Quails
Jumbo Pearl
Jumbo Pearl - the Pearl Fairy - is an ornamental meat-and-egg Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) weighing 300 to 350 g, with elegant black-and-white plumage and a pearly effect. We adopted Pearl quails from established Slovak lines and are selectively breeding them toward greater body weight and egg size. They are already larger than standard egg-laying lines, though they have not yet reached the size of our Jumbo Pharaohs or Jumbo Golds.
| Feather-sexable | ||
| Breed true to color | 100% | |
| Body weight | ||
| Egg weight | ||
| Egg production | ||
Appearance
Pearl Japanese quail is typical in that it lightens the golden tones of Italian or Manchurian quails into shades of gray, while black and gray pigments remain unaffected.
Quails in the Pearl color variation are almost entirely gray-white with minimal remnants of the original brown or golden pigment. This type of color variation creates a very attractive and delicate look that gives the quail a noble, pearly effect.
Pearl quails are popular for their exceptional coloration, which is subtle and creates a unique combination of colors.
Characteristics
- Sexual Dimorphism
- Sexual dimorphism: Males differ from females by their black head coloring and pure white breast. Females have black spots across the body and a remainder of typical black dots on the chest.
- Jumbo Size
- In this line, we achieved larger body and egg sizes through selective breeding.
"The size of our quails and their eggs is limited by their overall health."
We do not aim to increase the size of our quails at any cost for the sake of producing the largest possible eggs and the most meat. An oversized quail will never be truly healthy, and an egg that is too large may be impossible for the bird to lay, which can lead to premature death.
Naming
Internationally, this variant is referred to as Pearl. Due to its genetic origin, it is also known as Perl Fee (German for Pearl Fairy) - the fee gene applied to a golden (manchurian) base creates the characteristic black-and-white coloration. It is sometimes also referred to as Manchurian white/gray.
