What are Celadon Quail?
"Celadon" quail are actually just coturnix quail that are homozygous for the celadon ("ce") gene. That's it! They are not another species, they are not a different breed. They have a mutation that changes their eggs to look different.
Many folks claim (without proof) that the ce gene is responsible for any number of different health problems, including nutrient absorption, weak eggs, size problems, muscle or leg deformities... the list goes on.
However, a lot of folks also cut corners and get away with feeding their birds chicken layer crumble (16% protein, 4% calcium), when coturnix as a species actually have been scientifically proven to do better on 23% protein and 2.6-2.7% calcium.
There's also pretty good proof, actually looking at the birds themselves, that they're suffering from what's known as "inbreeding depression." Inbreeding depression occurs when a population begins to lose general heterozygosity in the genome. This usually happens in small, isolated populations that rarely if ever have fresh blood entering the gene pool to introduce variety in genes. while coturnix across the world have pretty decently large gene pools (numbering likely in the billions across the worldwide fancy), homozygous celadon lines have a MUCH smaller pool, due to how difficult many find it to re-acquire a homozygous line after an outcross to a wild egg gene bird. This small gene pool is evident in the birds themselves- there are few, if any, lines of celadon quail that aren't extended brown (rosetta, tibetan), range (EB + roux), dotted white and/or white wing pied. The folks who originally created homozygous lines through test breeding liked the EB coloration, and this coloration persists at least in part due to a general lack of genetics knowledge by the average keeper, such that they fear outcrossing will lose homozygosity. Worse, I've actually met people who believe celadons are a separate breed that CAN'T be crossed "into" coturnix quail.
To be honest, I believe that the effects of inbreeding depression can account for most if not all of the problems with celadon quail these days.
Personally, give them above, I'm not ready to blame the birds. Years ago, my starting stock came in pretty unhealthy, genetically speaking, but it only took a couple of generations to see major improvement through a little bit of careful selection, outcrossing, and from offering appropriate feed. Our eggs have nearly doubled in size from where we started, and the birds definitely have doubled in size. We're consistently getting nicely colored eggs with sturdy shells. At the moment, our celadons seem just as healthy and robust as our jumbos. The only difference is that they don't grow quite as big, or quite as fast- but considering the jumbos started off from a well-established, 12-14oz bloodline and the celadons came in a mess at 5-6oz adult live weight, we expect they'll catch up just fine.
Our major project at the moment is simply to outcross the celadons to normal egg birds, to create several lines of non-EB celadons, mainly wild types. A wild type celadon line will make it MUCH easier for folks to outcross to other colors, and create fresh lines, with a wider gene pool.
Many folks claim (without proof) that the ce gene is responsible for any number of different health problems, including nutrient absorption, weak eggs, size problems, muscle or leg deformities... the list goes on.
However, a lot of folks also cut corners and get away with feeding their birds chicken layer crumble (16% protein, 4% calcium), when coturnix as a species actually have been scientifically proven to do better on 23% protein and 2.6-2.7% calcium.
There's also pretty good proof, actually looking at the birds themselves, that they're suffering from what's known as "inbreeding depression." Inbreeding depression occurs when a population begins to lose general heterozygosity in the genome. This usually happens in small, isolated populations that rarely if ever have fresh blood entering the gene pool to introduce variety in genes. while coturnix across the world have pretty decently large gene pools (numbering likely in the billions across the worldwide fancy), homozygous celadon lines have a MUCH smaller pool, due to how difficult many find it to re-acquire a homozygous line after an outcross to a wild egg gene bird. This small gene pool is evident in the birds themselves- there are few, if any, lines of celadon quail that aren't extended brown (rosetta, tibetan), range (EB + roux), dotted white and/or white wing pied. The folks who originally created homozygous lines through test breeding liked the EB coloration, and this coloration persists at least in part due to a general lack of genetics knowledge by the average keeper, such that they fear outcrossing will lose homozygosity. Worse, I've actually met people who believe celadons are a separate breed that CAN'T be crossed "into" coturnix quail.
To be honest, I believe that the effects of inbreeding depression can account for most if not all of the problems with celadon quail these days.
Personally, give them above, I'm not ready to blame the birds. Years ago, my starting stock came in pretty unhealthy, genetically speaking, but it only took a couple of generations to see major improvement through a little bit of careful selection, outcrossing, and from offering appropriate feed. Our eggs have nearly doubled in size from where we started, and the birds definitely have doubled in size. We're consistently getting nicely colored eggs with sturdy shells. At the moment, our celadons seem just as healthy and robust as our jumbos. The only difference is that they don't grow quite as big, or quite as fast- but considering the jumbos started off from a well-established, 12-14oz bloodline and the celadons came in a mess at 5-6oz adult live weight, we expect they'll catch up just fine.
Our major project at the moment is simply to outcross the celadons to normal egg birds, to create several lines of non-EB celadons, mainly wild types. A wild type celadon line will make it MUCH easier for folks to outcross to other colors, and create fresh lines, with a wider gene pool.
What's with the Eggs?
I've spoken a LOT about the egg color here.
Understanding what you're looking at while trying to breed celadon birds is a huge step toward making better looking eggs. Having the celadon gene isn't enough; you have to keep an eye on shell strength, size, and coloration. Take photos of a line of eggs if you aren't sure you can trust your eyes to pick the better eggs; often cameras can see what you can't. Take this photo for example:
Understanding what you're looking at while trying to breed celadon birds is a huge step toward making better looking eggs. Having the celadon gene isn't enough; you have to keep an eye on shell strength, size, and coloration. Take photos of a line of eggs if you aren't sure you can trust your eyes to pick the better eggs; often cameras can see what you can't. Take this photo for example:
These were all eating eggs, not ones that made the incubator cut. But you can see, very clearly, that one of the "blue" eggs is not nearly as good on the quality of its blue as the others. It practically looks white. It's NOT, it's still blue, because all coturnix eggs are naturally blue shelled, but the amount of blue in that shell is much lower than the others. That one didn't make the cut on color alone.
Not all blue eggs are created equal!!! Setting pale blue eggs will hurt the color of your lines over all.
Not all blue eggs are created equal!!! Setting pale blue eggs will hurt the color of your lines over all.