Is this really a Manchurian Gold?

[Buttercup Chillin]

Well this isn't all that good of a picture, but DH takes forever to take a picture and she kept trying to get away from me. She is not speckled except on her belly and is so colorful on her back. I look at her colors and think tiger. I have looked and looked at others pictures and I don't think these look like other Manchurian Gold pictures I have seen.

And here is the infamous quail fart egg picture I promised

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Yes she is!

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

Well, I thought so, but they are so dark, that I wondered. Have seen a male at the breeders, so I knew they weren't Fawns or light Tibetans because of his belly and because he has no spots anywhere.

My 4 are all female, so far. I am hatching another batch, so I'll know next week how many more I have, if any. There is so much golden coloring in all of my birds that I may get a lot more Manchurians when I start breeding them in the spring.

On another note, I have I thought 15 females but am getting 12 eggs. All 12 eggs laid look about the same from day to day though. I quess I am going to have to vent sex some of the ones that are reddish on the back of their necks to make sure they are female. Tere are a few that look a little different.

How do you tell or can you when a hen is laying. I have stood right there, reached over one to collect an egg and before I could straighten up there was another egg. I have yet to see a hen lay an egg. This is so frustrating. I had my arm over her when she layed her egg. I want to know who is laying what. Going to have to separate them to tell, I quess.

I am amazed they are even laying in this heat and humidity.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Well, if you are sexing them, all the pharaoh and manchurians are able to be feather sexed by looking at the breast feathers. If there are dots, they are hens, if they are solid, they are males.

Check quail.thechickchart.com in the How to Sex section, could that clear it up a little bit? Then you would be able to know who's laying, also.

 

[Stellar]

What a beautiful Manchurian

And definitely a female

BEAUTIFUL

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I know how to sex Browns and Manchurians. But I have 3 that I think are females, but they don't have a lot of speckling on their chests and they are not as big as the other girls. Well, one is.

I obviously have a mixed group of colors with the Brown, Manchians and Whites and maybe something else. I don't know whether the Whites are Texas A&M's or English Whites, so I just call them White. They aren't that big but not exactly small either. They are the smallest of the ones I kept. There were only 2, M/F.

Last night I added a light for 2 more hours. This evening I got my first little fart egg, 13th egg for the day. So, I think I just need to be more patient. DH took a picture of the tiny dull brown fart egg but camera won't load to computer, so may have to use neighbors camera again. When I can get it loaded I'll add it to the 1st post.

My Jumbo Browns, aren't exactly a dull brown with white or cream coloring on their backs, their striations are gold, though a few have white on their sides, wings. Now I am seeing red starting to come in on the back of the necks of 2 of them and on their backs, but just a little more each day.

So,these are going on 10 weeks. When will they finish getting all their colors? I'll kept the light on until the end of September, I want one hatch from this group before fall and the rest period.

I really like my golden girls, I have 4 for now and hoping for more in this hatch due next week. This girl isn't even the biggest or the prettiest, but she was the closest to get a hold of. The picture doesn't do them justice, they have very defined patterns with different shades of gold and the chocolate brown for emphasis.

They get prettier everyday. I really do wish I had gotten them a few years back.

 

[JJMR794]

At 10 Wks Old They Should Have Had Their Final Colors For Quite Sometime...

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

NO, JJMR they are still changing colors.

It could be because its been so bloody hot and humid. Remember we have had heat index between 104 - 114 degrees for over 2 weeks now, with no end in sight.

I bring them frozen ice water bottles to stand on or lay next to. Put ice in their waterer. Refresh their water bottles. Once I do that they start laying their eggs.

I love going out to see them, I swear they change just a little from morning to night. They are definately getting more color. Brighter coloring too. I am noticing more red on 2 of them for certain.

Maybe they are growing so fast and with the heat the coloring is slow to show or something. I have no other hatches to compare them too. I don;t remember seeing color other than brown in the breeders that the guy I got them from though.

Oh DH just gave me the fart egg picture to add. Give me a few minutes. I know you are waiting with bated breath for it.

 

[Stellar]

I wouldn't say that they change colors, maybe they get brighter with the sun?

They get their adult feathers at maturity and molt but that's it.