Should you have a sound breeding strategy and clear selection criteria results are due to follow, provided you have the numbers and ability and means to identify parameters. I have been incubating 150 – 200 eggs every two weeks for the past few months in execution of my breeding program and I think I have bred and identified two exceptional individuals. I normally, because of the sheer numbers of birds, do not give my Quails or Quail Lines names, but have decided to make an exception with these two – hence please meet Bill and Tri
Bill is from my A & M Texan White Strain in which I have a number of excellent specimens. I have two lines available and after some line breeding and then out crossing I have bred Bill. Not only does he (at this stage) have an exceptional temperament (his dad, No 17, is a very good male, good temperament and also gentle with the girls), very good conformation and strong constitution, he also weighed in at 201 grams at six weeks of age. I am not trying to breed bigger and bigger, but with the Whites being a “Dual Purpose” quail, I am delighted with the size and growth rate.
Tri is a Tibetan male. I find the Tibetans to be very aggressive, though well adapted to cage conditions. Tri is out of my most beautiful Male – No 33, and a hen which was part of a group of five that produced 165 eggs in 33 days (100%), then unfortunately one of the girls missed out. I have selected the most perfect female out of this group, which are all unrelated to No 33 to breed Tri, who weighed in at 179 Grams himself at six weeks of age. No 33 has one full sister who at present has done 69 eggs in 78 days. She is presently with a male that is a Full Brother to Tri’s Mother. Tri has all the qualities of an excellent bird being sound, strong and calm, but very dominant already among his piers. The one negative trait of the Tibetans is that the Males are not kind to the girls and I have to remove them from time to time. I also give the Tibetan Males up to seven females to keep them busy, but that even seems to be too few. The Italians and Whites are perfectly good even one Male with one Female (Perfect Gentlemen)
Needless to say 
Tri and Bill are going to be part of future breeding programs.
I love dual purpose things like a milk cow that effectively produces meat, chickens and quails that lay eggs and make delicious eating, and radishes and beetroot because one can eat the leaves, too. For lunch I prepared beetroot leaves as a side but we ate it as a main course because it tasted terrific. I washed and and cut the stems off as close to the root as I could get without damaging the skin of the beetroot. I wrapped the beet and a bit of rosemary in foil and popped it in to the oven while my bread was baking. I fried some garlic and rosemary in a teaspoon full of olive oil, chopped the leaves and stems, coarsely and added them to the pan. after frying for a minute I added about 2 tablespoons of water and covered the pan. Cook until tender adding a bit of water when necessary. Delicious. I intend eating the beetroot tomorrow dressed with some balsamic vinigar salad dressing and shaved Parmigiana cheese.
I would like to know of other plants where roots/ fruits and leaves can be eaten.
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This week three lovely new Ancona hens arrived, unrelated to each other or the rooster and older hens. Needless to say, the established hens hate the new girls. All my cages are occupied so I could not introduce them in the correct manner by putting them in a cage beside the main run so they could get used to one another, just put them with the others straight away. Now the new girls are holed up in the roost and the old girls are downstairs preventing the new ones from coming down to eat. I have to feed them up there and clean out the messy roost regularly. The rooster is having a great time entertaining upstairs as well as downstairs! Next time I shall BUILD a cage for the newcomers no matter what and do things the right way to save myself time, work and stress.
Back Yard Farmer 