Characteristics of the Manchu Quail

The Manchurian quail is one of the most famous bird representatives. Together with the Japanese breed, he received the greatest distribution in the territory of our country. These birds are extremely popular due to their high performance, unpretentiousness and speed of adaptation to any conditions. The birds have a beautiful golden color, which makes them attractive for decorative purposes.

Manchu quail

Introduction

Quail of the Manchurian breed differ in average meat and egg indices, therefore, belong to neither one nor the other industrial type. For the most part, representatives of this breed are raised on private farms and very rarely bred on a professional scale. Among their advantages, unpretentiousness and high resistance to various diseases are very common.

Manchurian quail is often used for breeding new species. When this representative is crossed with a poultry of a meat group, its production indicators significantly increase. In addition to the versatility in these birds, their attractive appearance is appreciated. The Manchu golden quail is often bred for a purely aesthetic purpose.

Exterior

The Manchu quail is distinguished by its color. It was not for nothing that they called him golden.In the plumage of birds, the feathers of several shades of brown and yellow smoothly turning into each other are very interestingly combined. The tips of the feathers are gray.

The resemblance of the Manchu quail and the Japanese quail immediately catches the eye. Manchus are distinguished by an unusual mask on their heads. The male stands out with a darker plumage than the female, her belly and rib cage are more colorful.

Description of the Manchu golden quail:

• paws and beak several tones lighter than the plumage;
• black beads of eyes are strongly visible on the head;
• the body is lean, the wings are rather short;
• the small head is set on a short smoothly expanding neck.

Production data

Manchu Golden Quail is classified as universal breed. They can not be attributed to any of the industrial groups due to the ambiguity of indicators. For example, they give about 220 testicles per year, while the product weighs 16 g. The mass index is higher than that of other breeds, but it does not reach the egg group in terms of product quantity.

Manchu quails very quickly gain weight. Their mass reaches 150 g, and under very good conditions – even 300. The carcasses are very meaty. The meat has a great taste and nutrition. For the French variety of this breed, with enhanced nutrition, the characteristic weight of the male is 300 g, and the laying hen is about 400. To achieve such indicators, more careful care is required.

The versatility of the breed lies in the fact that birds can be raised for meat or to obtain high-quality dietary eggs. The content of the golden bird for different purposes will be slightly different. If the goal is to obtain fattened carcasses, heterosexual individuals are kept in the same enclosure. To obtain food eggs, females are kept apart from males and fed with mixtures for laying hens.

Bird houses

As for the content, this breed can successfully breed even novice poultry farmers. Even with all the unpretentiousness and high immunity, some care rules should still be followed. Manchu quails are kept in cages. Density per 1 square. m will vary, depending on the weight of the birds:

• 150-200 g – from 60 to 80 birds;
• 300 g – from 40 to 60 birds.

The height of the cage must exceed the growth of birds. The best option is a plywood cage with a lattice front wall. This design helps protect birds from drafts and closes the view, which greatly reduces the likelihood of stress. In addition to high-quality houses, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions in the house:

• a simple ventilation system;
• optimal temperature regime of 20-25 ° C;
• illumination;
• air humidity regulator.

It is better to mesh the floor in the cage and install a bottom tray to collect birds’ waste products.This design of the cell will allow more efficient monitoring of room hygiene. The litter collection tray is set at a slight angle so that it can be cleaned freely. The ideal material for the pallet is a galvanized metal sheet.

Feeders and drinking bowls are attached to the front wall of the cage: this will save feed and protect water from pollution. Daylight hours should be at least 17 hours. Birds are especially sensitive to lack of light in winter, so you will have to install small lamps in the cages.

How and what to feed

The key to good health and high performance is balanced feed and clear water. The basis of nutrition should be various crops. You can use ready-made compound feeds or prepare the mix yourself. The composition of the grain mixture must include:

• • chopped corn;
  • wheat;
  • millet;
  • barley.

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In the summer, the diet must include greenery. In the cold season, you can germinate crops in greenhouses and introduce them into the diet in green. Also in the diet should be root vegetables, cabbage. All these products in grated form are very much to the taste of the birds.

As for water, it should be at room temperature. Water should be changed every two days, without forgetting to thoroughly wash the drinkers. To prevent infectious diseases, chicks are given only boiled water.Separate boxes with crushed shell rock, sand and chalk should be in the cells. Shell water is needed for optimal calcium levels, and sand or ash is necessary so that the birds can induce a marafet, thus getting rid of parasites. In small quantities, animal proteins in the form of cottage cheese, meat or fish mince must be introduced into the diet. Normally, such products give 15 g per day. Feed the birds 3-4 times a day, equally distributing the daily allowance.

Home breeding

Effectively increasing the number of livestock is another challenge facing beginner breeders. The Manchurian quail reaches puberty between the ages of 2 and 8 months, so the parental species are chosen among this age category. Too young or old birds have lower fertility rates.

Close crosses should be avoided For complete certainty, it is better to purchase one of the individuals from another breeder. The sex of the bird is determined by pressing on the cloaca. The male has a larger cloacal opening and foam escapes from it.

To get high-quality offspring, selected for the tribe 3- 4 females are placed together with the male in one cage.Do not put more than 4 females in a cage with one male, as he will not be able to fertilize all of them qualitatively. After mating, eggs can be stored for no more than a week at a temperature of 12 ° C. During storage, they must be turned over regularly. Before laying in the incubator, a thorough rejection of the incubation material is carried out. Such specimens are subject to rejection:

• the egg is too saturated or, on the contrary, too light in color;
• hatching material with calcareous coating;
• eggs with a thinned shell .

Lay testicles with blunt ends up. It is very important to observe the optimum temperature and humidity during the whole process. Hatching trays are turned over every 4 hours. A couple of days before hatching, the trays stop turning over.

How to distinguish a male sexually mature individual

In addition to determining the sex by the color of the plumage, there is another option, more accurate. In Manchu golden quails, males can be distinguished by the appearance of cloaca and the caudal gland. In a male, the cesspool is colored pink. The podhovostovy gland borders on the cesspool and is located between the anus and tail. With light pressure, a foamy, clear-white liquid is released on it.

In females, the caudal gland is absent. If the sex of a quail is determined by the appearance at two months of age, but the sub-caudal gland is not developed, such an individual is not taken for breeding, because the testes are underdeveloped. In this case, the bird is rejected for meat.

Care for the quail

The correct maintenance at the initial stages of life is the key to good immunity in the future. In the first days after the birth of the chicks need constant heating. Before the chicks reach the age of 7 days, it is necessary to maintain the air temperature in the cell at 36 ° C. After this period, the temperature is gradually reduced by 3-4 ° per week.

Compound feed for broiler chickens is perfect for feeding. In the early days, feeding begins with finely crushed, hard-boiled eggs and cottage cheese. Then gradually begin to introduce feed. In the early days, chickens are given only boiled water, with a small addition of potassium permanganate. Already on the fourth day, babies can be transferred to clean water without manganese.

Advantages of breeding this species

The breed of Manchurian golden quail is perfect for breeding in order to obtain income and quality food. The content of these representatives can be mastered even by a novice poultry breeder. This breed is quite popular. And this is not at all surprising, because even though the birds do not belong to any of the industrial groups, they are in great demand among buyers.

Golden Manchurian quail after slaughter has a very good presentation. Unlike other breeds, after plucking on the skin, hemp from feathers is not visible and there is no blackness on the abdomen. Poultry meat has a light attractive shade. Breeding birds for meat, it is not necessary to contain heterosexual individuals separately. In the case when the breed is raised for the purpose of obtaining egg products, the females are kept separately.

An undoubted plus is the early maturity of the breed.The females begin to scam already at the age of two months and maintain a high egg production for up to 8 months, after which the indicators begin to decrease slightly. If you decide to start your mini-business with the breeding of this breed, then your expenses will be covered for six months, and the birds will bring a steady income in the future.

Many breeders prefer this breed precisely because of its precocity. Birds begin to lay their eggs early and gain weight actively, which allows them to start selling products as quickly as possible. On the video you can see how the birds of this breed behave and listen to the stories of experienced breeders about their contents. Now you know everything about the content of the beautiful Manchu quail and can do it right.