Japanese Seattle or Japanese Taiwan?

[Pugo]

On this forum two favorite topics, Quail and Aquaponics.. Interesting but in Asia we raise quail very differently. usually in batteries with cage heights about 8 inches to keep the birds from flying up and breaking their necks.

I was wondering which quail do you raise, Taiwan Japanese or Japanese Seattle??

[GaryD]

Hi Pugo,

Quail and aquaponics are two of my favourite things, too....and they are logical companions in an integration backyard food production (Microponics) system.....which is why we have them on APHQ.

The quail depicted in your avatar are Coturnix coturnix japonica. They are called different things in different part of the world and sub-species are native to many countries (but not the US).

They are all essentially the same thing but breeders in some places will have developed them specifically for meat or egg production (or both) and that will impact the size of the birds, how quickly they grow, how efficiently they convert food and their fertility and fecundity.

Quail can be kept in deeper cages.....my pens are about 500mm deep and the birds don't break their necks. That can be an issue in floor pens with high ceilings. Quail throughout Asia are kept in very shallow pens usually for space-efficiency reasons.

Gary

[Pugo]

Yes, Maximizing space is always and issue here in Asia. but it has to do with cost more than space. If you can put more Pugo (eg. Quail ) in a cage the less you have to spend on housing.

Yes, the are coturnix japonica, However there is major differences between Seattle Japanese and Taiwan Japanese breeds. The Seattle Japanese Quail are a slightly larger bird with bigger eggs and a life span of 2 years. Where the Taiwan Japanese breed life span is 1 year. and has a smaller eggs. I can go on, on about the two breeds but really don't wish to bore you..

I am planning on a flock size of 20,000 layers.

[GaryD]

Hi Pugo,

Yes, the are coturnix japonica, However there is major differences between Seattle Japanese and Taiwan Japanese breeds. The Seattle Japanese Quail are a slightly larger bird with bigger eggs and a life span of 2 years. Where the Taiwan Japanese breed life span is 1 year. and has a smaller eggs. I can go on, on about the two breeds but really don't wish to bore you..

The point that I sought to make is that the differences are brought about by the efforts of breeders to maximise desirable features in their birds.......more meat, more eggs, etc.

I've seen quail here in Australia that were fully 30% bigger than the average quail......same breed but they had been extensively selected for meat production.

In the US, they were similarly selected for colour so we saw things like Tuxedos, English White and Gold. Inthe 1960's and 1970's, Albert Marsh (of Marsh Farms) produced larger birds in these colours and he called his bird Pharoah's quail.

Go ahead, you won't bore me.......I've been keeping quail (off and on) for over 30 years. Jan and I produced them commercially in the early days and we had one of the first purpose-built processing sheds in Australia.

They are amazing creatures.

Gary