Question about my gold babies...

[PeepsCA]

I just hatched these little guys over the past couple of days... I noticed 2 of them have darker heads, and 2 have lighter heads. One of the lighter headed chicks has hardly any markings on it's head at all. I'm new to Quail, so just curious if anyone can tell me what the differences mean,or if I have to wait and see when they mature.

 

[speedy2020]

Your yellow quail sure look like mine. Here are few photos.

5 days old



12 days old


5 weeks old


special treat: eating green grass clipping and take a bath at 5 weeks

 

[PeepsCA]

Very pretty! I can't wait to see how these guys feather out when mature. I have one older golden, he's almost 4 wks old now

Here he is at 2 days old...


A little under 3 weeks old... looks like a Hen at this age and from this angle!


Taken a few days ago, about 3 1/2 weeks old

 

[speedy2020]

My just lay 2 eggs today July4. I am bit surprise because they hatched on May 22 & May 23 so they are only 40 days old.

 

[PeepsCA]

I hope mine lay early... or at least sooner than later, I need to hatch a few more Hens. Not sure how many of each sex I have yet, but I really need a little covey of egg makers so these guys earn their keep. I have a trio that my first Golden is in, but I don't know how to tell the sex on the other 2 yet (both are very dark colors... possibly a Tibetan and a Rosetta, judging by all the Coturnix pics I've been looking at online). As far as I know I may have 3 males, lol. They are 30 days old and only the Gold has been crowing so far.

The younger Gold babies are feathering out and growing so fast, already. It's hard to tell in the pic below but the 2 that had the darker heads at a couple days old are feathering out darker than the 2 with lighter heads,and the chick that had the faintest head markings is feathering out the lightest (there's also a Tuxedo and an Autumn Amber in that hatch). I've been reading/absorbing as much info as I can about these little guys, but I was hoping someone that has bred/hatched a lot of Goldens would chime in on why there's a color difference between them...