08/29/2026
Breed for what you want! Don’t just breed the survivors 💪🏽
ARE YOU ACCIDENTALLY BREEDING STARVATION TRAITS INTO YOUR COTURNIX QUAIL?
One of the biggest mistakes I see in quail breeding is allowing birds to constantly run out of feed and then continuing to breed from the birds that survive and perform under those conditions.
Some people may think, “They’re quail. They’ll eat when they’re hungry.”
But if this becomes a repeated, long-term management practice, you need to understand what you may be selecting for.
YOU AREN’T JUST MANAGING FEED — YOU’RE MANAGING SELECTION.
When quail repeatedly experience inadequate feed availability, the birds that continue to thrive are not necessarily the birds with the genetics you want for a production breeding program.
You may unintentionally favor birds that:
• Consume less feed
• Grow more slowly
• Mature at smaller sizes
• Put on less muscle and body mass
• Compete aggressively at the feeder
• Become extremely food-driven
• Have reduced reproductive performance
• Struggle to reach their genetic growth potential
And when those birds become your breeders, you can begin selecting for those characteristics generation after generation.
That doesn’t mean a quail’s DNA magically changes because it missed a few meals.
It means selection pressure changes which birds reproduce.
If the birds that consistently survive feed shortages are the ones you repeatedly keep as breeders, you are potentially favoring a population that is better adapted to getting by on less — rather than a population selected for maximum growth, body size, production, and reproductive performance.
FOOD AGGRESSION IS ANOTHER WARNING SIGN
If birds are constantly fighting over an empty feeder, rushing the feeder whenever feed is added, or becoming excessively aggressive around food, don’t automatically celebrate it as “good appetite.”
That behavior can be a sign that your management system is creating unnecessary competition and stress.
Quail should not have to wonder when their next meal is coming.
A production breeding program should provide consistent access to an appropriate, nutritionally complete diet whenever practical.
YOU CAN’T STARVE A BIRD INTO REACHING ITS GENETIC POTENTIAL.
Genetics establish the potential.
Nutrition determines how much of that potential the bird can actually express.
A genetically large Coturnix still needs adequate calories, protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and water to build that body.
If nutrition becomes the limiting factor, you can end up looking at a bird and blaming its genetics when the real problem is that the bird never had the nutritional opportunity to express them.
THEN THERE’S EGG PRODUCTION…
Egg production requires resources.
A laying hen needs adequate energy, protein, amino acids, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins, minerals and water to maintain her body while producing eggs.
When nutritional intake is inadequate, production can suffer.
You may see:
• Reduced laying rate
• Smaller eggs
• Poor shell quality
• Reduced body condition
• Poor feather quality
• Delayed maturity
• Reduced reproductive performance
• Increased stress and competition
And remember — an egg is not free.
The bird has to put nutrients into every egg she produces.
If you’re asking a hen to maintain body condition AND produce eggs while consistently coming up short nutritionally, something eventually has to give.
THINK ABOUT YOUR BREEDING PROGRAM
If your goal is:
➡️ Larger birds
➡️ Faster growth
➡️ Better meat production
➡️ Consistent egg production
➡️ Strong breeders
➡️ Good fertility
➡️ Healthy body condition
➡️ Predictable performance
Then select breeders based on those traits under proper management and adequate nutrition.
Don’t create an artificial shortage and then select the birds that are best at surviving the shortage.
That’s not necessarily selecting efficiency.
It can be selecting for survival under nutritional stress.
And those are two VERY different things.
Guidroz Family Farm Tip
There is a huge difference between:
“This bird doesn’t waste feed.”
and
“This bird doesn’t eat enough to reach its potential.”
Feed efficiency is valuable.
Chronic underfeeding is not a breeding strategy.
If you want bigger, healthier, productive Coturnix, give your birds the nutritional foundation they need and then select the best performers.
Don’t breed your flock backward by forcing them to live on empty feeders.
Build the genetics.
Feed the genetics.
Measure the results.
Then breed the best.
That’s how you build a better quail line — one generation at a time.
— Guidroz Family Farm
