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Heritage Turkeys are a great project to do! These turkeys are not the same as the commercial birds. They come in 8 approved varieties through the APA. These are a slower growing bird, extremely friendly and curious. They can be used as meat birds or eggs. They have a longer life span compared to the commercial turkey.
To learn more, click on our resources below:
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Quail are not found in the standards of perfection for either the ABA or the APA. This means while they can be shown at fair they can not be shown at other breed shows done by the country or private open shows. They are very much in the same category as the commercial turkeys and Cornish-cross birds when it comes to showability outside of the fair.
Most places that have resources for teaching or 4H, focus on chickens and other fowl like turkeys. The only education information that we can find, at the moment, is about hatching quail which is covered on the basic sites below.
https://poultrykeeper.com/keeping-quail/beginners-guide-to-keeping-quail/
https://farmhouseguide.com/ultimate-guide-to-raising-quail/
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/coturnix-quails/
https://myshirefarm.com/coturnix-basics/
https://www.chickens.allotment-garden.org/keeping-quail/coturnix-quail-colours/
https://silverhomestead.com/standard-vs-jumbo-quail/
As for the Premium Book, it gives the basic rules needed for fair. The kids can bring two entries of quail, an entry consists of three birds. That means they can bring a total of six birds for two cages. Depending on what gender of birds they want to enter: meat pens are 3 males, laying pens are 3 females, and breeding pens are entered as 1 male with 2 females. Looking for only coturnix quail or jumbo coturnix quail but may be any variety (coloring). The quail must be of mature/reproductive age and must be under 12 months but over 6 weeks of age. That means they should be hatched between April 29, 2024 and March 9, 2025 is the latest allowed. Each bird must be leg banded.
While the quail are allowed to be shown at the showmanship table at the fair I am encouraging families to have chickens or some other type of poultry that can be found in either of the standards of perfection for the ABA and APA. This is so they have birds that can be shown at all events. Also, quail can be quite wild and may not make a good showmanship bird for someone just getting started.
If anyone needs help getting quail or showmanship birds, please reach out and we will help where we can. A possible place to buy is: https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/coturnix-quail.html
But if anyone is really into them, they can join the American Coturnix Breeders Association: https://coturnixbreeders.com/
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Coming soon!