Raising quails involves various difficulties. Many quail breeders doubt whether they correctly distinguish a female from a male, and also talk about how to do this, what signs exist for this. The difficulty of definition at an early age is associated with a minimal set of differences. The sex of quails is important to breeders for a reason that underlies all breeding. This reason is bird planning.
How to distinguish the sex of quails
Determining sex is difficult in the first days of life.Experienced breeders focus on plumage, voice, weight and sexual characteristics. It is difficult to determine by feather in breeds whose females and males have the same colored plumage. Then accompanying techniques are used.
By appearance
You can determine gender by the main differences:
- quail are lighter in color than quail;
- The chest of males has a brighter color, with colored spots visible on the central part;
- boys are distinguished by the disproportion of the head in relation to the body: the head is smaller in size, which looks strange from the outside;
- in girls, the lines of the head smoothly flow into the lines of the body, females are proportionally built;
- girls move more slowly than boys: first this is due to behavioral characteristics, then it is explained by physiological characteristics;
- in boys, the shape of the pelvic bones is straight;
- in girls, a kind of fork is formed on the line where the pelvic bones connect to the legs: this feature helps females lay eggs easily;
- quails often have a white stripe on their necks, resembling a collar;
- The beak color of males is darker than that of females.
Attention! The method of identification by color is valid when the breed has a specific specific feature. With a blurred type of plumage, determination is difficult.
By voice and behavior
Studying habits and vocal data helps to find out the gender with a high degree of probability. The voice of a young quail is melodic and pleasant. Unlike quails, males are noisy, with hysterical notes slipping into their voices. After the onset of puberty, females almost never enter into conflicts and talk little.
Differences between males and females in behavior:
| Males | Females |
| Birds circle over females to attract their attention. They can rise up, then dive down. | Females pretend not to pay attention to the circling. They sing while sitting on the branches and do not enter into mating games until a certain moment, until they make the final choice. |
| From the 3rd week they begin to voice, the voice is loud and rich. | From 3 weeks they start to speak timidly, their communication is like a whisper |
| Males climb onto females, holding their crest with their beak. | Because of this, bald patches appear on the females’ heads. |
Reference! Males constantly sort things out and get into fights. Females are sociable until they have offspring.
By the cesspool
The cloaca helps to distinguish gender with 100% success. In the first weeks of life, the color of the cloaca is pale pink. As you grow older, the cloaca changes color:
- in females it acquires a bluish tint;
- In males, the color of the cloaca remains pink.
The cloaca sex determination method works with high accuracy after puberty. To determine this, apply strong pressure to the cloaca. After pressure, the male begins to secrete a foaming liquid.
To use this method, you must locate the cloaca. To do this, pick up the bird, turn it belly up, spread the tail feathers with your fingers and inspect the cloaca. When pressing on the cloaca on both sides, smooth, almost glossy muscles become visible in females. The males gradually develop an elevation of muscles and muscles, and fluid begins to be released.
Bird weight
After sexual maturation of birds, sex determination is associated with the analysis of weight characteristics. Females are larger than males by a quarter of the total weight. They look much larger; subcutaneous fat is deposited on different parts of the body, which is provided by nature. Subcutaneous fat allows for more efficient heat distribution during the period when the bird is hatching.
The male, compared to the female, looks lighter, he has almost no deposits of subcutaneous fat, he is prone to active movement, often bullies other quails, and enters into fights, where the winner is determined by the superiority of strength and dexterity.
How to distinguish a female from a male, taking into account the breed
Descriptions of breeds help to understand how different sexual characteristics are. For each breed there is a set of specific criteria. The use of breed descriptions to determine sex begins from the second month of a bird’s existence.
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is the breed that is closest to wild quail species in the traditional sense. The main color of the plumage is brown-yellow. The main difference between females is their lighter plumage. Females of the pharaoh are closer to a golden hue in color; males are described as brown-golden birds. Quails often have pronounced yellow, bright spots on their chest.
The Pharaoh breed is distinguished by the fact that when growing up, females weigh 80-90 grams more than males, and at the same time they look more massive.
Texas
The Texas breed is an artificially bred hybrid. Birds of several species with white plumage were taken as the basis for selection. The coloring of the parental lines resulted in the children receiving a specific type of feathers without the possibility of a colored chick.
Texans of both sexes are evenly colored. Their white plumage allows for interspersed black feathers on the central part of the body. As they grow older, the difference between cockerels and hens becomes noticeable. An adult quail weighs 100 grams more than a quail.
Averages for the Texas breed:
- the female weighs from 450 to 500 grams;
- males weigh from 350 to 380 grams.
Estonian
You can distinguish a boy from a girl of the Estonian breed by several characteristics. Estonians are similar in characteristics to the Pharaoh breed, so color descriptions are rarely taken as a basis.
Females are lighter in color than males. On the chest the color of the plumage seems to be blurred. Quails have distinct definition. The feathers on the chest stand out especially contrastingly. The main color of the plumage is brownish-golden; in boys, blackish-red feathers are allowed to appear in the plumage of the central part of the chest.
Attention! To determine the sex of the Estonian breed, plumage color characteristics are almost never used due to low information content.
Manchurian
Determining the sex of the Manchurian breed is quite difficult. This can only be done when the birds reach sexual maturity. At this point, the color of the plumage becomes more pronounced and understandable. The breed is characterized by the following characteristics:
- females have motley plumage, clearly colored feathers are visible on their chest, and a lightly colored crown stands out on their head;
- Male quails acquire a reddish color with age; a dark pattern is formed on the head, turning into a mask near the beak.
Tuxedo
Tuxedo quails belong to the category of meat-egging breeds, so it is especially important for breeders to determine the sex of the bird as early as possible. Individuals can be separated using color analysis, as well as focusing on the characteristics of the cloaca.
The Tuxedo breed is named for its external characteristics. The main tone of the birds' feathers is brownish-yellow, while on the chest of both sexes there is a white spot, which from a distance resembles the outline of a tuxedo.The color of the main plumage on the back and tail of females is lighter and blurred. The lines flow smoothly without creating clear boundaries. Quail have a more pronounced white, tuxedo part with clearly defined lines.
The second sign is the weight of the birds: males weigh from 180 to 200 grams, females weigh from 220 to 230 grams. This sign is formed by 3-4 months of existence.
It is difficult to recognize the tuxedo breed by its behavior: both sexes are timid, do not have any particular vocal differences, and hysterical notes slip into the voices of males and females when danger approaches.
Determining sex for quail breeders during the initial stage of keeping is an important condition for planning offspring. Early gender recognition increases the profitability of keeping and helps determine the productivity of livestock in advance.
