Maybe a few of you actually want some quail at this point. I will explain what you *should* buy, a bit of terminology, and what you can expect. If you just want a pet, that's ok. However, I'm going to assume you want eggs and meat... a ton of it. I hate seeing "you need to do this" or "you have to buy this". Hear me out as I make my case. For eggs and meat, you want Japanese Coturnix Quail. You will see many different varieties out there: brown, pharaoh, Texas A&M (white), silver, tuxedo, Italian, etc. From what I can tell, brown and pharaoh are the same thing. If you decide to raise a wild variety, that's ok too. Wild varieties just don't grow as big and as fast nor are they as prolific at shitting out eggs. You also can't pack them in like the coturnix. Don't come crying to me when your bob whites eat each other. Unless you want a silly color, stick with browns. By 3-4 weeks, you can tell their sex just by looking. https://files.catbox.moe/5qyrdo.jpg Using your eyes is a hell of a lot easier than picking up every single adult bird, flipping it over, pressing on its lower abdomen, and watching for foam to come out. That's called "vent sexing", and I don't want to do this hundreds or thousands of times each year. It's also possible to miss a male which can potentially mess up your breeding program. I switch out breeding males every 6 months and females every year. Vent sexing all my breeders every 6 months to find those males is a bad time, so again, get the brown/pharaoh coloring. How big are they? Any wild variety is typically under 10oz. Look for "jumbo" coturnix when you buy birds/eggs. Jumbo is any bird 10oz or heavier. You'll most commonly find jumbo brown/pharaoh or Texas A&M (solid white). James Marie Farms (JMF) is a leading breeder for jumbo quail and several breeders are JMF certified. If you're going to order eggs anyway, JMF is a great option. Get his genetics, and you won't have to do as much to maintain large birds with large eggs. If you want to buy eggs/birds from Gerald across town, that's ok too as long as his birds are 10oz or more. Don't offend Gerald with a bunch of stupid questions; he's probably not in it for the money and doesn't need your shit. ***That's what I'm here for.*** Tl;Dr You want to buy jumbo brown/pharaoh japanese coturnix quail. Don't offend Gerald. My next post will explain how to increase the weight of your birds and their eggs. It will also explain how to maintain the weight of your existing flock.