Want quail for meat. How should I start?

[joe125]

Sorry...the A&M experiment was a bust. It was designed to be a replacement for the CHICKEN...40+ years ago...you youngsters! Are you eating coturnix, or chicken?

Please,Please, stop digging up 40+ year old tech. papers to justify your existence. Once the board is free from over moderation, then people with real world knowledge can help those in need. We want to help you, the butterfly lady wants to stop us. Please stop the butterfly Lady, because she doesn't know JACK about raising any species of QUAIL....Yes, you know the QUAIL section....THE ONE YOU ARE READING NOW!!! It is in danger!!!!

 

[animal8]

Quote:
Just out of curiosity, what is the A&M experiment? I have heard brief mentionings of how they were first developed, but I don't know the whole story. Can anyone help me out?

 

[saddina]

Quote:
Just out of curiosity, what is the A&M experiment? I have heard brief mentionings of how they were first developed, but I don't know the whole story. Can anyone help me out?

Long and short the aggie dept at Tex A&M were trying to breed up cortunix quail into 1LB white meat birds with white feathers, to be used for market consumption. A few years in the lost funding for the project, the researchers claimed they were close. They did manage to stabalize white feathering, but the size and meat coloring is still disputed. Either way that was before many of us were born, and no one seems to have any of the "improved" stock, it's either all been eaten, culled or crossed back into the general hobby quail population.

i'll grant that it's possiable that A&M may have been close, but like many rare breeds of plants and livestock, when a breed isn't actively developed it disappears.

 

[animal8]

Quote:
Just out of curiosity, what is the A&M experiment? I have heard brief mentionings of how they were first developed, but I don't know the whole story. Can anyone help me out?

Long and short the aggie dept at Tex A&M were trying to breed up cortunix quail into 1LB white meat birds with white feathers, to be used for market consumption. A few years in the lost funding for the project, the researchers claimed they were close. They did manage to stabalize white feathering, but the size and meat coloring is still disputed. Either way that was before many of us were born, and no one seems to have any of the "improved" stock, it's either all been eaten, culled or crossed back into the general hobby quail population.

i'll grant that it's possiable that A&M may have been close, but like many rare breeds of plants and livestock, when a breed isn't actively developed it disappears.

Thank you for the information. That sounds like it could have been a very interesting project!! I am quite interested in projects that involve selectively breeding animals for desired characteristic (even though I don't agree with it most of the time, it's still fascinating to read the theory behind it). Was it a University in Texas that carried out the experiment? That was what I heard before...

So, is the Texas A&M that you can buy now not the original bird? I've heard that they have white feathers, but not white meat or the size they are sometimes claimed to have...

 

[saddina]

Quote:
Long and short the aggie dept at Tex A&M were trying to breed up cortunix quail into 1LB white meat birds with white feathers, to be used for market consumption. A few years in the lost funding for the project, the researchers claimed they were close. They did manage to stabalize white feathering, but the size and meat coloring is still disputed. Either way that was before many of us were born, and no one seems to have any of the "improved" stock, it's either all been eaten, culled or crossed back into the general hobby quail population.

i'll grant that it's possiable that A&M may have been close, but like many rare breeds of plants and livestock, when a breed isn't actively developed it disappears.

Thank you for the information. That sounds like it could have been a very interesting project!! I am quite interested in projects that involve selectively breeding animals for desired characteristic (even though I don't agree with it most of the time, it's still fascinating to read the theory behind it). Was it a University in Texas that carried out the experiment? That was what I heard before...

So, is the Texas A&M that you can buy now not the original bird? I've heard that they have white feathers, but not white meat or the size they are sometimes claimed to have...

Yes it was a University, Texas A&M http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_A&M . The white feathering has remained, but not the reported size or meat coloring (I suspect it wasn't white meat, but "pink" meat, think of the pork "other white meat" slogan in the 90's).

 

[1shotcleaner]

i will tell you from experience the cortunix : mexican speckled, pharaoh, texas a&m, japanise, common.: what ever they are called in your neck of the woods are the meat bird of choice. fast growing lay like crazy, taste great, easy to raise ,easy to hatch, easy to clean. you can start with a small investment, and make it into a business in weeks. i have just restarted mine. as we moved and were in transition for 2 years. i started over with 4 hens and 2 cocks that was in late June i now have 45 birds im using as breeders, and over 50 1-3 week old chicks and i stopped and tried bw quail in the middle they are allot of work. the pharaoh as i call them are easy and can be enjoyable as a hobby. 17 days to hatch 8weeks to lay high fertility full size 10 weeks, colony breading works best. i use 5 cocks to 20 hens. they will lay on cheep feed but if you want production 22% layer will make them laying machines. they do well in close quarters. i ran my other birds in a gqf bruder stack start to finish. wish i didn't sell that. any way they are great and the way to go. ill help you if i can thats if you want my help. my last flock was 700 birds from hatched to 6 months old. some times as many as 1200 to as little as 200 but usaly around the 700 mark and they werent hard to take cair of, but the eggs were. ive got some tricks for them thoe. oh yea i use gqf 1202's the old ones with the long trays, three trays set apart its tricky but you can have a hatch every week with an extra tray like that, but the cycle changes or you can do a rest cycle as i did later. that was every 7 days set a tray. but you don't need any thing that big just a fome incubator and a fish tank will get you started quail racks are a must. they are the best birds i have ever raised. just wanted you to see my thoughts good luck.

thies were the first hatch on my new flock.

 

[JJMR794]

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Worth a read by the man who developed them...cva34
http://urbanrancher.tamu.edu/retiredsite/animals/l5215.pdf

YES IT IS A GOOD READ

WANNA KNOW HOW THE ENDED UP WHITE COLORED BIRDS?

http://www.hpj.com/archives/2005/mar05/mar21/Gourmetquailbusinesstakingw.CFM

 

[swheat]

Interesting read ! Now I know a little history behind them.

 

[joe125]

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Yup! That's what I'm talking about!

All the other stupid stuff diminishes the species.

Their rapid growth doesn't come without a cost. They require a butt load of feed compared to other species, but you will make it up in the time factor.

 

[thegreatfandango]

What is a good cheap incubator?