'm glad to hear that some here are breeding for more than just size. I hope to select breeders (within the guidelines for tatankas, of course) with a more docile demeanor than my current browns. Its a good thing they aren't flight conditioned or I would have lost one today. Too close for comfort.

 

[cluckin_crazy]

Newbie quail raiser here. Expecting my eggs to arrive on Wednesday. I ordered A&Ms from someone in GA and I will get a second batch from someone in TX in May. I need to know where people get the 3x10 cartons.. I can't find them online?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I am having a hard time finding the paper pulp ones. I don't care for foam or plastic, doesn't let air to the eggs.