How to correctly determine the sex of quails
Hardly anyone would dispute the fact that knowing how to determine the sex of quails is essential for any owner. There are a lot of reasons for this, but first of all, they highlight the desire of breeders to bring a flock of farmed birds in accordance with the desired conditions of keeping. So, if a farmer plans to breed quails to get eggs and meat, then he should bet on the selection of females, which is quite logical. In situations where the birds in question are purchased as a decoration for a personal plot, it is advisable to buy males: they are less demanding on the conditions of detention compared to females.
How to determine the sex of quails
It should be noted that those breeders, whose experience is still small, do not always clearly understand how to distinguish the sex of quails with a minimum probability of making a mistake. It is especially difficult to find out the gender of pets in cases where the plumage of birds is monochromatic, which is characteristic of 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 a quail, including the one who deals with these birds for the first time.
Highlights
How to distinguish quails by their sex? Talking about how to distinguish a female from a male in quails, first of all, it should be noted that the solution of such a problem is possible when these birds reach three weeks of age (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 have a calm disposition. Otherwise, it is extremely difficult to determine the sex of the chicks, as mentioned above, due to the lack of characteristic sex differences in babies.
It is also reasonable to add that when quails are about 3 weeks old, they begin to show significant differences in the rate of development. It is noticed that, having reached this age, females begin to grow much faster than males, becoming noticeably more massive after some 15 days. In such cases, distinguishing birds by gender is not particularly difficult, which is regularly confirmed in practice.
In addition, despite the lack of the ability to clearly determine the sex of quails, whose age is too young, this problem can be solved approximately. Many breeders believe that, provided that young females and mature males are mated, the total number of girls born is significantly higher than the standard 50%. Of course, this method does not allow for determining the sex of each individual individual, but it can help you get a general idea of the gender structure of the growing generation.
Features of behavior
The experience of many breeders shows that once birds reach full maturity, sex determination in quails becomes much easier than in the case of babies. The reason for this is very prosaic: as adults, the birds in question acquire all their characteristic features, on the basis of which it becomes quite simple to distinguish males from females. One of these signs is the behavior of birds, after analyzing which one can draw the first conclusions regarding the sex of pets. So, quails can really be distinguished from quails by the following features of temper:
- As a rule, adult males are much more active than females. First of all, this manifests itself in pugnacity and restlessness, which are characteristic of girls to a significantly lesser extent.
- Inclination to the frequent manifestation of "vocal ability". It is worth noting that for small quails, everything is exactly the opposite, as already described earlier.
- Often, the male is determined by his desire to be in line, while such initiatives are completely alien to most females.
It makes sense for a breeder to observe the behavior of his wards during the mating season, since it is the least difficult to distinguish a quail from a quail at such a time. In an effort to attract the attention of the female, the male tries to grab her by the head and take her away with him in a similar original way. At the same time, it is important to take into account that the analysis of the behavior of quails in determining their sex is not able to provide one hundred percent guarantee, and therefore it requires additional confirmation, which will be discussed below.
Body structure, color and voice
How to distinguish a female quail from a male by external signs? Since it is far from possible in all situations to distinguish quails - a female from a male - by behavior alone alone, it is necessary to pay attention to their other remarkable features. In particular, a careful analysis of the structure of the body of these birds helps to understand who is in front of the farmer: a boy or a girl. It provides for the following key points:
- Males have a head that is noticeably larger than that of females, in size. In addition, the male beak is much more massive, as can be easily seen from the many photos and videos of these birds.
- The necks and backs of males are oblong, and in general the latter cannot boast of a proportional build.
- Based on the previous point, it is worth noting that females look much more graceful, despite being larger than males.
In the matter of sex determination 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 area of the cloaca, while in males this is not observed.
Another criterion for distinguishing 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 female representatives have a considerable number of dark spots on their breasts, while in most males this sign does not appear. In addition, the sex of quails can be determined by the color of the beak: in females it is lighter, which is important for most of the breeds of the biological species in question.
As for the third factor, the consideration of which in determining sex is especially appreciated by the owners of monochromatic birds (for example, white ones), then this is the voice of these birds. Since it is not possible to distinguish quails by plumage color in such cases, breeders listen to the singing of pets. It has been noticed that the serenades of males are much less melodic: most often the sounds they make resemble hysterical cries, by which they are distinguished from quails.
The presence or absence of a secretory gland
Speaking about how to distinguish the sex of quails, one cannot fail to 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 it is realistic to determine the sex of a quail in the vast majority of cases. There is only one condition here: 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:
- gently take the feathered ward in your hand and turn it on its back with its belly up;
- holding your head, spread the feathers around the tail to the sides;
- carefully examine the area of the cloaca.
Provided that in this area there is no oblong outgrowth of brown color, from which a white foamy secret is released when pressed, the bird considered by the breeder is a female. It is also noteworthy that in females the cloaca is dark, while in males it has a pinkish tint, as evidenced by the mass of videos and photos presented on ornithological sites and forums.
And the last thing. Experts who have bred birds for many years and tell 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 them from the side of a person, one can confidently classify the feathered as males, and in the opposite situation - females.