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The quail of the Pharaoh breed is a classic example of breeding a new breed through an exceptionally long selection of Japanese quail for the desired trait without the influx of any “foreign” blood. The official version of the appearance of this breed of quail: the need for larger quail carcasses in the culinary industry.
Although it is possible that the matter is in the gigantomania inherent in Americans, from which not only quail, but also other animals suffer. Selection only for size led to a decrease in egg production, fertility and undemanding to the conditions of detention. Pharaohs are more capricious, the percentage of egg fertility is lower than that of the Japanese quail. Egg production has also declined.
Although the pharaohs carry a sufficient number of eggs so that this breed can be considered not exclusively meat, but meat and egg.
Description and productive characteristics of the Pharaoh breed
On the left in the photo is a Japanese quail, on the right is a pharaoh. Obviously, without a scale, by the appearance alone in the photograph, it is impossible to understand where which breed is.
These breeds differ only in size. Therefore, if you were sold pharaohs, but they did not grow more than 150 g, this is not a bad breed, it was a Japanese quail that was sold to you.
In this case, you can console yourself that the Japanese breed is unpretentious, carries more eggs, it has a better safety of young animals, and find a restaurant to buy carcasses. Since restaurants prefer to take carcasses of Japanese or Manchurian quails, from which exactly one serving is made. Pharaohs are too big for a restaurant.
Otherwise, there is every chance to buy Japanese quails or a mixture of Estonian quails with pharaohs.
The average weight of a Pharaoh quail is 300 g. This is almost twice as much as the Japanese one. Pharaohs lay about 220 eggs a year. This is less than that of Japanese quails, but the eggs of the Pharaohs are much larger and weigh an average of 15 g. Quails begin to rush on the 42-50th day.
In many ways, the weight of the egg depends on the type of food that the quails receive. So, when feeding quails with food for broilers, the eggs are much larger. If the task is to get a food egg and a herd of laying hens is considered as a consumable, then this is a very good quality. If eggs are needed for an incubator, it is better not to get carried away with such methods. They destroy the bird’s body, and too large eggs are not suitable for an incubator.
The French pharaoh has the highest slaughter meat yield. The live weight of the French pharaoh can reach 500 g, although this is a record weight. Such quails are usually shown at exhibitions, and the average weight of the livestock is about 400 g.
The dark plumage of the pharaohs is considered a minus due to the fact that it spoils the color of carcasses after plucking. A quail with a dark feather has dark skin and meat, which does not look very appetizing.
Other disadvantages of the pharaohs include low egg production and exactingness in content compared to Japanese quail.
At the same time, the advantages of the pharaoh overlap its shortcomings, for example, the advantages are: early maturity, large weight of a marketable carcass and large eggs.
Overexposure to 7 weeks of age results in 13% overfeeding. At the same time, at 5 months, the growth of the quail already stops, but the carcass is not yet formed and has very thin cyanotic skin without fat. Such a carcass is referred to the 2nd category of fatness. By 6 weeks, the carcass acquires a marketable appearance with well-developed muscles and fat deposits on the neck, back and abdomen. Such a carcass is referred to the 1st category of fatness.
Pitfalls of the version of the breed
Or rather, even the entire CIS. It is very difficult to find good representatives of the Pharaoh breed in the former Soviet space. This is due to the too small initial livestock, which is why inbreeding and chopping of the bird is inevitable, and the crossing of pharaohs with other quails that have the same plumage color. For example, with the Estonian quail.
Features of keeping and feeding Pharaohs
Pharaohs, like large quails, require an increased area, so 20 cm² is allocated for one pharaoh. The height of the cage in which the pharaohs are kept should be no more than 30 cm.
The room maintains a constant temperature of 20±2°C. At too low a temperature, the quails huddle together and the extreme ones constantly strive to get into the middle. If it is too high, both the birds and the eggs they lay will overheat.
Then continuous “necessary, but …” begin.
Quails need daylight hours lasting at least 17 hours. But the lighting should not be too bright, as quails become shy in bright light. A 60-watt light bulb is enough for a small room.
Air humidity should be maintained at the level of 60-70%. If the air is too dry, put a bowl of water in the room. But humidity above 75% is critical for steppe birds.
Quail needs constant supply of fresh air. In summer, indoor air exchange should be 5 m³ / h. In winter, this standard is reduced three times. But with drafts, quails begin to get sick, lose feathers, reduce egg production and may die.
Food for pharaohs
Due to the rapid weight gain of the quail, the Pharaohs especially need a balanced diet. The basis of their diet is grain feed, which should be dominated by ground millet, oats, corn and wheat.
In summer, quails can be given finely chopped grass, including sawdust.. But for insurance, it is better to exclude poisonous plants from the green mass. Birds have a very different metabolism than mammals and most often eat poisonous plants and seeds without harm to the body. These consequences then occur for the body of a person who has eaten a carcass of a quail that has eaten poisonous seeds.
In winter, sprouts of wheat and millet are added to the quail feed. You can also give ordinary kitchen vegetables: cabbage leaves, grated beets and carrots, and other vegetables.
Year-round quails need ground eggshells, sand, limestone and table salt.
Young animals in the first two weeks of life are added to the feed grated boiled egg. A boiled egg can also be added to females, as they need more food, the nutrients of which go to the formation of eggs.
This is all provided that the quails are fed in the old fashioned way, without the use of special compound feeds. When using special compound feed, quails do not need additional feeding. Everything you need has already been added to the food.
Quail water is changed every two days, because, quickly becoming contaminated with food residues, it turns sour in a warm room and can cause intestinal problems in the bird. If you want guarantees, it is better to change the water every day. Any animals tend to go to drink immediately after eating and carry the rest of the food into the water.
Quail breeding
When breeding quails, there are rules common to any breed:
- to avoid inbreeding, pairs are made up of unrelated birds taken in different herds;
- one cockerel can have from 2 to 4 females. The ideal option is 3 quails for one quail;
- the upper limit of the age when quails are suitable for breeding is not older than 8 months. The lower limit of age is 2 months;
- the maximum time during which quails are used to obtain an incubation egg is 3 months. The ideal option would be if the term ends at the age of quails at 20-22 weeks. That is, the bird should be put on breeding at the age of 8-10 weeks. After 3 months, the quails are replaced with new ones.
Subject to the necessary conditions for incubation, the quail leaves the eggs on the 17th day. Mistakes that can be made out of ignorance during incubation are shown in the video.
