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Has become very popular in recent years quail breeding. Compact size, rapid growth, excellent quality meat and very healthy eggs are just the general advantages of breeding this bird. Due to the growing popularity of quail, many breeds have been developed as meat, and egg-laying. One of the strong meat breeds is the Texas white quail.
Description of the breed
The Texas white quail breed gets its name from where it was bred. It was the scientists of the State of Texas who, by crossing Japanese meat breeds and quail breed English white, got this breed.
As is already clear from the name, the color of the feathers of this bird is white, but there are small inclusions of black feathers.
They have a strong build: powerful legs, a wide back and a large chest.
The weight of an adult female Texas White Pharaoh reaches 400-450 g, and a cockerel – 300-360 g.
A distinctive feature of the behavior of the Texas quail breed is calmness, even some apathy. Therefore, reproduction is possible with a larger than usual number of males. Approximately one male for two females.
Bird weight by date
The given data may fluctuate slightly and is only a rough guide 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 proper equipment of the workroom and compliance with all maintenance rules, breeding Texas White Pharaoh quails will be not so much a difficult as an interesting process.
Temperature
This is a very important aspect, compliance with which will determine the quality of weight gain. It is the conditions of the first week of life that lay the start 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 maintain a temperature regime of 26-28 degrees. Such conditions are observed from birth until 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, in the room 22 degrees. After 25 days, favorable temperature conditions are maintained between 18 and 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. This problem can be solved by installing a wide container of water in the room.
Nutrition
Nowadays, it is not necessary to think through the animal’s diet yourself; there is a wide selection of feeds selected taking into account the needs of the breed and specific age. You just need to find a good manufacturer whose food is of high quality and competent composition. However, there are aspects of feeding Texas White Pharoah quail that you need to know about:
- In the first week of life broiler quail food additives 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 at the initial stage should be very well chopped;
- In addition to feed, be sure to add greens; in winter, grated vegetables can replace them: boiled potatoes, beets, carrots, turnips, etc.;
- It is important to monitor the presence of mineral supplements in the food, but it is better to take care of them yourself. For all birds, especially those that quickly gain weight, calcium supplements in the form of crushed eggshells, chalk or bone meal are required. Another source of minerals will be gravel;
- The addition of food of animal origin: 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 spoils, causing harm to the digestive system.
Lighting
The peculiarity of the Texas White Pharoah breed is that they do not like bright lighting.A 60 W light bulb is enough for a small room; in bright light, birds become aggressive and can peck at each other, and the egg production of quails decreases. Daylight hours from 0 to 2 weeks are maintained throughout 24 hours, from 2 to 4 weeks – 20 hours, and subsequently – 17 hours.
Place of detention
Great importance in the development of broiler Texas Pharoah quail has proper cage equipment and bird stocking density.
You can buy special quail cages, but this is not always possible, so the following parameters will be important during production:
- It is advisable to make the floor of the cells fine-mesh with a tray underneath. The droppings will fall onto the tray, this will make it easier to clean the cages and improve the hygiene parameters of the cage.
- The floor should have a slight slope with the egg collector towards the bottom, otherwise the eggs will simply be pecked and trampled.
- Feeders and drinking bowls are located outside along the entire cage for ease of use.
- The planting density is determined taking into account the fact that one adult quail requires 50 cm2 of floor space.
- The cells on the side walls should be such that the quail's head can pass freely. Example in the photo.
How to Determine the Sex of a Texas White Broiler
By what characteristics can you distinguish a female from a male? Experienced sparrowhawks can distinguish them by various properties: color, physique and even voice, but this is for professionals.
You can determine the sex at a period of 3 weeks or more in the following way: turn it over with its back, spread the feathers under the tail, if a tubercle is felt there, when pressed, foam is released, then it is a male.
You can clearly see how to distinguish a female from a male Texas White Pharaoh breed in a YouTube video on this topic:
