Description of the breed of quail Pharaoh

Quail Pharaoh as a new breed were bred, thanks to the long work of the breeders. Ancestors of birds are Japanese quail. The selection was based only on a certain characteristic of the main breed – size, no infusion of other people’s blood was done.

Quail Pharaoh

Origin of the breed of birds

According to the official version of the Pharaohs, they created specially by order of culinary specialists who were unhappy that the birds had too much om a small carcass, but there is another theory of the origin of the breed: some believe that it is the merit of the American gigantomania, due to which not only a new species of quail appeared, but also larger varieties of other animals used for food.

From – due to selection based solely on body size, indicators such as fertility and egg production have significantly decreased in birds. In addition, the quail Pharaoh became very picky about the size of the cell and the conditions of detention. Despite the fact that these considered birds rush worse, they can still be attributed to the group, which is bred not only for meat, but also for eggs.

Characteristics of the breed

Quail of the Pharaoh breed – dark birds with a dense squat body and wings close to the body. These birds stand out against the background of their relatives. By looking at the photo where the Japanese and the Pharaoh are standing nearby, it is easy to determine where which bird is, since they differ only in size.

But the appearance of the lonely individual in the photo does not accurately indicate the breed, therefore , having bought young Pharaohs on the market, one can be unpleasantly surprised when their growth stops upon reaching 150 g of weight. To prevent this from happening, when buying eggs or young animals from an incubator, you must choose a trusted seller.

Buying instead of the desired Japanese breed you can not be upset: yes, the meat yield will be 2 times less, but these birds will be undemanding and will give much more eggs. In addition, the survival rate of young animals in the Japanese is higher than that of the Pharaohs. In addition, restaurants are more willing and expensive to buy small quail carcasses, explaining that the customer, ordering the quail, wants to see the whole bird on a plate, and it’s very difficult to eat 300-500 g of meat at a time.

The average quail of the Pharaoh breed weighs 300 g (females are always slightly larger than males). For a year, it is able to lay 200-250 eggs, this is slightly less than the Japanese laying hen, but the larger the bird, the larger its eggs (the difference in weight sometimes reaches 15 g). Pharaohs begin to rush at the 7th week of life.

The size of the eggs depends on the nutrition of the quail. Some farmers add broiler food to their pets ’diet, which really has a beneficial effect on the height and width of the quail egg, but you can only experiment with additives when you plan to get eggs for food purposes. The elements that make up the boiler feed adversely affect the bird’s body, and large eggs are not suitable for the incubator.

Feeding of birds

If you plan to seriously engage in breeding of birds, to choose for these purposes is better than the French fattening Pharaohs. This is the largest breed of quail. The weight of an adult in exceptional cases can reach half a kilogram. On average, the French Pharaohs weigh 400 g.

The minuses of the French Pharaohs are:

• The dark color of the plumage – the plucked carcasses are darker than usual, which makes dishes prepared from this meat look not very appetizing.
• Low egg production and high requirements for care and maintenance.

But even a detailed description of the flaws is completely unable to overshadow all the advantages of the breed. Pharaohs are famous all over the world for their:

• precocity,
• large weight of carcasses,
• large eggs.

Not all Pharaohs are dark in color, for example, the Texas breed of these birds has a bright white color of plumage. It is very difficult to meet white birds in Russia.

When you can slaughter the Pharaohs

The ideal time for slaughtering meat is the beginning of the 7th week of the life of birds. If the cages with birds are overexposed for longer, the feed will be overspended by more than 1/10. At the 5th week, the quail already ceases to gain weight, but their body does not have time to fully form during this time. Due to the thin skin of a bluish tint and a small amount of fat, the carcasses of birds slaughtered at the age of 5 weeks have a second category of quality.

The highest degree of fatness deservedly belongs to the carcasses of quail, which survived to the 6-7th week. They have excellent appearance, well-developed muscle tissue and fat is present where it is needed.

In the entire territory of the post-Soviet space, including in Russia, you can rarely find birds, the description of which fully corresponds to the real Pharaohs . Due to the lack of the original livestock so that the bird does not grind under any conditions, breeders have to cross this breed with others with similar plumage, for example, Estonian.

How to properly maintain and feed

The large sizes of the Pharaohs require an increased area for keeping. 1 bird should be allocated 0.2 sq. M. The height of the cages should be at least 30 cm. The temperature in the room where the birds live should be kept at 20 ° C. If the air is colder, the quail will pile up and will constantly try to get into the hub of crowds. Too high temperature conditions will lead to overheating of birds and spoilage of eggs laid by them.

For full growth and development, quail needs a 17-hour light day, but in order not to frighten the birds, the lighting should be a little dim. To maintain a small room, just 1 light bulb with a power of 60 watts is enough.

Air humidity should be constantly monitored: it should vary in the range from 60 to 70%. The problem with too dry air can always be solved by placing a basin of water next to the cells. The main thing is not to forget to remove it in time, because if the humidity rises to 76%, the livestock will die.

It is imperative to ventilate the room where birds are kept, in summer the air exchange should be 5 m³ / h. In the cold season, air should be 3 times less likely. You also need to remember that drafts are very dangerous, they can lead to diseases, loss of plumage, decreased egg production, and sometimes the livestock begins to die at all.

How to feed the pharaohs

In order for the birds to quickly gain weight, they should be given the right balanced food, the basis of which should be grain feed. It is advisable to add a handful of oats, millet, corn and millet. Cereals should first be grinded.

In the summer, it is useful for the Pharaohs to give field grass cut into small pieces mixed with sawdust. It is necessary to carefully check the greens, so as not to accidentally feed the pets with poisonous plants. There will be no harm to the birds from poisonous herbs, but a person who later eats quail meat may be slightly poisoned. In winter, it is useful to feed the feathered birds with millet seedlings, cabbage leaves, grated beets and other vegetables.

Be sure to add ground shells, a little sand, limestone and salt to the food every day. Young animals are fed the first 15 days of life with the addition of mashed boiled eggs. The same protein supplementation is given to mother hens to replenish the nutrients spent on the production of offspring.

The above recommendations for feeding will be useful if you do not plan to use special compound feeds when breeding quails at home. Modern mixtures already contain a well-composed diet, where there is all the necessary additional fertilizing.

A certain percentage of the total amount of feed must be accounted for by raw protein:

• To migrants under the age of one month , put about 25%.
• To individuals from 30 to 45 days of age, need 23%.
• Laying hens – 22%.

Recommended the winter feeding schedule for birds is as follows:

• 5 a.m. – 1/3 cereals of the total daily quantity,
• 9 a.m. – wet mixture,
• 3 p.m. – wet mixture,
• 7 p.m. – remaining cereal food.

It is advisable to feed the birds daily at one and the same time. In summer, when artificial lighting changes to sunny, you can start feeding the quail Pharaoh later. The first meal is at 7 a.m. and the last at 5 p.m.

It is not recommended to fill the feeders to the brim, otherwise the birds will scatter half of the feed. In order for the water to be constantly clean, it must be changed every day. Dirty drinking quickly acidifies and causes intestinal diseases in the entire livestock.

Breeding tips

Breeding of any quail breed is impossible without following special rules:

• To avoid inbreeding, one should not put on one pair representatives of different breeds and even herds.
• One male can provide offspring with a maximum of 4 females. Ideally, each quail will have 3 Pharaoh quails.
• As hens, females from 2 to 8 months old should be used.
• The incubation hens should be used for breeding no longer than for three months. It is best to take females of two months of age and replace them after 10 weeks with younger ones.

When removing hatching eggs, they should only be taken with sterile clean hands, preferably with latex medical gloves. So that microorganisms, bypassing the shell, do not penetrate into the egg, you need to carefully take it not from the sides, but from the sharp and blunt end, and then shift it to the desired place. If you are afraid to make a mistake, you can first watch a video on this topic.

If everything is done correctly, the quail will leave the incubator strong and healthy after 17 days.