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

[Chaneys Ranch]

Has anyone that has bred for size had the feeling that they just want to work on the project and not really sell any? I quick butcher the excess birds to feed to my dogs. Fast them the night before (if I remember) and dispatch, take a big strainer, swish them around in how water, throw them in my chicken plucker (with a pool noodle around the bottom to stop them from getting stuck in the outside crack) cool and throw in baggies to feed my dogs. I keep only the largest 3-4 out of each hatch and carry on. The first bunch I hatched from shipped eggs, the ones I kept were 400-420 grams and some of them get sore feet. They left the breeding program and I have not had sore feet after that. I started with Texas A & M and had one 385 gram brown from previous stock that I crossed with my 440 gram white male. I thought I wanted to buy eggs from browns that were supposed to have come from 400 grams and bigger parents (from direct JMF stock but was told after, they may have been from the strain that lay nice big eggs, but do not get so big) but hardly any of those made 300 grams let along 400, so I went back to the drawing board with the offspring of the brown female and the largest male. I took 1 male and 2 females, but put them with my larger whites, the male with larger white females and the females (one of which actually made 460 grams) with the largest white male. Waiting patiently to grow out the offspring from these crosses. But in the meanwhile, I really dont care if I sell any of the offspring, because they are for the dogs for food, the excess, I butcher when I need more space. For me its just so very interesting to work with them to see how they go. My goal is to have consistent 400 to 440 likely gram birds that stay sound and healthy. When at maturity more pass 400 grams than dont out of each hatch then I will be happy. I may even go one more and only set eggs over 15 grams. This thread has kept me going and has inspired me and gave me guidelines to follow.

I rarely sell any. They are here for my families food. If someone asks I may sell a quad but knowing what my birds weights are, Its not often I do. I raise them for our freezer. It always depends on hatch rate and time of year for me.

 

[pharris5331]

I am starting raising coturnix again and am going to try and raise bigger and better through breeding. My question is I keep seeing it said that you normally set the 15g eggs but why wouldn't you set the biggest eggs like the ones in the pics that hit 20g that you said we're for eating even if the hatch rate went down would it produce a few slightly bigger birds

 

[vladsko]

Happy New Year

 

[SimonGrow]

Great thread moby!

I was just wondering how stable the Tatankas are now? I believe the Tatankas are being line bred and you guys and gals that still have them are trading eggs to refresh the gene pool? My JMF meat makers are only averaging 10 oz at 4 months. I do give my birds artificial light and my hens lay eggs daily. I would love to work with a stable line that can consistently reach 12-14 oz by 4 months.

Simon

 

[MobyQuail]

going on a couple years now... I've still got over a dozen pairs of birds hatched from earlier this year. Still line breeding them- no outcrosses, still only hatching eggs greater than 14g, still very happy with the birds. getting ready to start setting more eggs for this years crop of "fatdaddy's"...

nice to see this thread and our efforts are helping others and making it a standard of "jumbo quail", I've seen this thread or standards cited in several other projects online, good luck to everyone with their projects.

 

[SimonGrow]

Please keep up the great work. You and the others involved in this project have provided so much useful information. I have used your standards and methods as a starting point for my breeding projects.

I just want to mention that I found out it was my own fault that my original hatch of JMF meat makers didn't make it up to the weights I was hoping for. After consulting with Robby from James Marie Farms, I found out that quails do not grow at their maximum rate when exposed to 100+F temps. The offspring from my original JMF meat makers are already much larger than their parents at the same age.

Anyways, thanks for keeping such excellent records. I would love to see more of your updated weights if/when you have them if you get a chance to post them. I know it can get tedious. Thanks for sharing this project with everyone!

Simon

 

[Fat Daddy]

going on a couple years now... I've still got over a dozen pairs of birds hatched from earlier this year. Still line breeding them- no outcrosses, still only hatching eggs greater than 14g, still very happy with the birds. getting ready to start setting more eggs for this years crop of "fatdaddy's"...

nice to see this thread and our efforts are helping others and making it a standard of "jumbo quail", I've seen this thread or standards cited in several other projects online, good luck to everyone with their projects.

You have done good work here Moby.... Im glad to see you touch on the "Line breeding" man! It seems to come up often.... The notion that you cant have large, healthy coturnix without new blood is purely Horse feathers! This line has been chug'n along for years now in what amounts to a "closed flock" situation.... These birds are still large and fertile. They have no more problems than any other line of coturnix. They just get a little bigger, a little faster, and lay bigger eggs! I only keep a hand full Tatanka these days. None ever leave my farm. I look forward to warmer weather to hatch replacement breeders and this years freezer stock.... Spring is coming and i can hardly wait! Bill

 

[Fat Daddy]

Please keep up the great work. You and the others involved in this project have provided so much useful information. I have used your standards and methods as a starting point for my breeding projects.

I just want to mention that I found out it was my own fault that my original hatch of JMF meat makers didn't make it up to the weights I was hoping for. After consulting with Robby from James Marie Farms, I found out that quails do not grow at their maximum rate when exposed to 100+F temps. The offspring from my original JMF meat makers are already much larger than their parents at the same age.

Anyways, thanks for keeping such excellent records. I would love to see more of your updated weights if/when you have them if you get a chance to post them. I know it can get tedious. Thanks for sharing this project with everyone!

Simon

Hello Simon, I believe Robby has told you true. While tracking weights and ages, we found that birds raised during the summer months. Do not reach the same weights as the same birds raised in cooler weather.... It works the same when raising them in the dead of winter or moving birds outside before they are fully feathered. Stress always hinders growth. No matter what the source.... Good luck with your birds..... Bill

 

[vladsko]

Mine are hatching as we speak. Lol

 

[tom8301]

It's very interesting to read the Tatanka quail message board, thank you for the information. I am so into this I decided to breed bigger quail from my jumbo brown and Taxes A&M. I weight my young quail and see how they match up with the Tatanka quail. My adult TAM were hatched from James Marie eggs, they weight between 11-16 oz, the female jumbo brown weight 12-15 oz but males weight only 9-10 oz. I need get bigger jumbo brown males. The jumbo brown eggs (14-18 g) are slightly larger than TAM eggs (13-17 g), once awhile I got double yolk eggs weight from 18 to 25 g. Yes, I did get a egg weight over 25 g.

My first hatch had 3 brown and 7 TAM. They match up ok with Tatanka up to 3 weeks, but slow down at 4 weeks. I keep my quail in the garage with a heat lamp, it may be too cold even with the heat lamp. Is the 4 weeks Tatanka goal much harder to make since they need to gain 70g weight in one week? Here are the quail weight:

Jumbo Brown
2 weeks: 72, 71, 65 g, average 69.3 g
3 weeks: 128,122,122 g, average 124 g
4 weeks: 172,165,165, average 167 g
TAM
2 weeks: 76, 72, 72, 65, 65, 48, 45 g, average 63.3 g
3 weeks: 138, 135, 131, 124, 114, 110, 95, average 121 g
4 weeks: 185, 180 177, 175, 166, 155, 140, average 168 g.

I will continue to wight the quail, and probably keep the 3 jumbo brown and the 4 largest TAM as breeder. For the 3 jumbo brown, I got 1 male and 2 female. I am not decided to mix the jumbo and TAM breeding, or keep them separately do a line breeding. Any suggestion?