Chinese painted quail: features of breeding at home

The Chinese quail is a fertile species characterized by sexual deformity. They live in southeastern Asia, Africa and Australia. In summer they are kept in the fresh air, in winter - in heated enclosures and cages. Quails are very sensitive to drafts. When keeping them in captivity, it is necessary to maintain a certain lighting and heating regime in the room where they live. Quails are fed grain, insects, herbs, and worms.

Features of keeping Chinese painted quail

The Chinese painted quail is native to Asia and is the smallest member of the Galliformes order.
Its length is about 14 cm, and its weight ranges from 28-40 g. There is evidence that previously in China these birds were taken on the road and used to warm hands in cold weather. Currently, they are kept for their beauty and their eggs, which are considered a delicacy. The Chinese quail is a fertile species characterized by sexual deformity. They live in southeastern Asia, Africa and Australia. In summer they are kept in the fresh air, in winter - in heated enclosures and cages. Quails are very sensitive to drafts. When keeping them in captivity, it is necessary to maintain a certain lighting and heating regime in the room where they live. Quails are fed grain, insects, herbs, and worms.

Distinctive features of the species

This variety is not endowed with certain differences, with the exception of the appearance of the quail and the place where the eggs are hatched.

In group breeding, chicks are hatched in an incubator

In China, these types of quail were used exclusively as a decorative species and many breeders carried them with them as hot water bottles.

It is preferable to keep them in pairs, as this is inherent in their nature. And build enclosures on a grassy floor, where they can build their own nests.

They love natural lighting, but an excessively dark room will not have a favorable effect on their development. The diet must include all the necessary vitamins and minerals. If you keep them in pairs, an incubator is not necessary. But, when kept in groups, females will not hatch eggs themselves.

This type of quail is the smallest and most beautiful. Individuals of Chinese quail can live up to ten years when kept in the wild.

Add supplements containing vitamin D to the diet. And give the quails the opportunity to walk in the fresh air and under the sun's rays, or ventilate the enclosure and build in artificial lighting. Prevent drafts and clean the house regularly.

If you keep Chinese quails in pairs, they will hatch the eggs on their own.

For better absorption of food and proper functioning of the esophagus, give them separate bowls with sand and gravel. and change their water.

During the egg-laying period, females are provided with nutrition with the highest content of minerals and vitamins. For this you can use compound feed. After finishing laying eggs, birds need rest. To do this, the female quail is transplanted into a separate cage with soft food and given grain food. Reduce the duration of lighting in an individual cage.

Some farmers make the room deliberately darker than usual and lower the temperature. For this purpose, in the cold season, you can place it on the balcony.

If your bird is exhausted from hatching eggs, give her a light abdominal massage and lubricate the cloaca. In addition, give her a solution of immunofan and add calcium gluconate.

Do not add oats to grains under any circumstances; quails do not digest this type of grain.

This type of quail is not used for the purpose of obtaining meat or eggs, as they do not have high indicators for these parameters.

They are not overly picky about their care.

Description of the breed

The Chinese quail (from the Latin Chinenesis Conturnix) is an ornamental bird. According to international nomenclature, it is included in the pheasant family, genus - quail, species - painted quail.

Distinctive features of the species

The distinctive features of this type of bird include, firstly, their appearance, and secondly, the place where the quail hatches its eggs. Regardless of gender, the beak color of Chinese quails is black, the tail is short with a dark brown tint, and the paws are orange or yellow. The male and female Chinese painted quail are brown in color, but as a result of selection, a species with a silver color was obtained.

The difference between a male and a female

Painted quail as a biological species is characterized by sexual deformity, which manifests itself in anatomical differences between males and females. Thus, quail differs from quail in color and size. The male is larger than the female. The main sizes of the male and female of these birds:

Parameter	male	female
body length, cm	up to 14	12,5
wing length, mm	65-78	66-67
tail length, mm	25	20-22
mass, g	40	28

The male has a mottled brown coloration, a blue-gray breast with a gray-brown tint. The male's abdomen is dark red. The quail's neck is shades of brown with bright white and black stripes.

The color of the female is uniform brown with a rusty tint on the abdomen and chest, the throat is white. Each feather has a black or dark brown edge.

Productivity

To attract females, the male emits something similar to “KOOI-KEE-KYU.” Such sounds can be heard at a distance of more than 1 km. During nesting, the quail does not participate in the creation of the nest, but brings food to the female and helps in the future with the offspring. Female Chinese quails build nests on the ground, collecting blades of grass and leaves.

This species of bird is prolific and produces from 150 to 200 eggs per year, the size of an olive with numerous specks on the shell and weighing up to 12 g. Quail eggs contain 1.4 mcg/100 g of vitamin D, as well as vitamins B, A, E , PP, K, macro- and microelements.

A quail usually incubates 4-6 eggs in a nest, rarely - up to 14 eggs. in two weeks. Painted quail chicks are born no larger than a bumblebee and leave the nest on the first day. After a few weeks they are already flying, and after 3 months they can lay eggs. During the season, one pair of quails can lay no more than 3 clutches, which depends on the quality of their maintenance and the amount of food. After laying eggs is complete, the females are transplanted to another room with specially darker lighting than usual and transferred to grain feed.

Due to stress, females stop hatching eggs and then use an incubator in which the eggs are kept for two weeks at a temperature of 37.5-38°C. After the chicks hatch, they are placed for several days in a box with a temperature of 28-30 ° C, which is gradually lowered to room temperature.

Living in the wild

Chinese wild painted quails live in Africa, South and East Asia, and also in Australia. Their main habitat is mountains, as well as steppes with thickets of grass, in which they make paths in the form of burrows. Males live their entire lives with only one female, whom they carefully care for and share food with. Chinese painted quails in the wild feed on insects and seeds.

Reproduction process

The Chinese quail is a monogamous species that retains its pairs for the mating season and reproduction throughout its life. The period for males begins with a high-pitched three-syllable sound in the form of a whistle.

The construction of the nest in the described species of birds is carried out exclusively by the female. During one oviposition, she usually lays from 4 to 10 eggs; in rare cases, a quail's oviposition numbers up to 12-14 eggs. At the same time, the color of the eggshell can vary and be different shades of yellow and brown. Sometimes the eggshell is covered with contrasting bright specks of dark brown, almost black, color.

Just like the process of building a nest, hatching the chicks falls exclusively on the female Chinese quail. The role of the male in raising chicks is to guard and protect the nest.

Hatching chicks takes an average of 2-2.5 weeks. Newborn quails, the size of a large bumblebee, leave the nest on the first day of their independent life. Their diet is no different from the food menu of adult birds. After 14-18 weeks, the young animals become sexually mature and completely independent.

Chinese quail can have more than one brood in a year. Their quantity directly depends on the quality of the food ration, and with sufficient adequate nutrition, hatching and raising chicks can follow one after another.

Home maintenance

Painted quail are kept outdoors in the summer, and in heated rooms in cages or enclosures in winter. They are kept in pairs or a male with several females. If there is a large concentration of birds in a cage, quails may begin to pluck each other's feathers. Poor nutrition and a stressful atmosphere in the nursery can also lead to this behavior in birds.

In summer, birds are placed in an aviary in a quiet, dry, shady place with a concrete base sprinkled with yellow sand or sawdust, and without drafts. The walls and ceiling of the enclosure should be made of metal mesh with small holes. Low shrubby plants such as juniper and dwarf thuja should be planted inside the enclosure. About a third of the enclosure is occupied by the sparrowhawk itself, and the rest is intended for the birds to walk in the fresh air.

When keeping Chinese painted quails indoors, certain requirements must be met: no drafts, continuous lighting for 18 hours, and then for 6 hours, alternating day and night every 2 hours. The air temperature must be maintained in the range from +10 to +25°C, optimal - 16-18°C. The maximum permissible number of birds in an aviary depends on its area at the rate of 10 cm 2 per individual.

Prepare equipment

For the livestock it is necessary to arrange a place for keeping and equipment. It is necessary to purchase cages, drinking bowls, and feeders. The cage size for 30 heads is 100*50 cm. The individuals are small, so the ceiling is not high. For eggs-producing birds the height is 20 cm, for meat birds 35-40 cm:

cages are made of a wooden frame and galvanized mesh with a fine mesh;
a pallet is installed under the floor mesh. It accumulates droppings and feathers;
for laying hens the floor is made at an angle. Quails lay directly on the floor;
the eggs are rolled along the floor into a chute. I make it from mesh or plastic water pipe. The surface is covered with a soft cloth;
drinkers and feeders are installed on the front wall;
the wall is made of rods in increments of 5 cm.

When keeping outdoors, it is necessary to prepare a pen for birds. A bedding of hay, peat or large wood shavings is arranged on the floor. In winter, the depth of the litter is up to 10 cm, so that the quail can warm up under a layer of hay.

Peat absorbs moisture well. This allows the pen to be cleaned only during a technical break, after the sale of livestock.

Nests are built for laying hens. They should not be installed near feeders and drinkers. For nests, choose the far corner of the paddock.

For females, boxes 20*20 cm are used; the height of the walls is 15-20 cm. The boxes are installed in rows. So that the laying hens understand where to lay the eggs, a dummy egg is left in the nest.

For birds, it is necessary to install containers with sand and ash for taking baths. They bathe in the sand, cleaning their plumage from dirt and fat.

It is recommended to sift the bath mixture regularly to collect debris. As a preventive measure against blood-sucking insects, feather eaters, and lice, juniper, chamomile or wild rosemary are added to the sand.

Feeding

The diet of painted quail differs between adults and chicks. They are omnivores. Before breeding these birds, it is necessary to study the rules of feeding them.

Quail

Chinese painted quail chicks should be fed chopped boiled eggs on the first day. Then insects, greens, carrots, and seeds are gradually introduced into their diet. It is allowed to feed the chicks with compound feed. The number of feedings of chicks in the first week of life is 5 times a day, then by the end of the month it is gradually reduced to 3 times. Sippy cups are placed in the cages. Quails' diet includes special vitamin supplements. Closer to a month they are transferred to adult food.

Adults

Chinese quails feed 3-4 times a day on grain, except oats, insects, worms, mixed feed, herbs and grass. It is imperative that their food contains all the necessary vitamins (especially D) and minerals. Drinking water needs to be changed every morning and evening, and in winter it is necessary to check that the water is warm.

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What to feed

In order for feathered pets to develop normally and feel healthy, and also to please the poultry farmer with good egg production, it is necessary to provide them with a complete and varied diet. The diet of adult and small birds differs significantly.

Little chicks

In the first week of life, small quails are fed at least 5 times a day, then - 4 times, and closer to a month - 3 times.

The chicks eat mealworm larvae, mosquitoes, fruit flies, hard-boiled chicken eggs, finely chopped celery, grated carrots and poppy seeds.
Sippy drinking bowls are provided for children in cages. Place a half-liter jar of water turned upside down at the bottom of a flat dish. A spacer of two or three matches is inserted between the neck and bottom of the saucer. This will create a gap through which drinking water will freely penetrate from the jar into the drinking bowl. Having drunk from such a drinking bowl, the chicken will never be wet or freeze.
Chicks require mineral supplements for proper development. They can be purchased at veterinary pharmacies and mixed into food.
At the fourth week of life, babies begin to gradually switch to a diet intended for adult birds.

Chinese quail chicks are yellow-brown in color with black longitudinal stripes. Young quails grow very quickly and change their plumage. At the age of two weeks they learn to fly, and by the sixth week they are usually fully feathered and change the color of their feathers to the same as those of adult birds.

Adult quails

It is advisable to make the diet of Chinese quails as varied as possible.

In summer, the birds are given a selection of various fresh herbs or graze daily on a green lawn under the supervision of their owners for an hour. Their diet includes: millet, crushed peanuts, hemp and poppy seeds, small insects.
To slightly diversify the diet, quails are offered small quantities of chopped fruits, berries and vegetables in the summer season. The proposed portion can be increased only after the poultry farmer is convinced that unfamiliar delicacies do not cause diarrhea in pets.
In winter, the diet is enriched with dried herbs (dandelion, plantain, nettle). It is also advisable to give grated carrots 2-3 times a week: this vegetable is beneficial for birds with a large amount of carotene.
Drinking water in drinking bowls is changed twice a day. In winter, drinking water should be warm so that birds that are easily susceptible to illness do not catch a cold.

Little chicks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

Adult quails

Important! For better digestion of food, quails need sand. To satisfy this need, a container with coarse river sand is installed in the cage or poultry house.

Little chicks

Chinese quail chicks are yellow-brown in color with black longitudinal stripes. Young quails grow very quickly and change their plumage. At the age of two weeks they learn to fly, and by the sixth week they are usually fully feathered and change the color of their feathers to the same as those of adult birds.

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Descriptive characteristics

Among the representatives of the Galliformes order, the Chinese painted quail is distinguished by its size. It is the smallest among them, growing in length no more than 14 cm and gaining weight ranging from only 45 to 70 g.

Area and places of residence

Today, Chinese painted quails are found in China; the birds can be found in African territory. The distribution of birds covers Ethiopia and Zambia, passes through the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, and affects the Asian Peninsula of Hindustan. Their nests have been recorded within the borders of Burma and Thailand, on the Pacific islands of Taiwan and Kalimantan, in the Philippines and Java, in Australia and Pacific New Guinea. Over such a large area of distribution in the Afro-Asian direction, painted individuals formed 10 of their own subspecies, each of which chose its own habitat.

Initially, painted birds from China were kept as ornamental birds in their small homeland. They were even carried with them as pets right in their pockets, warming their hands in the winter cold. In Europe, the blue pet appeared at the very end of the 18th century; it is still popular for keeping among decorative poultry.

As a place of residence, quail from China prefer flat and mountainous areas where there are dense and fairly wet meadow spaces. In these places they make paths that look like long grass tunnels. In Africa, Chinese quail can be found in small numbers, where it settles in mountain ranges at an altitude of approximately 1.8 km above sea level.

During the period of their unstable migratory movements, quails from China have to adapt to rainy seasons, often starting the nesting process in bad weather. For example, quail nests living in the region of Nigeria begin to build upon arrival at the nesting site, when active rains begin.

Captivity

Accustomed to the wild natural environment, the Chinese quail can live in a domestic poultry house, but sufficient conditions must be provided for the Chinese quail so that the birds can lay eggs and reproduce.

Room

Regardless of the fact that the Chinese painted quail is small in size, do not underestimate the space required to keep them. The most optimal size to keep them comfortable would be the base of cages and enclosures 2*2 meters, since quails do not live in pairs, but prefer to live in groups.

When keeping quails indoors, no perches or additional branches are required, since these birds fly extremely rarely, preferring to move more on the ground.

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Chinese painted quail

Lovers of everything exotically beautiful and unusual in their yard have long been familiar with this bird, recognized as the smallest of the entire Galliformes family. We are talking about the Chinese painted quail, whose photo is posted just below. This is one of ten subspecies of painted quails, distributed over the vast Afro-Asian region from Ethiopia and Zambia to China, Burma, several islands of Indonesia and Australia. Some of them are distributed locally, only in one area, while others occupy a vast area. The Chinese, or Asian blue quail belongs to the second category and lives in India, Thailand, Indochina and southeastern China.

In Europe, they learned about this bird thanks to a description made in 1766, but Europeans were able to see it with their own eyes almost three decades later, in 1794, and were probably amazed by its size: about 12-14 cm long and weighing from 45 to 70 grams. It is not surprising that in China, where Chinese painted quails were common, they were kept as ornamental birds and, according to some reports, were often carried in pockets in cold weather, warming their hands with them. They are perceived as decorative in all countries of the world to this day.

Diseases

Painted quail are resistant to most diseases, however, they may suffer from the following diseases:

Newcastle disease (pseudoplague of birds) . It is transmitted through the droppings of sick birds and contaminated equipment; rats, dogs or cats can also be spreaders. Symptoms are drowsiness, poor appetite, mucus discharge from the beak, difficulty breathing. There is no specific treatment; the sick bird is isolated in quarantine until recovery or death (in approximately 15-30% of cases). Prevention: regular cleaning of the enclosure and equipment, isolation from contact with mammals.
Psittacosis . It is transmitted through contact with sick birds; infection through food is possible. Symptoms: lethargy, drowsiness, difficulty breathing, out-of-shape and ruffled plumage, inflammation of the eyes. Treatment: not advisable, the bird will remain a carrier, although the use of tetracycline and erythromycin is possible. Prevention: isolation of sick birds, avoidance of contact with other poultry (possible infection from chickens or ducks in which psittacosis is asymptomatic). Attention: psittacosis is dangerous for humans too!
Pullorosis in quails . Symptoms: drowsiness, drooping head, sick chicks often fall on their chests and squeak pitifully. Treatment: inappropriate, patients are rejected. Prevention: sterilization of the brooder before receiving a batch of hatched chicks, maintaining the temperature regime, using good-quality food.
Salmonellosis . Source of infection: droppings of sick birds, consumption of infected eggs by quails. Symptoms: intestinal upset, weakness, lack of coordination, possible joint inflammation, paralysis. Treatment: non-existent; sick birds are discarded. Prevention: cleaning the enclosure, using benign eggs.

Parasites
Infectious
Other

Worms (helminths)

Roundworms that cause various diseases and, as a result, serious disorders in the body of birds

Read

Pere-eaters

How to deal with them using folk methods? How can I prevent parasites from appearing again?

Read

Mite

Diseases caused by the parasite. Symptoms, treatment, recommendations for prevention

Read

Newcastle disease (pseudoplague)

What is it and how to avoid infection? Main characteristics of the disease

Read

Pullorosis

Description of the disease, symptoms, treatment, preventive measures

Read

Aspergillosis

An infectious disease that affects the respiratory organs and leads to the death of the bird

Read

Psittacosis

Disease with severe respiratory disorders

Read

Salmonellosis

Symptoms of acute and permanent forms of the disease, treatment and prevention

Read

Colibacillosis

How to identify the source of the disease, how to cure a sick bird and immediately take preventive measures?

Read

Smallpox

Causes, symptoms of various forms, preventive measures and treatment methods

Read

Pecking

How does behavior disorder manifest itself, why is pecking dangerous and how to eliminate it?

Read

Rickets

A chronic disease characterized by impaired calcium-phosphorus metabolism

Read

Inflammation of the oviduct (salpingitis)

An inflammatory disease that can be effectively treated in the early stages. How to cure and restore egg laying?

Read

General information about Chinese quail

Of all ten subspecies, the Chinese quail is considered the most beautiful. Males and females can be easily distinguished from each other by their distinct appearance features:

Males have a predominantly brown-red-brown color on the chest and back of the head with a black border, and a gray-blue neck and head on the sides. One of the main features is the alternating arrangement of white and black stripes from the base of the beak to the eyes. The black stripe, connecting in front and alternating with white, gives the male’s throat and chin its characteristic breed color.
quails, on the contrary, are distinguished by a light red-brown chest, a white throat and a two-color color of feathers: sandy above, light reddish and black below.
They both have a black beak and orange-yellow legs.

Through many years of hybridization, breeders managed to develop a number of color varieties of the Chinese painted quail, so sometimes you can find white, silver, brown, pinkish, “isabella” and some other color options.

What colors are there?

Today, breeders have already managed to develop many different colors from the basic color of the Chinese painted one. Among them, the following stand out:

blue-headed;
two-factor;
redbreasted gold and lightened;
tuxedo;
motley;
with white primary wings;
golden pearls and so on.

New bird colors are constantly appearing, and lovers of ornamental quails always have plenty to choose from.

Quail in captivity: features of keeping

If you, seduced by the beauty of the Chinese quail, decide to decorate your yard with its presence, you should keep in mind that you cannot get either meat or eggs from it in large quantities. The purpose of this bird is to provide aesthetic pleasure to oneself, to bring pleasure from contemplating beauty and to help with relaxation after a hard day. If you do not require more, then perhaps the Chinese quail will take root in your home.

It is believed that keeping it is not particularly difficult, but in order for the quail to feel at home in your house just like you, you should take into account some features of its cultivation in captivity:

Despite the practice of breeding quails in groups that we mentioned, it is still preferable to stick to keeping this bird in pairs, since this is natural for their monogamous nature. The fact is that females in a group will not hatch eggs, so if you decide to breed them, you cannot do without an incubator. When living in pairs, quails are able to lay eggs already at 3.5-4.5 months (or 14-18 weeks), almost immediately after puberty. Their incubation instinct is well developed, but there are times when they do not incubate eggs on their own, so it still doesn’t hurt to keep the incubator ready. If your quails live in a cage, it is acceptable for them to live together with finches.
The best place to live for Chinese quails is in enclosures with a grassy floor 2 by 2 meters in area, in which a depression could be made. In reality, the size of the enclosures is much smaller, which is a reason for fair criticism (quails begin to behave aggressively, especially when crowded), however, a floor area of 1-1.5 meters is considered quite sufficient. If there is room in the enclosures for several bushes, this will generally be an ideal option, since such features in the equipment correspond to the natural tendency of quails to choose secret places for their nests. One oviposition usually consists of 4-10 eggs of various colors: olive with black spots (the most common), uniform yellowish, brown. The incubation period is on average 14-17 days. If the food is sufficient and complete, the quail is capable of breeding offspring several times in a row a year.
The female's nutrition during oviposition should have the highest content of minerals and vitamins. Compound feed is best suited for this purpose. It has been noticed that if you regularly feed the female with compound feed, she will constantly lay eggs, which will ultimately lead to her complete exhaustion, so its share in the quail’s diet should be regulated. Upon completion of the laying, she needs rest, for which the female should be transplanted into a separate cage with reduced lighting and given grain food. Sometimes there is a practice of lowering the temperature in the cage, for which, for example, in winter it is taken out to the balcony. If laying eggs and incubating turned out to be an impossible task for a quail, after which she is exhausted, you can periodically give her a light massage of the abdominal cavity, lubricate the cloaca, give a solution of immunofan and add calcium gluconate to the food.
From birth, quails are distinguished by extreme independence and the ability to grow rapidly. Already on the first day, having the size of a bumblebee or a cockchafer, they leave their nest and begin to eat the same thing that their parents eat, not excluding insects and mealworms. However, to maintain their growth and development in captivity, it is necessary to add protein-containing and egg feeds, poppy seeds and soaked millet panicles to their food. If the quails were hatched in an incubator, they should be taught to peck, imitating the sound of pecking by tapping with a match in the place where the food is poured. On the third day they already acquire feathers, and after two weeks they can fly, and in the wild at this age they can leave their native area forever.
When breeding Chinese quails, it is highly desirable to provide them with several places of shelter in the form of turf and houses on the floor and one closed corner (you can use a piece of tree bark). This is necessary so that the birds can hide there - in the event that you prefer group keeping, in which manifestations of aggression are not uncommon among quails. When designing a house for them, try to strive for the area recommended above so that the birds do not feel crowded. Remember: the more elements of the natural habitat that are recreated, the more comfortable the life of your “Chinese friends” will be. Of course, it is not in your power to reproduce the mountain valleys of New Guinea in a single quail enclosure, but creating several secret places is quite within your power.
The height of the poultry house or aviary must be at least one meter. If you can only offer a Chinese quail a small cage about 50 cm high, then it is advisable to cover its top with some soft transparent material or a fabric mesh with five-millimeter cells. Such a precaution is not at all superfluous: the fact is that when frightened, a quail flies vertically upward and, in the absence of something soft, often breaks its head. For this reason, you should not place any perches or ladders in the cage, as is the case with other birds. In an aviary of sufficient height, the precaution in the form of a soft-covered ceiling is unnecessary, since in it the birds are less susceptible to stressful situations, but nevertheless it is not prohibited. When equipping an aviary, one more feature of the Chinese quail should be taken into account: under normal conditions it prefers to run rather than fly.
The enclosure must be equipped with a bathtub with sand for swimming, which has high sides, which will protect the sand from spreading throughout the entire room while the quails are bathing. The ideal bedding for the floor, according to experienced poultry farmers, is sawdust.
feed quails 3-4 times a day. Their diet is not much different from that of ordinary poultry. It should include small grain crops and grain mixtures (with the exception of oats - quails do not digest it), insects, worms and moths, egg feed and animal feed, fresh herbs, sometimes cottage cheese is allowed in small quantities. It is imperative that their food contains vitamin D supplements, as well as all other vitamins and minerals. Bowls for food, sand and gravel should be separate.
The lighting in the aviary should be natural, but not very bright, otherwise the birds will react violently to it. But if necessary, you can also use an artificial one, since a very dark room negatively affects the development of Chinese quail. Needless to say, the enclosure must be regularly ventilated and cleaned and free from drafts. It also doesn’t hurt to give your pets walks in the fresh air.

Meat varieties

They are not as diverse as egg-laying breeds; nature has endowed these birds with small body sizes. Another factor that reduces the interest of breeders in meat breeds is special diets that must be maintained in order to obtain good results.

Nevertheless, the costs invested in breeding meat quails pay for themselves - quail meat is valued on the market. It contains few calories and virtually no cholesterol.

Doctors and nutritionists recommend quail meat to those who would like to:

to heal;
strengthen the immune system;
reduce weight.

Some breeders raise quails only for their tasty dietary meat.

Let's move on to analyzing specific breeds.

Pharaoh

It was not in vain that we started with this breed - today it is one of the most popular. You can’t expect a large number of eggs from laying hens; one hen will lay no more than 200 eggs per year, but the body size of the pharaohs inspires respect:

about 270 g in adult males;
more than 300 g in laying hens.

If these values seem small to you, then just compare: wild quail weighs from 80 to 140 g. It is clear that the breeders worked hard, the Pharaoh breed has become a success.

It is used in Russia and other countries. It is worth mentioning that quails of this species have inherited the color of the feathers of their wild counterparts, and as a result, the carcasses do not look very presentable.

Texas white

Sometimes the breed is also called the white Texas giant or the American albino broiler. There is also a more exotic name - white (sometimes snowy) pharaoh. Representatives of the breed look really beautiful – you can admire their snow-white plumage for a long time.

The breed, as you might guess from the name, was bred in the American state of Texas. To obtain it, several breeds had to be crossed at once, among them was the English species - it was from this that the breed received the snow-white color of its feathers. However, there are also small dark spots on the feathers, and the heads of some birds are often colored yellowish.

Most poultry farmers consider this species to be the best for breeding birds for meat. Judge for yourself, Texas white quail are famous for the following indicators:

males can be fattened up to 500 g, although the average livestock figure is 370 - 450 g;
laying hens - up to 400 g and even more.

This breed is great for beginning breeders. Birds are easy to keep; they do not have high demands on conditions. They gain weight quickly, but you will have to spend money on food if you want stable weight gain.

Other names for this breed are white Texas giant, American albino broiler, or white (sometimes snowy) pharaoh.

You can add to the breed description that:

The egg of birds of the Texas breed is large, somewhat oblong in shape. The optimal temperature in a sparrowhawk is 22 degrees; if it is warmer, the females lay eggs worse;
meat breast is valued as a delicacy;
males are not particularly active with females; for one “boy” there are usually two “girls”. Keep this in mind if you are thinking about breeding.

Let's summarize. If you started breeding quails for meat, this is the best of the different breeds.

On a note. Until birds of this breed begin to lay eggs, it is impossible to understand where the males are and where the females are.

Moscow black breed

It is unlikely that representatives of the species can be considered a full-fledged breed. Experts are inclined to conclude that this is just a cross between one breed and another - presumably a mixture of black and white English and Hungarian Pharaoh, and he took a little from each type of quail.

It turned out well, in any case, the breeders who took the risk of acquiring eggs from the Moscow black breed were satisfied.

A brief description of:

Moscow black broiler is a meat bird;
during fattening, individuals reach: females from 350 to 500 g of live weight, males: from 300 to 400 g;
egg weight from 12 to 15 g;
“families” can be composed of one male for three girls;
egg fertilization – 95%;
egg production – 75%.

Representatives of this species are the largest individuals in the quail family. In appearance they resemble tuxedo quails, the color of the feathers is beautiful, and therefore the carcass looks quite marketable.