COTURNIX QUAIL
What We Breed For
At the Hopeful Homesteaders we are breeding Coturnix Japonica for both egg and meat production, as well as novel feather colorations. Color is a secondary pursuit since most homesteaders and potential quail farmers more often want a large live weight for meat harvests or large high-quality eggs. The difficulty is that recessive gene combinations that can lead to variations of Fee, Fawn, or Brown varieties can also produce smaller quail that are less suitable for producing meat.
Feather & Egg Color
The phenotypes we are breeding on our homestead are Wild-type or Pharaoh, Brown, Italian, and Falb Fee. They are all Coturnix Japonica but the visual characteristics do come with variations in live weight, egg size, egg quality, and mortality. As fun as novel colorations may be, it is important that each phenotype we provide can meet the standards for sale.
Egg color is also being bred and selected for, and we have jumbo eggs in both standard speckled brown as well as "celadon" eggs that carry the recessive blue gene. The celadon eggs are visually appealing, but it can be difficult to achieve a brilliant blue egg that also meets the standards for Jumbo or Jumbo XL. We are fortunate enough to be able to provide both Jumbo and Jumbo XL celadon eggs, as our laying stock produces enormous rich and healthy blue eggs.
Live Weight & Egg Size
The standards for classification of the live weight of Coturnix Japonica are unofficial and vary depending on the source of information. The undomesticated Coturnix Japonica weigh between 90-100g, which is a great deal smaller than domesticated varieties. Wikipedia states that domesticated Japanese Quail can weigh up to 300g or 10.5oz - but at Hopeful Homestead that is considered an unacceptably low live weight for our Jumbo Quail. We aim for a minimum of 12oz live weight for any quail variety that is sold with the intent of meat production, but even a large hen and rooster can produce a variety of progeny. The best way to ensure that the eggs from a Jumbo Quail hen will reach “jumbo size” at maturity is by trial and error - once a hen can produce a jumbo offspring at least 75% of the time she is ready for market breeding.
Much like live weight, egg size can vary. The average weight of a Coturnix Japonica egg is 10 grams, but quail that have been bred for larger egg production often exceed 13 grams. An egg that qualifies for “jumbo” status will often weigh between 12 and 16 grams, even soaring into the mid-20’s once in a while. At Hopeful Homesteaders the majority of eggs we collect are Jumbo or what some call Jumbo XL, even from hens that have a live weight well below what the meat standard for “Jumbo” requires. Because of this we are breeding both for “Jumbo Meat” quail as well as “Jumbo Egg” quail, with the ultimate aim of marketing a Jumbo Egg that will also produce a Jumbo live weight.
Why Quail?
Quail have many advantages over our other feathered friends. It is really no surprise that many homesteads and backyards have been enriched with quail houses and pens, since they are versatile and great producers. Here are some of the advantages:
Quieter than chickens, ducks, geese, or guinea fowl
Often not restricted in residential areas that prohibit chickens
Their small size means compact coops and miniature runs
As many or more eggs per year than chickens
Mature for meat in only 6-10 weeks, depending on preference
They are extra, extra cute
Quail Egg Weight
Standard 9-10g
Large 13-14g
Jumbo 16-18g
Jumbo XL 20-22g
Quail Live Weight
Standard 5-8oz
Jumbo 14-16oz
Resources:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1eed/e82d278164e6eb6c6343e2c8a2b338678bd8.pdf
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9958078/
https://portal.bar.gov.ph/BARPortal/uploads/e-library/material_file/2022_QuailRaising_4187437658.pdf
