![Well, I'm on my way to raising quail! [3072x4096 - 4.51MB]](https://pic8.co/sh/5Og5ew.jpg){kind=link}
Ok, let me see what we have here starting at the top.
There are white coturnix that are not A&M, but I'm not sure how you'd be able to tell the difference. You can't really judge by size since you don't know what they've been fed up until now. Going solely on the feathers, they're at least 3 weeks old and shouldn't need heat if they're in your house. Whites are a little more prone to aggression, so keep an eye out for your other birds missing neck feathers or damaged eyes. Look for a video on sexing them by checking for foam once they're a few weeks older.
Look at the chests of the browns, males will begin to develop a burnt orange coloration just under the neck. You'll notice fewer speckles compared to the females. This begins at about the 3-4 week mark. Think about how a male robin looks vs a female; it's very similar in my opinion.
You want a ~5:1 ratio of females to males, but keep 2 males just in case. Separate or eat the remaining males. Obviously, keep the biggest ones after weighing them in about 3 weeks. Once the eggs stop looking white or looking weird, incubate some.
The ducks you'll just have to wait and see if they're boys or girls. I mean, you can try wrestling them upside down and manually checking, but I don't do that lol. The girl will quack and the boy will have a curled up tail feather.
Those chickens can fly, so trim the wings. Just do one side, and do the opposite side next time.
When the birds are adults, you can use the same layer feed for all of them, just buy crumbles over pellets.
I doubt your daughter wants to eat the rabbit, so have fun with the new pet! Have her wear some decent gloves until it's pretty tame.
Thank you.
The ducks are a pair, at least sold that way, one has curled tail feathers and the other doesn't. Do males sometimes have strait tail feathers?
Going to use the rabbit for angora yarn! Looking forward to playing with that. The auctioneer told me the angoras usually go for $50 minimum! Going to see if I can find a female to help pay the feed bills.
Those chickens are not going to be free roaming. We've tried to have them free before and they always get eaten. These will be strictly caged, probably a smallish yard tractor to make sure they still get the benefit of bugs and grass!
Oh, they're over 5 months old then. A young male Pekin looks just like a female, but if they're the same age you got a duck and a drake. Put out some water and watch the head bobbing and humping begin! Only females quack, so that's another way to tell. We have a larynx in our throat and ducks have a pharynx. The male's is shaped differently which prevents them from making the same noise as a female. Biology!
The rabbit will produce better quality fur as it ages. I'd be interested in knowing if you find that to be true with yours as it ages.
Good idea with the chickens. They're tasty to every predator on earth. The same thing can happen to the ducks though, but a good drake will throw himself on the sword to protect the girls.
I neglected to mention: as the coloration comes in on the boy quails, it'll look like you were eating cheetos and got a bit of a dusty thumbprint on their chest. It'll start faint, but that's what it looks like to me lol.
We have a larynx in our throat and ducks have a pharynx. The male's is shaped differently which prevents them from making the same noise as a female. Biology!
Very interesting!
How much space would you give them to make them happy? And what kind of house do they enjoy? I'll be setting up their new homes tomorrow. Do they breed year round and lay eggs year round?
The rabbit will produce better quality fur as it ages.
I guess this is the bad part about buying from an auction, no idea how old the rabbit is. I'm going to do some research tonight and see if there's a way to determine age.
Really appreciate your insight! A lot easier than when I started with goats, chickens, guineas, and turkeys knowing nothing and no one to ask anything!
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