giant vs xdl1 coturnix

[Lincoln]

I just started raising quail in my garage and wanted to choose the best breeds since I have limited space.  Does anyone know if the giant coturnix lays as well as the A&M or the xdl?  Also does the fact that its bigger mean bigger eggs?

[Finchlake]

Hey Lincoln, I raise the A&M's and I enjoy them. They do lay bigger eggs. We've been playing around with pickeled egg reciepts and th A&M's lay nice big eggs. I have never raised the giant coturnix , so I can't advise you on the question.

[Sterling-Ranch]

Ever hear of the Dark Range coturnix?  Big and fast developers too.

[Lincoln]

Thanks for the info.  I had heard of the dark range but not the giant dark.  Do they lay larger eggs and are they good layers?  Theres a lot of talk about larger birds for meat but they dont talk about how these larger birds lay and the differences in egg size, if any.   Im more interested in eggs than butchering.  What do you think is the best type to choose?

[pocketsierra]

I was also interested in quail for eggs and went through soem of this same thought process.

I've heard several names for the big brown varieties: Jumbo brown, Giant Pharaoh, Jumbo Dark Range. I don't know for sure that they are all the same. It is advertised that they do lay bigger eggs as well as being bigger. A guideline I heard was 8% of body weight for a quail egg.

For the white ones, there is the Texas A&M and derivative strains like the Texas Gourmet Quail. These are also breeds that are big. They are breed for white meat, whereas most quail is dark meat. They've never gotten quite as big as the jumbo brown varieties, but close. They are also advertised as having bigger eggs than normal Coturnix.

I can't verify any of the egg sizes from personal experience unless I kept two varieties for comparison.

I mainly want egg production, but I will also always have some extra birds for harvest. So I wanted something that would be worthwhile for meat when it came to that. I've started out with some Dark Range and will be adding some Texas White from my next hatch, since I like white meat.  

In any case, you'll need several to be as large as a hen's egg. For me, it seems worthwhile. Either Texas A&M or Jumbo Brown should meet your needs.

Nathan