Catawba's Coturnix Quails

Below is a list of information I have compiled from experience, and research and I am happy to share it here with you! :)

Coturnix quail in their native lands are migratory birds. They were captured, and kept for their singing ability (which is funny since they don't sing really, but the male will do a "koo-tur-nix!" call during breeding season- hence their name), they were then bred for their egg and meat production.

They are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa.

They migrate over the mediteranian sea and that's where the Egyptians collected the weak flying in from the sea and where a lot of the domestication seems to come from. Also in Japan.

Coturnix and the coturnix subspecies seem to have been interbred together during domestication.
Coturnixs are known as Pharoah Coturnix, and Jumbo Coturnix to name a few

Pharoah pretty much means the wild type, Jumbos are just larger selectivly bred Coturnix

Colors are as follows (though not limited to-- because many new morphs are able to come up all the time).

*Pharoah Coturnix- Wild color
*Jumbo Brown Coturnix- Wild color but bred larger
*A & M- Selectively bred by A & M Texas college for their white meat and pure white feathers
* Golden (aka Manchurian, Golden Speckled)- in normal size and jumbo
*Tibetan (aka British Range)- dark coloring
*Tuxedo- this bird is produced by breeding an A&M to a British range
* Silver
*Cinnamon
*read head
*black

*rosetta

Bird Size and Weight

Normal adult coturnix quails are around 3 1/2 to 5 ozs

Jumbos are said to get up to an lb in weight

Normals my husband and I agree are similar in size to the American Robin and what's funny to note is the male robin has a rusty breast, and the female robin has a speckled breast which is very similar to the male and female coturnix! :)

The Jumbos would be perfect to compair in size to a pigeon

Coturnix Breeding Season

March through September it seems however if kept under artificial lighting for atleast 14 hours a day, they can lay all year long.

Coturnix hens will lay an egg a day for their lives once they are 6-8 weeks old during breeding season, OR under artificial lighting. Eggs come in speckled, dark brown, and pure white.

Examples:

The birds seem to loose fertility as they age...a bird over a year old seems to have much less fertility than a younger bird. I personally plan to move out birds over a year old for newbies. As it seems birds at 2 years old dont produce as much, or their eggs dont' seem to be as fertile---not my experience other breeders experiences im taking into consideration and sharing with you all! :)

Sexing

You can sex males by breast colors in the normal browns, and in some other colors listening for their calls or vent sexing may be needed.

In vent sexing the males will have a small pimple like bump...hens will not. Also the males you can actually press your fingers lightly together near the upper vent and if a white foam (almost looks like spit) comes out (very small amount) that is a male...this substance isn't sperm, however it aids the sperm when breeding.
Foam substance:

Normal wild colored males (and goldens) will have a red (rusty) breast simliar to a male american robins breast....the hens will have a speckled breast (similar to a female american robins breast). Oddly enough, american robins are also a good size comparison with the normal wild (pharoah) coturnix quails size- except robins weigh less.

Examples:

Male on Left hen on Right:

Two males:

Hen on left male on right:

Golden male:

Golden hen (on right bottom corner- note speckled breast):

Other colors are very hard to tell visually by feathers, however a breeder I talk to seems to think that Tibetans (british range) coturnix's can be sexed at an early-adult age by the color of their beaks. Supposedly she has come to realize that all her dark beaked tibetans are males, where as her lighter beaks tibetans are hens. Theres no documented proof of this though.

 I seem to believe that the above theory may be actually true take my prooven to be male Tibetan for example see how black his beak is?:

Now my Tibetan hen (very light beak):

Breeding Ratio:

Ideal breeding situations seems to be either in LARGE living facilities in collonies more hens than males ofcourse

or seems 1 male to 4-5 hens

I personally have both methods planned for my birds depending on colors and who I want to selectively breed.

Breeding Genetics:

There is dominant and recessive colors in genetics. Dominant means that it WILL be the visual color you see. Recessive means that it needs TWO birds with the same color to produce it where as dominant only needs one bird of this color for the color to show up. For example...Golden is a dominant color, you can breed a golden to a normal brown, and produce a golden...because it's dominant. Heres a list of what I have learned is recessive and dominant. Incomplete dominant means mainly that it will cover only certain places of the bird, and that not every chick born will be that specific color (from what I have learned).

Black- Dominant
Cinnamon- Recessive
Extended Brown- Incomplete dominant over normal colored (i dont know much about this one).
A & M- Recessive
Red Head- Recessive
Silver- Incomplete Dominant
Tuxedo- Recessive
Golden- Dominant
Range (british range- tibetan) Dominant

As I learn how to produce certain colors I will happily post the findings.

How to produce a Tuxedo- cross an A & M with a British Range.

BOB-BIRDS:

Bob-birds are a cross of a bobwhite to a coturnix. I was very unbelieving of this until I talked to a breeder who's been producing it sucessfully. I am no longer disbelieving of it, and realize now I may already have bob-birds and didn't even know it! The cross was produced for field trials, for dog training and they don't reproduce in the wild if not recaught which is great for the environment! :)

Housing:

What has been shown to work greatly for others is 1 sq ft per bird.

Wire flooring seems to be ideal, however many also have them on solid ground with bedding like wood shavings (no cedar bedding as it can harm their respiratory systems).

They can be housed indoors or outdoors even in large rabbit hutches.

They do well in winter weather as long as they have shelter and are free from drafts just like any other bird should be cared for in.

Most do keep them outside however mostly because of their high ammonia smell.

Feeding:

Nonmedicated game bird feed is ideal- crumbles is also ideal

I also reccomend grinding up kitten food (kibble or canned) and feed that to them atleast once a week if you can. However, if feeding to adult quail, cat food is best, and ONLY about once a week in the summer months as it's potentially too much fat for adult coturnix to metabolize. Chicks on the other hand can have ground up kitten kibble daily while growing but once adults, it should be only as an occational or weekly treat. You can suppliment adults with it more so when it's the winter months when they need more energy to burn to keep warm.

Boiled eggs chopped up they also love

Mealworms, crickets, wax worms great treats and great protien

Grit for good digestion, oystershell for extra calcium

Fruit chopped up make a great treat as well as nonpesticied sprayed greens

Millet as a treat- it's not nutritionally complete for a full meal

You can feed chicken crumbles, however you will have to realize that it shouldnt be medicated, and you will need to incorporate more protien as quails need more protien than chickens do from what I have learned.

My experience and reccomendations:

Clip their wings if you are planning on keeping them outdoors....all too often my quail enjoy hopping out of their pen when im in cleaning it, which is okay as I keep their wings clipped so they cannot fly away. They are STRONG fliers, and if they get spooked, I know of many breeders who have been devistated to loose a few. If one does get loose, calmly follow it and try to corner it (calmly i cannot stress this enough) and when you're close enough grab for it...idealy a net would be great here however I dont use a net but come to thnk of it i should probably get one ha ha!

If you DO loose a quail like I did the other day (winder nov 20th or somewhere around there) I had his wings clipped but  he grew them back quickly without me knowing it. I opened the pen, and off he went. I tried to capture him as he landed yards away at the end of the one side of our property when i went to grab him off he flew atleast a football fields distance away to my neighbors porperty into their wooded area. I gave up on him and decided he'd be killed or freeze to death in the night. Next morning I am taking my dog out to potty, and behind me stands my quail. He flew back home. Don't give up if your quail flies off, if he's smart enough he'll come back to where his friends are and hopefully be more willing to be caught like mine was ;). His wings were promptly clipped.

Coturnix quail DO NOT PERCH...no need for branches in their enclosure unless you're using them for natural cover.

Fighting can occur...if it does remove the offender, or build a bigger cage with great hidey areas. Coturnix quails can and will kill eachother if left to their own devices. Feather picking is a big sign of stress. I personally cull aggressive birds that are aggressive any other time than breeding season. In breeding season the birds are just naturally aggressive some more so than others. This is when all you can really do is remove the injured ones to help them recoop. I dont reccomend culling  aggressors during breeding season as they all seem to be exceptionably aggressive during that time of year for them....esp the males. But do what works best for you and your flock.

Incubating Eggs:

*Incubation period is 16-17 days but can go as long as 18 days
*Turn eggs atleast 3 times a day
*Stop turning atleast 4 days before eggs are due to hatch
*Every quail breeder has their own humidity and temp preferences....I keep the temps in between 99.5F and 101F...however I try to keep it at 99.5 Fas much as I can. Humidity I keep in the 40s until the last four days of incubation where i up it to 60%

It's best to have a towel or  a kitchen mat or something similar that the eggs can lay on in the incubator so that when the chicks hatch they dont get their legs stuck in the tiny wire....as their feet are so tiny they will fall through.

Brooder:

Tupperware containers, and even aquariums make great brooders

It's ideal to put a soft top on the top of the brooders as spooked chicks will shoot straight up and can injure their heads (deaths have even been reported). I use 1/2" craft foam..and i super glue it or tape it to the top of each brooder works great! :) Kitchen mats also work great. A blanket or towel could work as well.

Just like with chicken chicks...make sure you have bedding, some use paper towels for the first few days to avoid splay leg...i start out with aspen or pine bedding thickly placed on the bottom of the brooder, the chicks walk on it fine as long as it's thick (atleast an inch thick).

Raising Chicks:

Chicks do well on game bird starter crumbles, you can grind it up more for them however they do well on it as is.

They mature at 6 weeks old

They can be let out of a brooder type environment at 4 weeks old but if what you're planing on putting them in next has a big temperature difference, it's important to make the transition gradual (temperature wise). You can do this by moving the brooder light farther and farther away while the chicks are nearing 4 weeks.

IMPORTANT- water needs to be full of marbles, or full of something that's nontoxic to keep chicks from drowning. I personally use craft animal stuffing...works GREAT! :) They can walk on it and not even get really wet and learn quickly (with a few beak dunks) to peck away some of the fibers to drink.

Speaking of beak dunking, it's smart to show the chicks thier water by lightly holding their beak tip to the water quickly then letting them lift their head to drink it up. Some chicks instinctually know where to drink and eat but others need some help. I assist my first group and the first group usually teaches the second group hatching a few hours later. I poke around like my pointer finger is a beak at their crumbles to get them interested in that.

Keep their brooder clean, I cleaned my brooder of over 30 chicks every 3 days, kept smell down and kept them clean. I change water atleast 3 times a day.

Most reccomend red heat lamps....I used both....had no problem with either. No picking, no bloodshed nothing in either tank. I did notice though in the red heat lamp brooder, the chicks got startled more when the red light went out until they adjusted to normal lights. I perfer normal colored heat lamps myself.

Coturnix Uses:

*Genetics- various colors it's a lot of fun
*Eggs (sushi quail eggs are none other than coturnix eggs)!
*Meat- DELISHIOUS are ready for culling at 6 weeks in normal and 8 weeks in jumbo! All are dark meat except the A & M.
*PETs- I must say in my experience they are the most ideal quail to make as a pet...i call them "Mini chickens' for a reason.
*Dog/puppy flush and retrieval training

Color Picture Examples:

Normal Browns

Chick:

Adult:

Goldens

Chick:

Adult:

Tibetan (British Range)

Chick:

Adult:

Tuxedos

Chick:

Adult:

A & Ms

Chick:

Adult (will get better picture once they regrow some of their feathers lost from being in a large breeding pen at the breeders):

Cute Facts:

Coturnix quails will call despiratly when they see you (esp if they are hungry)...it reminds me of a purring yelk (Yelk like what a hen turkey does but quieter) but with a purr to it. I will try to get a video of my quails doing this. It sounds pitiful...these guys seem to always be hungry. They are very willing to eat out of your hand as well.

THey dont like being held, and may even act like you're killing them (crying) not all cry but some do and it's also pitiful and sort of comical. Kind of sounds like a "purreeee!" cry.

They can have little spats over food, however never any feathers pulled or blood shed, they remind me of siblings fighting over a remaining piece of candy.

A happy coturnix will bow and then bop up a few inches in a little dance...it can sometimes look like popcorn popping when more than one at a time is doing it.

They make a small growling sound when they see a bird flying overhead, they cock their head sideways and look up with one eye to the sky and one or two will growl, its' very light sounding but audible....all the quail will freeze in place when the growl goes out and they all watch the sky until the "threat" is gone.

They LOVE to dust bathe, they will dust bathe in just about anything- their food, bedding, sand, dirt. Give them a dusting box with sand in it and watch them play! They can also eat the sand as grit! :) WARNING: they WILL make a mess ;).

Chicks normally hatch in unision....my experience is they hatch in small batches within just seconds from eachother. They call in the egg to eachother and they seem to synrinise thier hatching this way. Don't worry if they ALL dont hatch together give them time. :)

They sound like crickets, or peeper frogs...esp as chicks, but even adults will make the noise. :)

Mine huddle in a heep of birds when they're taking a nap...it's extreemly adorable. Most lay on their sides all carefree. *in the pic the small one in the middle is not a coturnix, it's a button quail*

State Laws for owning/raising coturnix quails

*Please note that I did this research myself, and it was really challenging finding information on most states so some states I am not sure on and you will need to contact your game commission to find out this info for yourselves. If you have info on a state that I don't know the permit status on yet please email me at monarc23@yahoo.com so I can add the information in to be helpful others. The ones marked with a " * "  I need info on. I will have these in ABC order shortly I just havent had time with holidays and all :)

Pennsylvania: No Permit Needed- you can breed, sell, trade and give them away for free if you want to. :)

Massachusetts: A permit is needed- you will have to contact your wildlife/game commission for more information.

Ohio: No Permit Needed- you can breed, sell, trade and give them away for free if you want to.

North Carolina: No Permit Needed- you can breed, sell, trade and give them away for free if you want to.

*West Virginia:

New York: A permit is needed- you will have to contact your wildlife/game commission for more information.

*Maine: I'm pretty sure you need a permit.

*NH:

*RI:

*Conneticut:

*Vermont:

New Jersey: A Permit Is Needed- you will have to contact your wildlife/game commission for more information.

*Deleware:

*Maryland:

*Virginia: Looks like it but im unsure

*Kentucky: I'm pretty sure a permit is needed as they consider them exotics.

*Indiana:

*Michigan:

*Tennessee:

*SC:

*Georgia:

*Florida:

*Alabama:

*Illinois:

*Wisconsin:

*Minnesota:

*Iowa:

*Montana:

Arkansas: $50 permit needed

*Louisiana:

*Texas:

*Oklahoma:

*Kansas:

*Nebraska:

*ND:

*SD:

*New Mexico:

*Colorado:

*Wyoming:

*Missouri:

*Idaho:

*Utah:

Arizonia: You do need a permit

*Washington: Looks like you do need a permit

Oregon: A permit IS required

*California: Unsure but i assume not

Alaska: No permit needed but illegal to release