The popularity of breeding and raising quails has led to the fact that selection work on developing new breeds and crosses does not stop. For example, quite recently a new hybrid of quails appeared - the pearl fairy. It is not yet widespread in Russia, and little is known about it. Let's consider the description and characteristics of pearl fairy quails, the pros and cons of the cross, the technology of cultivation and breeding.
Description and characteristics of pearl fairy quails
Cross pearl fairy, which has another name - blue pharaoh, was obtained in Germany. The bird attracts attention with its interesting plumage color - pearl gray.Lays eggs with light gray-blue shells.
The hybrid belongs to the meat-egg direction. The productive characteristics of the new cross are similar to those of the Pharaoh breed - at 1.5 months the carcasses weigh 380 g.
Advantages and disadvantages of the breed
The disadvantage of the new hybrid is that it is not widespread in Russia. But, judging by the characteristics of the cross, this drawback is temporary.
Maintenance, care and feeding
Quails of the new promising cross are raised mainly for meat. The fattening period lasts 1.5-2 months. Some females are left to obtain eggs. They also begin laying eggs at 2 months of age. Stable egg production continues until the age of 10-12 months. Then the batch of quails no longer produces as many eggs, so they are replaced with new young quails.
Females and males are raised separately. You can determine the sex of a bird by external signs - in male quails there is a small thickening above the cloaca. Females do not have it, their skin is gray. In this way, sex can be determined in quails no earlier than 1 month of age.
Like other breeds of quail, pearl fairies are kept and raised in cages. Birds do not need a lot of space; they do not need to be walked. This simplifies the maintenance, but you need to remember that quail are demanding of temperature, humidity and lighting. They love warmth (minimum 20 °C), moderately humid air (60%), long daylight hours (18 hours) and dim light.Such conditions must be created so that the quail live in comfort, and the females lay eggs every day. It is unacceptable to keep birds in a cold and damp room where there are drafts. Any violation of maintenance conditions will lead to a decrease in productivity and an increase in the cost of the final product.
Silver-gray quails are fed with poultry feed (it is convenient to feed birds for meat like broilers) or grain-grass mixtures. They make up mixtures of finely ground grains. Moreover, the grain must be varied, the composition of the feed must be changed from time to time so that the birds’ bodies receive different nutrients, vitamins and microelements. Finely chopped grass, grated vegetables, root vegetables, and premixes are added to the grain. In general, the more different foods there are in a quail’s diet, the healthier they will be and the more intensively they will lay eggs.
Breeding rules
The Pearl Fairy is a hybrid, so it will not be possible to produce your own quails. When cockerels are crossed with pearl fairy hens, the heritable characteristics are split and the characteristic traits are gradually lost. All that remains is to buy hatching eggs or young animals from breeding farms. You will need to change the stock every year, so you need to try to find a farm where you can replace the quails every season.
Diseases
To prevent quails from getting infectious diseases and digestive disorders, you need to clean the cage literally every day and ventilate the room. It is convenient to keep birds in cages with a mesh floor and trays underneath, which are easy to clean and wash. With daily cleaning there will be no dirt or smell even in the apartment where many people keep quails.
But cleaning and caring for quails is not enough to prevent them from getting sick.To protect your farm from infections and loss of livestock, you need to vaccinate against viral diseases and treat with antibiotics against bacterial diseases. Treat quails with antiparasitic agents against external parasites or place a small bowl of ash in the cage.
For sick quails, you need to keep a separate cage on the farm, where the birds are transplanted during treatment. Cross pearl fairy is of interest as highly productive and promising. For those who like to experiment with new breeds, this is a good solution. One person can handle raising a small number of birds.
