Brown vs white coturnix

[muffin_p]

Hello! So I was having a bit of a discussion with my parents and they say that jumbo white coturnix are better for meat and eggs than jumbo brown coturnix. I told them that the jumbo white and jumbo brown give the same amount of eggs and meat, the only difference is the color. At least that’s what I understood from the research I did.
Is this true though? Are jumbo white and jumbo brown coturnix quail the same?(besides the color)
I also found a good deal closer to me on jumbo brown but they’re so set on the jumbo white being better and that I should get white instead. So I wanted to make sure that they’re both equally the same for meat and eggs before buying the brown

Also, are the coturnix breeds the best dual quails? (For meat and eggs)

 

[Nabiki]

Jumbos are pretty much jumbos. The standard browns will usually get a bit bigger (not enough to matter), but the big advantage to them is that they're feather sexable, which the whites aren't.

If you're raising them for meat, it makes more sense to be able to tell their gender at 3-4 weeks so you can get rid of your extra males earlier. This will prevent bloodshed and you will be able to butcher a bit sooner.

 

[muffin_p]

Jumbos are pretty much jumbos. The standard browns will usually get a bit bigger (not enough to matter), but the big advantage to them is that they're feather sexable, which the whites aren't.

If you're raising them for meat, it makes more sense to be able to tell their gender at 3-4 weeks so you can get rid of your extra males earlier. This will prevent bloodshed and you will be able to butcher a bit sooner.

So the whites and browns are the same meat and egg production wise?

 

[Huntmaster]

My jumbo browns are a little larger and on avg. lay slightly larger eggs than my jumbo whites, but this could just be my lines they are all JMF lines. The whites have a cleaner looking appearance after cleaning/processing with skin on because of white feathers. Otherwise, there is really no difference. My whites are a little more aggressive than my browns this could just be the traits of my lines also. But biggest advantage to the browns is as @Nabiki stated they are feather sexable and the whites are not.

 

[koturnix]

In addition to what others have said about the pros of browns/wild/pharoah quail I would also like to note that the white/A&M that I've had tend to be jumpier for some reason. And this is from different egg sources so I will always choose the brown coturnix over the white ones any time.

The all-white feathering is a negative to me because if a quail gets a slight injury it's very obvious on their body whereas it's not quite so obvious on the brown. Then when the others start pecking at the bird it might lead to a bloody massacre.

I have not raised other quail before but from what I've read: yes, coturnix are best for meat/egg production. They mature the quickest, have less space requirements, can be housed in groups, less noisy and calmer than the other quail.

 

[Nabiki]

So the whites and browns are the same meat and egg production wise?

Pretty much. If anything, the jumbo browns are usually a bit bigger and lay larger eggs depending on the lines they're from.

 

[bhaugh]

I breed for temperament over color as aggression is fatal to my birds no matter the color. I prefer silver but for some reason they are hard to hatch. I say get the color you want and go from there jumbo or not. Most of the jumbos Ive had didn't out perform to their smaller counterparts

 

[Nabiki]

I breed for temperament over color as aggression is fatal to my birds no matter the color. I prefer silver but for some reason they are hard to hatch. I say get the color you want and go from there jumbo or not. Most of the jumbos Ive had didn't out perform to their smaller counterparts

I love the silvers, but I don't breed them anymore. Breeding silver to silver is a bad idea. That can be a lethal combination with low hatch rates and a much higher rate of albinos with health issues.

 

[grannietiger]

My jumbo browns are a little larger and on avg. lay slightly larger eggs than my jumbo whites, but this could just be my lines they are all JMF lines. The whites have a cleaner looking appearance after cleaning/processing with skin on because of white feathers. Otherwise, there is really no difference. My whites are a little more aggressive than my browns this could just be the traits of my lines also. But biggest advantage to the browns is as @Nabiki stated they are feather sexable and the whites are not.

My experience is this, I've had browns and whites. I have had nothing but aggressive behavior in the browns (jumbo)....hatched a batch of a&m whites and they are the calmest, mellowed out birds ever, I've NEVER had any fighting with my whites but the browns are ruthless!
Getting ready to order more hatching eggs are yes they WILL be the whites again and NEVER AGAIN THE BROWNS.
My quail are raised inside a spare bedroom in my home.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

My experience is this, I've had browns and whites. I have had nothing but aggressive behavior in the browns (jumbo)....hatched a batch of a&m whites and they are the calmest, mellowed out birds ever, I've NEVER had any fighting with my whites but the browns are ruthless!
Getting ready to order more hatching eggs are yes they WILL be the whites again and NEVER AGAIN THE BROWNS.
My quail are raised inside a spare bedroom in my home.

For me, the opposite. I no longer breed Texas A&M or whites. Just a matter of preference because I've found that if they grow up in a mixed batch, they tend to accept one another. If they grow up with an imbalance of either color, the majority color will gang up on the minority. It's just easier to deal with the patterned batch, and as others have noted, sometimes it also helps with feather sexing early.

Some say the meat of white colored birds have a more mellow and less gamey taste. Personally, I can't tell the difference. For taste, it mostly has to do with how old the bird is. Younger birds taste better.