Coturnix Quail Colors -- Quail discussion thread

[orloffer]

I was wondering whether my coturnix quail have standard colors, and if not, what colors were mixed to result in them. Information about genetics is appreciated.
There are two generations of quail. The first generation were hatched from purchased eggs, and the second generation were hatched from the eggs of the first generation.

First generation, Quail #1 (male, fathered all second generation birds):

First generation, Quail #2 (female):

First generation, Quail #3 (female):

First generation, Quail #4 (female):

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Second generation, Quail #5 (male, father is Quail #1 and mother is one of the 3 females):

Second generation, Quail #6 (male, father is Quail #1 and one of the 3 females):

Second generation, Quail #7, (female, the one in the front. Father is Quail #1 and one of the 3 females) Information about the one behind it would be helpful as well:

Second generation, Quail #8 (male, father is Quail #1 and one of the 3 females):

 

[Fenrisulfr]

Very, very interessing!

Your father seems to be a Calico. I am not 100% sure, as this color is quite new here in germany and I have no experience or references of their inheritance and genetics.

Mothers are a Rosetta(#2), a Tibetan (#3) and an Italian (#4).

So, I have no real clue of the F2 generation, but beautyful colors. It seems that the dilution factor of the Calico does very nice effects.

#6 seems to be a very light Rosetta.
#8 seems to be a Manchurian, which indicates that the Calico has heterozygotous gene of Gold/Manchurian and is probably son of #4 (edit: Italians are heterozygotous Gold/Manchurian and Pharaoh/Wildpattern)

#5 and #7 are so beautyful and have no typical color I now.
But #5 probably has the heterozygotous Pharaoh gene from #4 and diluted by the father.
#7 is from 2 or 3, but never saw such a cool mix.

Congratulations for this breeding result.

 

[orloffer]

Thank you for the response! We had a lot of males in the 2nd generation (I didn't post pictures of all of them), and we gave most of them away. We still have Quail #5 (Aurelius) and two females, Quail #7 (Beatrix) and a daughter of Quail #3, which hasn't any name and is not pictured above.

 

[orloffer]

What would this one be considered? This was one of the first generation males that we gave away.

 

[Fenrisulfr]

This looks like a male Pearl Fee, the Fee factor homozygotous.

 

[orloffer]

What is the difference between a light-colored Italian like Quail #4, and the Pearl Fee color?

 

[Fenrisulfr]

The Pearl Fee are diluted by the Fee gene, eliminates the brown and redish colors.
In fact they are Italians, but in addition of the Fee dilution factor.

 

[orloffer]

Thank you for answering my many questions! There may be more in the future...

 

[Fenrisulfr]

You are welcome!

Thank you for sharing your breeding results. It is always very interessting for me, as I am trying to get more and more into genetics of Japanese Quails

 

[orloffer]

I love the colors of coturnix quail, but I would like them more if they acted like chickens. Our quail are extremely skittish.