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

[Sill]

My last hatch weights for hens at 42 days were: 253.7, 283.4, 270.7, 256.5, 284.9, 273.5, 277.8, 283.4, 350.11, 292, 316, 289. (I did not weight the roos in that hatch, they went into the freezer.) The first six of these hens have been set up with a cousin roo who was 277.8g at 42 days, the last six with their grandfather who is my biggest roo so far at 297g. These weights are not too far off from what you are getting on the hens at the same age.

I'm disappointed in egg sizes, their eggs are averaging 13-14g, with only an occasional 15g egg. It seems all the eggs bigger than 16 are double yolkers. A couple of these hens consistently lay double yolks, so I'm having a hard time setting eggs all over 14g. I just set 20 eggs, and set the limit at 13.5g and up. I'll try and keep better weights with this next hatch and see how they compare with target weights during growth.

 

[HunterH]

This thread is awesome! How much pen room would one need to do this successfully? Very interested in big meat birds! How much footage do you guys give the bigger birds in a breeder pen? Quads?

 

[birdman55]

good luck trying to get some...
edited to add....I have sent pms to just about everyone that has them...and not one person has sent a pm back...even to say no...so im sure there set and don't need any breeders

 

[Sill]

Mine are not Tatankas, I got my original stock from someone off Craigslist and have been working to get my sizes up. My first "jumbos" were 6-7.5 ounces, the largest was 10 but she was big compared to the rest. In not quite a year of breeding and culling I've gotten my sizes to where my smallest hen chick is just under 9 ounces and the biggest over 12 at 5 weeks. My eggs have increased from 8-12 to 12-14 grams in less than a year. I've just been setting the biggest eggs I have from the biggest birds, getting larger chicks maturing, and culling the smaller ones. I've got some high hopes for my newest batch of eggs. It's slow work getting the sizes up, and hard to get consistent results. At least the generations are pretty quick, don't have to wait as long for coturnix to mature as chickens.

 

[HunterH]

Mine are not Tatankas, I got my original stock from someone off Craigslist and have been working to get my sizes up. My first "jumbos" were 6-7.5 ounces, the largest was 10 but she was big compared to the rest. In not quite a year of breeding and culling I've gotten my sizes to where my smallest hen chick is just under 9 ounces and the biggest over 12 at 5 weeks. My eggs have increased from 8-12 to 12-14 grams in less than a year. I've just been setting the biggest eggs I have from the biggest birds, getting larger chicks maturing, and culling the smaller ones. I've got some high hopes for my newest batch of eggs. It's slow work getting the sizes up, and hard to get consistent results. At least the generations are pretty quick, don't have to wait as long for coturnix to mature as chickens.

I will probably follow in your footsteps. Can I ask how many birds you keep at once to achieve this?

 

[Sill]

I will probably follow in your footsteps. Can I ask how many birds you keep at once to achieve this?

I have 8 breeding groups with 4-6 hens per roo. Forty eight total quail right now. I would like to get more breeding cages set up, but my time and space right now is limited. I'm hoping to get some more cages done this spring. I've got my quail in 2x4 foot cages per group.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Mine are not Tatankas, I got my original stock from someone off Craigslist and have been working to get my sizes up. My first "jumbos" were 6-7.5 ounces, the largest was 10 but she was big compared to the rest. In not quite a year of breeding and culling I've gotten my sizes to where my smallest hen chick is just under 9 ounces and the biggest over 12 at 5 weeks. My eggs have increased from 8-12 to 12-14 grams in less than a year. I've just been setting the biggest eggs I have from the biggest birds, getting larger chicks maturing, and culling the smaller ones. I've got some high hopes for my newest batch of eggs. It's slow work getting the sizes up, and hard to get consistent results. At least the generations are pretty quick, don't have to wait as long for coturnix to mature as chickens.

WTG I plan to work on mine again this year too. Protein is a big chunk of the puzzle, culling and documenting too is probably as important. This is my easiest, fastest bird to process, I want them larger to feed my big family. Turkeys just take way too long to mature LOL!

 

[MobyQuail]

v2.10.2015

 

[dt1958]

v2.10.2015

Nice little hatch there !

 

[dt1958]

Some of the girls are kicking out some good stuff here





And they got a great paint job on them !