Estonian quail: breed description and characteristics, breeding and care

Many breeds of quail in Russia are recently bred. For example, Estonian quails have been brought into the country and have been bred since the late 2000s. The breed is popular with private poultry farmers. Consider the description, advantages and disadvantages, productive characteristics of the breed. How to keep, feed and breed a thoroughbred bird in households.

Breeding

Estonian breed is based on 2 other breeds - Japanese and Pharaoh. A new variety was bred in order to get a larger and more productive meat-and-egg bird. As a result, a breed came out that did not lose the potential of its parents, but acquired valuable characteristics - the carcass weight increased by 40-50%, the survival rate of the chicks increased to 98%.Estonian quail meat is tastier, slightly fatter, but looks attractive.

Appearance and performance characteristics of birds

The plumage of quails is similar to the color of wild birds, feathers of different shades of brown, pronounced stripes on the body. Estonian females are 20-25% larger than males. Birds of this breed are active, but shy, they are frightened by sudden sounds and movements.

The average weight of an Estonian is 240-260 g, carcass weight is 180-200 g. Quails can be slaughtered at 4.5-5 months, after six months the gains fall. Females can lay over 300 eggs a year.

Advantages and disadvantages of the breed

Pros and consbig weight;fast growth;egg production;chick survival;excellent meat characteristics.fearfulness;thermophilicity.

As you can see, the disadvantages of the breed are insignificant and do not give breeders reason to refuse breeding.

How to look after and support Estonians?

Keep Estonian quails in cages, in any suitable room. Standard cage - 1 m long, 0.5 m wide and 0.3 m high. It can accommodate 2-3 dozen birds.

Keeping warm is important for quails, the room temperature should be maintained at 22-25 °C. Already at 15 ˚С, egg production drops, and at 30 ˚С, quails can get a heat stroke. At any time of the year in the room where the cage is located, the ventilation system should work or the window should be open. It is important to ensure that there are no drafts.

Lighting should be dim, bright light makes birds nervous, increases aggressiveness, provokes pecking. For 15 sq. m. of the room you need to place 1 lamp with a power of 20 watts.The length of daylight hours for quails is 16 hours, if it is shorter, females will reduce productivity. Humidity level - 60-70%. When the air is dry, birds drop feathers, they are thirsty, they eat little.

Quail feeding

Estonian quails are meat and egg oriented, so they must receive nutrients to build meat and form eggs. They feed the livestock with compound feed or, if you want to get tastier and more environmentally friendly meat and eggs, with self-made grain mixers. The composition of the mixtures includes not only the grain of various cereals and legumes, but also the waste of their processing, vegetables and root crops, which must be rubbed on a fine grater. Fresh herbs are added to these ingredients, as well as chalk, shell rock or premixes, which contain all the necessary mineral components.

It is convenient and profitable to feed laying quail females with compound feed specially designed for laying hens. It contains components that stimulate egg production, and there is also calcium, which makes the shell strong. Feed consumption per 1 Estonian quail - 35 g per day.

Breeding and Incubation

You can distinguish a male from a female by external signs and plumage already at the age of one month. Feathers on the chest of males are of a solid red or ocher-yellow color, without spots. Their head and beak are larger than those of females. The body structure of quails is more elegant, plumage on the chest with dark spots.

In adult birds, sex can be determined by the gland, which in males is located near the cloaca. It has the appearance of a tubercle. Females do not have such a gland. For purebred breeding, only purebred Estonian males and females should be selected.

Reproduction

At home, quails do not incubate eggs themselves. Quail hatch in an incubator. To obtain fertilized incubation material from the livestock, families are formed from 1 male and 4-5 females. Under such conditions, the fertility of eggs reaches 75-80%.

Choosing eggs for incubation

Eggs suitable for incubation are harvested within a week and must be fresh. Large and above average in size are selected, with a whole and strong shell. Its color and structure should be normal. For breeding Estonian quails, an ordinary incubator for home use is suitable. Incubation mode - in the first 1.5 weeks, maintain a temperature of 37.7-37.8 ° C and humidity within 55-65%. Then reduce the humidity to 40-45%. The first 2 weeks you need to turn the eggs, then this is not necessary.

Then set the temperature to 37.3 °C, raise the humidity to 75%. On the 16-17th day, the quails hatch. This process takes them 1-3 days. You can not interfere and help the chicks out of the shell, they must do it themselves. The percentage of hatchability in Estonian quails is high - 85-90%.

After all the Estonian quail chicks have hatched, they are placed in a brooder where they are fed up to 3 weeks of age. A red lamp is hung over the quails, which will warm and illuminate them. In the first 5 days, the temperature is set at 35.5-36 ° C, then for 9-11 days - 32.5-33.5 ° C, after which it is gradually reduced to 25 ° C. They feed the first 2 days on a piece of paper, then pour the food into a shallow feeder. Put drinking bowls with clean warm water in the brooder. At first, the chicks are fed 5-6 times a day, from 3 weeks they are transferred to 3 meals a day.

Features of breeding for meat

Estonian quails grow fast, they start laying at the age of 1.5 months. They are fed for meat up to 3.5 months. The best food for broilers is compound feed. Females and males are kept and fed separately, in different cages. To do this, determine the sex of each individual and separate them.When kept separately, Estonian quails eat better, behave calmly, gain weight faster. A dim light can be left in the cage room so that the quails can always see the food. Compound feed and water must be kept by the birds at all times.

Frequent diseases

When Estonian quails are kept together, infectious diseases are not uncommon. The probability of their appearance and distribution is higher if the content rules are not followed. Pathogens are spread through dirty bedding, food and water. To prevent the development of diseases and digestive disorders, birds need to be soldered with antibiotics. And if the disease has already developed, immediately begin treatment. In the absence of proper therapy, you can lose part of the livestock.

The Estonian quails are also endangered by parasites - helminths, lice, peroedy.They oppress birds, which causes a decrease in productivity. In order not to wait until this happens, it is necessary to treat the livestock periodically with anthelmintic drugs and agents against external parasites.

Where to buy and how much does a bird cost?

Young stock, hatching eggs, adult birds of Estonian quails can be bought at breeding farms that breed the breed. There you can also get veterinary certificates confirming that the birds are he althy. The price for 1 quail reaches 50 rubles, however, each seller has a different cost, so you need to check the prices before buying.

It is recommended to buy Estonian quail only from breeding farms and not from individuals. The farms have a guarantee that the birds are purebred, and from them you can get the amount of production declared by the breeders.

Estonian quails can be attributed to promising varieties that can be chosen by private poultry farmers for home breeding.A small livestock can be kept for their own needs, providing themselves with meat and quail eggs. Many poultry farmers build a business on breeding quails and open farms. With the right organization, raising poultry brings profit and pleasure.

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