How to correctly determine the gender of quail

hardly anyone will dispute the fact that any owner needs to know how to determine the gender of quail. There are many reasons for this, but first of all, the desire of breeders to bring the flock of farmed birds into line with the desired conditions of detention is highlighted. So, if a farmer plans to breed quail to get eggs and meat, then he should bet on the selection of females, which is quite logical.In situations where the feathered birds are purchased as decoration for a personal plot, it is advisable to buy males: they are less demanding on conditions of keeping compared to females.

How to determine the gender of quail

It should be noted, however, that those breeders whose experience is still small do not always clearly understand how to distinguish between a quail gender with a minimum probability of making a mistake. It is especially difficult to find out the gender of the pets in cases where the plumage of the birds is monophonic, which is typical for representatives of a considerable number of popular breeds. Nevertheless, at present, a sufficient number of signs are known, on the basis of which everyone will be able to determine the sex of the quail, including the one who deals with these birds for the first time.

Highlights

How to distinguish quail by their gender?Talking about how to distinguish a female from a male in quails, it should first be noted that a solution to this problem seems possible after these birds reach the age of three weeks (or even much later, depending on the breed). True, some breeders insist that small quail females are more active than boys. According to such poultry farmers, girls squeak more often and louder, while boys in the early stages of development are calm. Otherwise, it is extremely difficult to determine the sex of the chicks, as mentioned above, due to the absence of characteristic sex differences in the children.

It is also reasonable to add that when quails turn about 3 weeks old, they begin to show significant differences in speed development. It is noticed that, having reached this age, females begin to grow much faster than males, becoming significantly more massive after some 15 days. In such cases, to distinguish between birds by gender is not particularly difficult, which is regularly confirmed in practice.

In addition, despite the inability to clearly determine the sex of quails whose age is too small, this problem can be solved approximately. Many breeders believe that when mating young females and age males, the total number of girls born significantly exceeds the standard 50%.Of course, this method does not allow to determine the sex of each individual, but with its help you can get a general idea of ​​the gender structure of the growing generation.

Behavioral Features

Experience a huge number of breeders show that when birds reach full maturity, determining the sex of quails becomes much easier than in the case of babies. The reason for this is very prosaic: as adults, the feathered birds acquire all their characteristic traits, on the basis of which it becomes quite simple to distinguish males from females. One of these signs is the behavior of birds, having analyzed which we can draw the first conclusions regarding the gender of the pets. So, quails and quails can be really distinguished by the following features of the temper:

1. As a rule, adult males behave much more actively than females. First of all, this is manifested in pugnacity and restlessness, which are characteristic of girls to a significantly lesser extent.
2. The tendency to frequent manifestation of “vocal abilities”. It is worth noting that in small quails, everything is exactly the opposite, as was already described earlier.
3. Often, the determination of a male allows his desire to be pulled into the spot, while most of the females are completely alien to such initiatives.

It makes sense for the breeder to observe the behavior of his wards during the mating season, since it is the least difficult to distinguish between quail and quail. In an effort to attract the attention of the female, the male tries to grab her head and lead her away in a similar original way. It is important to take into account that the analysis of the behavior of quail in determining their sex is not able to provide a 100% guarantee, and therefore it requires additional confirmations, which will be discussed later.

Body structure, color and voice

How to distinguish a female from a male quail according to external characteristics? Since it is far from possible to distinguish between quails, a female and a male, by their behavior alone, far from all situations, it is necessary to pay attention to their other remarkable features. In particular, a thorough analysis of the body structure of these birds helps to understand who the farmer is: a boy or a girl. It provides for the following key points:

1. Males have a head noticeably larger than females. In addition, the male beak is much more massive, which can be easily seen by looking at the many photos and videos of these birds.
2. The males have elongated necks and backs, but in general the latter cannot boast of proportional addition.
3. Based on the previous paragraph, it is worth noting that the females look much more elegant, despite the fact that they are larger than males.

In determining sex in quails, it is reasonable to pay attention to the peculiarities of the location of their pubic bones: in females they widely diverge in the cloaca area, whereas in males this is not observed.

Another criterion that makes it possible to distinguish between quail boys and girls is the brightness of their “outfit”: as a rule, the intensity of the colors that color the feathers of females is higher than that of males. It is also noteworthy that women have a considerable amount of dark spots on their breasts, while most males do not show this symptom. In addition, the sex of quail can be determined by the color of the beak: in females it is lighter, which is relevant for most of the breeds of the species in question.

As for the third factor, which is especially appreciated by owners of monophonic birds in determining sex ( for example, white), then such is the voice of these birds. Since it is not possible to distinguish quail by the color of plumage in such cases, breeders listen to the singing of the pets. It was noted that the male serenades are much less melodic: the sounds they make most often resemble hysterical screams, which distinguish them from quail.

The presence of the secretory gland or its absence

Speaking about how to distinguish the sex of quail, one cannot but mention one of the most effective methods for solving the presented problem.Based on the experience of many poultry farmers, we can confidently say that with its help the sex of the quail can actually be determined in the vast majority of cases. The condition here is only one: the individual must be sexually mature, since the method under consideration involves examining the birds for the presence of a secretory gland (or its absence).

This procedure involves the following simple steps:

1. gently take the feathered ward into the hand and turn it abdomen upside down;
2. holding your head, part the feathers located around the tail;
3. carefully examine the cloaca area.

Provided that in this area there is no oblong cut the skeleton is brown in color, from which a white foamy secret is secreted when pressed, the bird considered by the breeder is a female. It is also noteworthy that the female cesspool is dark, while the males have a pinkish tint, as evidenced by the mass of videos and photos presented on ornithological sites and forums.

And the last. Specialists who have been breeding birds for many years and telling how to determine the sex of quails, note that one of the main differences between females and males is the features of the pubic cartilage. In the former, when probing, they move freely to the right and left, but in the latter, a diametrically opposite picture is observed.Thus, if these cartilages remain motionless under careful influence on the human side, it is safe to classify the feathered male and, in the opposite situation, the female.