Characteristics of Manchu quails
The Manchurian quail is one of the most famous avian 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 production rates, unpretentiousness and quick adaptation to any conditions. The birds have a beautiful golden color, which makes them attractive for breeding for decorative purposes.
Manchu quails
Introduction
Quails of the Manchurian breed differ in average meat and egg indicators, therefore they do not belong to either one or another industrial type. For the most part, representatives of this breed are raised in private farms and are very rarely bred on a professional scale. Among their advantages are very often unpretentiousness, as well as high resistance to all kinds of diseases.
Manchurian quail is often used for breeding new species. When this representative is crossed with a bird of the meat group, its production indicators increase significantly. In addition to their versatility, these birds value their attractive appearance. Manchu golden quails are often bred for purely aesthetic reasons.
Exterior
The Manchurian 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 merging into each other are very interestingly combined. The tips of the feathers are gray.
In the photo, the similarity of Manchurian quails with Japanese ones is immediately striking. The Manchus are distinguished by an unusual head mask. The male is distinguished by a darker plumage than the female, her tummy and chest are more variegated.
Description of Manchu golden quails:
- legs and beak are several tones lighter than 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 quails are classified as universal breeds. They cannot be attributed to any of the industrial groups due to the ambiguity of the indicators. For example, they give about 220 eggs per year, while the weight of the product is 16 g. The mass indicator exceeds that of other breeds, but in terms of the amount of product it does not reach the egg group.
Manchu quails gain weight very quickly. Their weight reaches 150 g, and under very good conditions - even 300. The carcasses are very fleshy. The meat has excellent taste and nutritional value. For the French variety of this breed, with enhanced nutrition, the typical weight of the male is 300 g, and the laying hens - about 400. To achieve these 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 quality dietary eggs.The content of the golden bird will vary slightly for different purposes. If the goal is to obtain fattened carcasses, heterosexuals are kept in the same aviary. 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 be successfully bred even by 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 sq. 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 should be greater than the height of the birds. The best option is a plywood cage with a lattice front wall. This design helps keep birds out of drafts and obscures vision, which greatly reduces the likelihood of stress. In addition to high-quality houses, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions in the poultry house itself:
- simple ventilation system;
- optimal temperature regime 20-25 ° С;
- illumination;
- air humidity regulator.
It is better to make the floor in the cage mesh and install a tray underneath for collecting bird waste. This design of the cage will allow you to more effectively monitor the hygiene of the room. The litter tray is set at a slight angle so that it can be cleaned freely. The ideal material for the pallet is galvanized metal sheet.
Feeders and drinkers are attached to the front wall of the cage: this will save feed and keep water from contamination. Daylight hours should be at least 17 hours. Birds are especially sensitive to the lack of light in winter, so small lights will have to be installed in the cages.
How and what to feed
The key to good health and high performance is balanced feed and clean water. The diet should be based on a variety of crops. You can use ready-made feed or prepare the mixture yourself. The grain mixture should contain:
- chopped corn;
- wheat;
- millet;
- barley.
In the summer, greens must be included in the diet. In the cold season, you can germinate crops in greenhouses and introduce them into the diet green. Also in the diet should be root vegetables, cabbage. All these products, when grated, are very much to the taste of the birds.
As for the water, it should be at room temperature. The water should be changed every two days, remembering to thoroughly wash the drinkers. For the prevention of infectious diseases, chicks are given only boiled water. The cages should contain separate boxes with crushed shells, sand and chalk. Shellwood is needed for optimal calcium levels, and sand or ash is needed so that the birds can direct the marafet, thus getting rid of parasites. In small quantities, it is necessary to introduce animal proteins in the diet in the form of cottage cheese, meat or minced fish. Normally, such products are given 15 g per day. The birds are fed 3-4 times a day, equally distributing the daily rate.
Breeding at home
Effectively increasing livestock is another challenge for novice poultry farmers. Manchu quails reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 to 8 months, so the parent individuals are chosen from this age category. Too young or old birds have lower fertility rates.
Closely related crossbreeding should be avoided. For complete confidence, it is better to purchase one of the individuals from another breeder. Determination of the sex of the bird is carried out by pressing on the cloaca. In the male, the cloacal opening is larger and foam is released from it.
To obtain high-quality offspring, 3-4 females selected for the tribe are placed together with the male in one cage.You should not put more than 4 females in a cage with one male, since he will not be able to fertilize them all qualitatively. After mating, eggs can be stored for no more than a week at a temperature of 12 ° C. Turn them over regularly during storage. Before laying in the incubator, a thorough rejection of the incubation material is carried out. The following copies are subject to rejection:
- the egg is too saturated or, conversely, too light in color;
- incubation material with limescale;
- eggs with a thinned shell.
The testicles are laid with blunt ends up. It is very important to observe the optimal temperature and humidity conditions during the entire process. Incubation trays are inverted every 4 hours. A couple of days before hatching, the trays are stopped turning over.
How to tell a sexually mature male
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 the cloaca and tail gland. In the male, the cloaca is colored pink. The gland is adjacent to the cloaca and is located between the anus and the tail. When lightly pressed on it, a foamy transparent white liquid is released.
In females, the tail gland is absent. If the sex of the quail is determined by its appearance at the age of two months, but the tail gland is not developed, such an individual is not taken for breeding, because its testes are underdeveloped. In this case, the bird is culled for meat.
Quail care
The correctness of the content at the initial stages of life is the key to good immunity in the future. On the first day after birth, the chicks need constant heating. Until the chicks reach the age of 7 days, it is necessary to maintain the air temperature in the cage 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 chopped, hard-boiled eggs and cottage cheese. Then feed is gradually introduced. In the first days, the chicks are given water only boiled, with a small addition of potassium permanganate. Already on the fourth day, babies can be transferred to clean water without manganese.
The advantages of breeding this species
The Manchu golden quail breed is perfect for breeding in order to get income and quality food. Even a novice poultry farmer can master the content of these representatives. This breed is quite popular. And this is not surprising at all, because even though birds are not attributed to any of the industrial groups, they are in great demand among buyers.
Golden Manchu quail after slaughter has a very good presentation. Unlike other breeds, after plucking, no feathers are visible on the skin and there is no blackness on the abdomen. The poultry has a light, attractive color. When breeding birds for meat, it is not necessary to keep different sexes separately. In the case when the breed is raised for the purpose of obtaining egg products, the females are kept separately.
The undoubted advantage is the early maturity of the breed. Females begin to rush at the age of two months and maintain high egg production up to 8 months, after which the indicators begin to gradually decrease. If you decide to start your mini-business from breeding this breed, then your costs will be covered within six months, and the birds will continue to bring a stable income.
Many breeders prefer this breed precisely because of its early maturity. Birds begin to lay eggs early and actively gain weight, which allows them to start selling products as soon as possible. On the video you can watch how the birds of this breed behave and listen to the stories of experienced breeders about their content.Now you know everything about the content of Manchu beautiful quails and you can do everything right.