sexing coturnix!

[animalmaniac8]

hello everyone. i have 4 coturnix quail that are almost full grown at about 7 weeks old. i need help sexing them. every site i go to says the same thing. the male has a more cinnamon color then the females but in mine they all look the same. the differences are not pronouced leading me to believe they are all female. im just not sure though. could any one give me some tips on how to sex them. what about the 'bump' by the vent on the male. i read about that but im not sure how to tell whats what with quail. im new to the quail. if anyone has reptile questions im the person to ask but quail are new to me. thanks alot everyone :lol:



                  justin  :!:

[duck nutt]

at 7 weeks, if they all look the same, i'd say you had 4 of the same gender....

[chizekfarm]

the hens have a gray speckled breast..an occasional hen may have a degree of brown over the breast, but this will be broken into specks. the males breast is not speck;ed as a female . they will be more of a continuously light brown down the front  breast area.  you should be getting eggs in a couple of weeks. if you get 4 eggs you have all hens  good luck. even with a book i have a hard time sexing them.

[animalmaniac8]

thank you for your help. when i brought the quail in today i really got a good look at them or maybe it was just that i was concentrating on them. but for what ever reason i noticed that on the side of the face that 2 of the coturnix have white stripes(which i think are the males). the other 2 have yellow or golden staripns on the face. i think those are the females. thanks again for your help. good luck with everything. duck nutt your quote! where did you get it? if you came up with it yourself i wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart. it is an absolutly tear wrenching quote which is only 2 lines with 15 words. it is amazing.



                  justin :twisted:

[komori35]

a really easy way to tell is the sounds. the males will make a very obvious crowing in time.  then it's just a matter of tracking the sound (dont worry, once they start they will   not  shut   up). :)

-komori

[pgbirdman]

Young Coturnix tend to look very simular, until they feather out with adult plumage.  I'm not sure if I've ever noticed a difference in the stripes on the sides of their heads. The "cinnamen" pattern on the male and the black tipped pointy breast feathers on the female are not present in young birds.  Hold your bird in one hand upside down, so that its head can "dangle".  Hold its beak with your fingers on the other hand and extend its neck. Females will have a very small grey "triangle" of feathers directly under the beak, males will not.  This meathod only works till about 8 weeks max, then the plumage changes.  The gland at the vent on the male is a small prickly (or bumpy) pea sized mass which is easily seen by holding the bird and lifting the tail feathers upward.  I have learned too that you can get "exceptions to the rules".  Males can sometimes look like females and vice versa.