Manchurian Golden Quail

     The Manchurian Golden is commonly mistaken to be called Italian Speckled, Golden Speckled, and Golden.  They were brought to the United States by the quial pioneer, Mr. Albert Marsh.  The Manchurian Golden is one of the original mutations of the Pharaoh Quail.  They are a yellow gold bird with brown stripes on the back.  Males and females can be diferentiated as the males will have a rusty breast and females will have speckles.  A photo of a pair of Golden Manchurians can be seen at the top with the male on the left and the female on the right.  Another pair of Manchurians can be seen below along with a chick photo.  There is currently two shades of Manchurian Goldens and it is also believe that there is a Pharaoh variety and  Jumbo variety.  However, this has not yet been distingquished.  Some males will have a maroon colored head more so than other males.  A single dominant gene changes for yellow coloring wild type original pharaoh color to Manchurian.  However, this gene is considered a lethal gene when homozyous.  Basically this means that if you breed a Manchurian Goldens together, it will produce a 2:1 ratio opf Manchurian Golden and Pharaoh progency and 25% of the embryos will fail to hatch.  To learn more about these beautiful birds or ask questions, just visit Alexandra Douglas of Stellar Ranch.