California quail: description of the breed

Poultry farmers in Our Country rarely breed California crested quail. They hail from the USA. Naturally found on the west coast from Oregon to California. The locals call them partridges.

California crested quails have been successfully acclimatized in New Zealand, Colombia, Chile. But in the vastness of Europe, California quail did not take root. This is an amazingly decorative bird, look at the photo: crested partridge in the wild.

Description

Quail of the Californian breed is easy to distinguish from other relatives by the crest. Yes, and the appearance is also surprisingly elegant:

1. The body is dense, length is from 23 to 25 cm.
2. On a neat, small tail, the feathers are arranged in steps.
3. The beak of the California crested quail is black, curved to eat the seeds.
4. The paws of the quail are medium, dark lead.
5. The head is small, neat, with a proud landing. The tuft is assembled from several feathers, bent down like a visor. The California quail has a larger crest than the quail. This is clearly seen in the photo, which shows a sweet couple.

If we talk about the color of the feathers, then they are not much different, except that the males have a bright, contrasting outfit. The male California quail has a yellowish-white spot on its forehead. There are also white lines: one is located above the eyes, and the other is located on the neck like a crescent, covering it with a white “scarf”.

The California Crested Quail has an olive sheen on its brown back. The abdomen is covered with feathers of brown or yellowish color. Each of them is circled in black. It seems that the lower part of the body is covered with “fish scales”. The California crested quail looks smart, but not so bright.

Pros and cons of growing

Why is the California crested quail increasingly appearing in the compound? Let’s take a look at the benefits first:

1. First of all, the decorativeness of the bird attracts, one crest is worth something!
2. Secondly, caring for California partridges is not particularly difficult, it is enough to build spacious enclosures (cage keeping is unacceptable) and create comfortable conditions.
3. With regard to food, crested quails are unpretentious.
4. When creating comfortable conditions, California quails practically do not get sick.

If we talk about the shortcomings, then it is difficult to grow chicks, they are flimsy, it is impossible to breed a large herd. Consequently, you can’t get a lot of meat, including healthy quail eggs. And the main drawback is that the cost of California quails is too high.

Features of captivity

Place for keeping

California crested quails do not survive well in cages. Therefore, when growing birds at home, they need to equip spacious aviaries. Birds kept in captivity have not lost many of the habits inherent in wild crested relatives. For rest and sleep, California quails need to create special perches that imitate trees. It is best to use a regular branch. It is necessary to equip places-nests for laying eggs. Photo option.

Temperature and lighting

At home, quails can live quietly at low temperatures. But for domestic California crested partridges, temperatures below +10 degrees can be fatal. Therefore, in winter, birds should be in a warm, ventilated room with a humidity of about 55%.

It is necessary in the aviary, where they contain quails, to put a bowl, which is filled with a mixture of sand and ash, for “bathing” pets. This is the prevention of parasites living in feathers. The ingredients need to be changed from time to time.

In the summer, the California crested quail has enough natural light, but with a shortening of daylight hours, especially in winter, artificial lighting is indispensable.

Poultry farmers should remember that reducing lighting to 15 hours leads to a decrease in quail egg production. Optimally, the light in the room should be at least 18 hours.

So, and the livestock will not be lost for long!

Despite the fact that crested birds living at home have lost the ability to fly, California quails are very curious, they need not climb to a small height and look, for example, through a window, as in the photo.

Diet

Quails are unpretentious, they eat almost all food, including grain, vegetables, herbs, waste from the table.

1. An adult crested male needs 5-7 grams of grain for a day, females and quails need less. Among cereals (in crushed form), preference is given to: wheat and corn, millet and oats, sorghum. Give in the morning and evening. Adult California quails can occasionally be fed whole rice, barley, wheat.
2. Mixers, which are given only during the day, can be diversified with fresh cabbage, beet carrots, potatoes. Beets and potatoes must first be boiled. If there is alfalfa, clover, other garden greens, then they also need to be introduced into the diet. Crested Californians especially need vegetable supplements in winter. Any additives are crushed before being added to the mixer.
3. Crested quails love steamed peas, lentils, and beans.
4. California quail should receive some poppy, given from an early age.
5. Bone and fishmeal are essential, they are the main suppliers of protein. If there are no ready-made compositions, then fresh meat and fish waste is added to the mash.
6. The quail finds worms and other small insects in the summer itself, but they can be specially prepared for winter feeding.
7. Breeding crested quail at home involves feeding with compound feed. Only special ones need to be used. A good substitute is the combined feed for parrots.
8. In winter, you need to specially grow spinach, lettuce, onion batun, and germinate whole grains on the window. They are useful as vitamin supplements.
9. In the feeders you need to add crushed shell rock, chalk, fine gravel. Mineral supplements are needed for shell formation and bone strength.

Clean water must always be present. It has to be changed often, because crested quails are big fans of rinsing their beaks. As a prophylactic against parasites, potassium permanganate is added from time to time. As soon as the birds drank the solution, it must be poured out: they will not fit the drinker anymore.

Therefore, compound feed intended for livestock should not be given. You need to be careful with salty foods, such as cabbage: it is first soaked.

Breeding features

Under natural conditions, California quail mating games begin in March. One female can hatch up to 12 eggs. Incubation time is 22 days.

The eggs of the California crested quail are pear-shaped, completely covered with multi-colored dark spots, as in this photo.

In domestic California quail, eggs are larger than those of wild relatives, weighing approximately 11 grams. Domestic partridges, unfortunately, for the most part have lost maternal feelings. Therefore, quail breeding is most often trusted to incubators. When choosing, you need to dwell on those species that are equipped with glass for observing eggs, so as not to miss the moment the quail is born.

Hatched babies need to be kept for some time in special sparrows, creating the appropriate conditions: lighting, temperature, air humidity, feeding ration. Californian quails are too weak, so the introduction to adult birds is possible in a month and a half.

Some poultry farmers use a caring laying hen to get offspring, laying quail eggs under it. Klusha is sensitive to hatched chicks, she will teach life. In this case, when breeding, the percentage of death among California quails decreases.

We offer a video that will help to avoid mistakes when breeding quail:

To summarize

Ornamental California quails with crests are not bred at home as often as other species. After all, they practically do not receive profits in the form of meat or eggs. But there is a lot of pleasure from observing the life of these little birds. Only the Californian quail, being free-living in an aviary, can demonstrate a funny run with swaying or, flying up on a perch, look down at the owner with curiosity. The owners of California quails take a lot of interesting photos.

We must always remember that we have to answer for everyone we have settled in our yard.