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Has become very popular in recent years quail breeding... Compact size, fast growth, excellent quality meat and very healthy eggs are just the general advantages of breeding this bird. Due to the growing popularity of quails, many breeds have been bred as meat, and egg-laying. One of the strongest meat breeds is the Texas white quail.
Description of the breed
The breed of Texas white quail got its name from the place of its breeding. It was the scientists of the state of Texas by crossing Japanese meat breeds and quail breed english white, got this breed.
As the name implies, the color of the feathers of this bird is white, but there are small blotches of black feathers.
They have a strong constitution: powerful legs, a broad back and a large chest.
The weight of an adult female of the Texas White Pharaoh breed reaches 400-450 grams, and a cockerel - 300-360 grams.
A distinctive feature of the behavior of the Texas quail breed is calmness, even some apathy. In view of this, reproduction is possible with a larger than usual number of males. About one male for every two females.
Bird weight by timing
The figures shown may fluctuate slightly and are only a rough guideline for comparing the weight of broiler quails.
| Age by week | Males | Females | ||
| Live weight, g | Finished carcass weight, g | Live weight, g | Finished carcass weight, g | |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | 36-37 94-95 146-148 247-251 300-304 335-340 350-355 |
142 175 220 236 | 36-37 94-95 148-150 244-247 320-325 360-365 400-405 |
132 180 222 282 |
Features of growing Texas quails
With the proper equipment of the working space and compliance with all the rules of maintenance, breeding quail of the Texas white pharaoh breed will not be so much difficult as an interesting process.
Temperature regime
This is a very important aspect, the observance of which will determine the quality of weight gain. It is the conditions of the first week of life that set the stage for good growth.
When hatching from eggs, chicks are carefully moved into boxes or cages with a temperature of 36-38 degrees. In the room where the cells are located, it is also important to observe the temperature regime of 26-28 degrees. Such conditions are observed from birth to 10 days of life.
The next week, that is, until 17 days of age, the temperature in the cage is gradually reduced to 30-32 degrees, the room temperature to 25 degrees.
In the period from 17 to 25 days, the temperature in the cage is 25 degrees, the room is 22 degrees. After 25 days, a favorable temperature regime is maintained in the range from 18 to 22 degrees.
Air humidity
A very important condition for keeping Texas quails is the correct air humidity - 60-70%. As a rule, heated rooms have dry air. You can solve this problem by installing a wide container of water in the room.
Food
Nowadays, it is not necessary to think over the diet of animals yourself, there is a wide selection of feeds, selected taking into account the needs of the breed and a specific age. You just need to find a good manufacturer whose feed is of high quality and competent composition.However, there are aspects of feeding the Texas White Pharaoh quail that you need to know about:
- In the first week of life broiler quail supplements to food in the form of boiled eggs, meat and bone meal, yogurt, cottage cheese or other products containing a large amount of protein are required. In general, food should be ground very well at the beginning;
- In addition to compound feed, it is imperative to add greens; in winter, grated vegetables can replace it: boiled potatoes, beets, carrots, turnips, etc.;
- It is important to monitor the presence of mineral additives in the feed, but it is better to take care of them yourself. For all birds, especially those quickly gaining weight, calcium supplements in the form of crushed eggshell, chalk or bone meal are required. Gravel will be another source of minerals;
- The addition of animal feed, such as insects and fish, has a very beneficial effect on weight gain.
Texas quail should always have access to fresh water, it needs to be changed daily, because when heated, it deteriorates, harming the digestive system.
Lighting
The peculiarity of the breed of Texas white pharaohs is that they do not like bright lighting. A 60 W light bulb is enough for a small room; in bright light, the birds become aggressive and can peck each other, and the egg production of quails decreases. Daylight hours at the age of 0 to 2 weeks are maintained for all 24 hours, from 2 to 4 weeks - 20 hours, then - 17 hours.
Place of Containment
Of great importance in the development of broiler quail of the Texas Pharaoh breed has competent equipment of cages, poultry stocking density.
You can buy special quail cages, but there is not always such an opportunity, therefore, the following parameters will be important in the manufacture:
- It is desirable to make the floor of the cages fine-meshed with a tray under it. The droppings will fall onto the pallet, making it easier to clean the cages and improving the hygiene parameters of the containment.
- The floor should have a slight slope with the collector towards the bottom, otherwise the eggs will simply be pecked and trampled.
- Feeders and sippy cups are located outside along the entire cage for ease of use.
- The stocking density is determined taking into account the fact that one adult quail needs 50 cm2 of sex.
- The cells on the side walls should be such that the quail's head passes freely. An example in the photo.
How to Gender a Texas White Broiler
What are the characteristics that distinguish a female from a male? Experienced sparrowhawks can distinguish them by different properties: color, physique and even voice, but this is for professionals.
You can determine the sex for a period of 3 weeks as follows: turn it upside down, move the feathers under the tail, if a tubercle is felt there, when pressed on which foam is released, then it is a male.
You can clearly see how to distinguish a female from a male of the Texas White Pharaoh breed in a YouTube video on this topic:
