Understanding the Celadon egg and how it relates to adult quail color

[Lobzi]

Im getting 44 Celadon eggs from James Marie Farms. I know nothing about them. Do they hatch out a particular look in quail or do all color varieties, golden, brown, white, etc have an occasional hen who will produce a blue egg? Im just wondering what to expect as to what will actually hatch.

Im also getting 16 "Schofield 6th and 7th generation" in the order. I know nothing about these either. If you are scratching your head wondering why I ordered these if I know nothing about them it is because I contacted James Marie Farms looking to purchase blue/grey/silver quail eggs and I was told I could have this already packaged order ready to ship that someone flaked on them for the same price I was going to purchase 25 eggs originally. Such a deal I agreed to take the 60 eggs off their hands.

I always say each egg that hatches is a surprise package...in this case I guess it really will be a surprise.

 

[nwfl]

Check with people on Facebook pages, Coturnix Breeders of America, United coturnix breeders and producers. They discuss their celedon hatches regularly. And, yes, there are several colors of birds that lay and hatch from these eggs.

 

[Lobzi]

Thank you. I found it a little distressing that the folks at James Marie would not return my email request for more information regarding what to expect from the Celadon hatch....after all I did not order the eggs, I just took over another person's order so it would not have to be unpacked. I was only interested in getting some eggs that would produce blue-grey quail.

 

[Lobzi]

That was a great tip to check that site on Facebook. For others with the same question, here is what I found:

Celadon "ce gene" Coturnix Eggs
These eggs are also know as Blue Coturnix eggs. The eggs will hatch different color chicks including the Schofield Silver lines which include Silver , Blue, Lavender, Cream, Slate, Blue Barred, Charcoal, Wild Type, Rosetta, Recessive White, Albino & Roux
I'm crossing all Celadon egg producing hens over Roux Males for the past few months so about half that hatch are Roux. I'm working on developing a line of Roux Dilute With the "ce" gene.
note: not all hens that hatch from Celadon eggs will lay Celadon Color eggs but the shells of those hens will be Blue on the inside and that hen can produce hens that lay Celadon eggs.....a hen that displays the "ce" gene will lay Celadon color eggs every time she lays a egg.

So at least I know something in general about these eggs and it is what I suspected (surprise packages). Also it is interesting as I had read on another thread about Celadon eggs that one could not expect the offspring to lay the blue eggs. This info counters that.

 

[dc3085]

Robby is the people at james marie farms. He cant answer every question people ask and still get out the over 1,000,000 hatching eggs he ships each year. Robby is one of the busiest people I know and we should just be glad he's even doing any of this. The money, the concept, and the energy to bring the scholfield stock from canada was entirely his. He isnt doing this to get rich he does it for the hobby itself so cut him a little slack.

 

[Lobzi]

Slack cut but honestly, since he knew I was taking the order off his hands and was totally unfamiliar with it, he could have told me what to expect from the order. That was all I was asking. My original request was for 25 eggs to hatch out blue grey quail. I instead took an order off his hands he had boxed for another person. All he told me was it was 44 Celadon and 16 Schoefield. I had no idea what either were until I did some research. It was Robby who I was in contact with.

 

[jwalk2515]

To make it a little easier, Robbie is most effective if you call him. He freely admits email is not his focus but if you get him on the phone he is a fountain of information and you can get years of experience in a short period of time.

 

[Lobzi]

Ok, well I wanted to let him know that the eggs arrived in great shape so I did email him upon my unpacking them. I wont bother him again via email.
When I did talk to him on the phone he was very nice but I sort of wanted it in writing as to what I was to receive so I could research where necessary. Im pretty new to quail so Im just learning about all the different colors of coturnix. I spent a lot of time on the MarieJamesFarms website and learned of many different colors that are available through their site. I just wanted to have some idea as to what I would be getting. I didnt even find a mention on the site of Celadon so I wasnt sure if it was a color of bird or what. I used an Internet search to get to BYC for informaltion. I just dont think I should have had to do that under the circumstances.

 

[jennifleur]

Robby, and my experience ordering from JMF.
I called JMF a few years ago to order my first quail eggs. Robby answered the phone and we ended up having a long chat. He was charming and eager to share his love and knowledge about quail. He answered all of my questions and shared insights into the different breeds they have and are developing. He told me about his bantom quail line in such a way I was really tempted to go that route. That he had a large quail aviary with complete with soil, plants, natural cover material and running water like a little stream. That it had one way mirrors so he could observe their behavior in a more natural setting. That if he had the time he could set there and just watch them fasinated. He spoke about broodiness in quail and the challenges or breeding it back. He spoke of a tragic accident during a school tour where rambunctious exploration ended up in stacks of eggs ready to be transported, were accidently knocked over and destroyed and even salvageable ones hoplessly mixed. Resulting in order confusion, reshuffling, delays in egg shipments and added paperwork. After talking to him, my impression was of a truely nice man. A scientist, researcher, educator, enthusiast, dedicated breeder and finally a business man. My order ended up having a delay. I didn't call right away, I was still so in awe of what he was doing and felt it would be a privalege to get eggs from him, that I didn't mind waiting. He ended up calling me out of the blue. That he had a record of my check, and it showed that my order had been sent out but lacking a tracking number? I'm fuzzy on the exact problem, something set off red light for him. He made it right, he sent me extras. They were packed expertly, they were large health eggs with intact air cells and I hatched amazing birds.
I imagine Robby as creative quail genius. That paperwork, and the buisness side of things are not where he excels or enjoys spending his time. That time management, the amount of time he would spend talking to and educating a first time customer, one with a tiny order in the grand picture would not be strictly effecient in a dollar and cents way. That he is busy on numerous projects and from what I have heard, recovering from health issues. I guess I just wanted to put it out there for people. JMF is not just a business, its a passion. I would order from him again in a heartbeat. I would make sure that I was flexible with the timing and prepared mentally to absorb any bumps/ hiccups in the process. Robby has a lot of fans out there, I'm one of them.

 

[Lobzi]

Yes Robbie seems nice via phone. I would have liked to talk longer but he was busy with getting orders out and shipped. I didnt want to hang him up so I didnt engage him in a long conversation. It wasnt until after we hung up that I realized I had not much idea what was going to be in the order. In this case he was not forthcoming in giving me information other than to say he had waited many days for the person to pay so he could ship the order and that he would be glad to send a message saying the eggs had been taken by another. He just seemed very glad to find a taker for the order that was not being paid for by the other person. I just wanted some blue quail so I hope I get a few of those eggs to hatch. I am looking forward to seeing what ever comes out of the Celadon eggs too.

By the way, no stream in my pen but I have tried to make it a more natural environment for my quail too. No small wire pens and so I am able to have about a 50-50 ratio of male to female, maybe even more male than female all together without fighting. Im hoping in this more natural environment eventually some of my hens will go broody. No mirrors for my viewing only for them as they seem to like sitting in front of a mirror at times. I do have a view of the entire aviary from my window where I sit to use my computer. I also spend time each day walking around in the aviary with them and sometimes sitting for as much as an hour just watching them. I have a few who come up and tug on my sock. They know if they get my attention I will scratch around and find them a mealworm. Sounds like Robbie and I have a lot in common that way. Im not a breeder and am only interested in having my quail as pets and providing a good home for them, so that is a difference.