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The German Sparkly Collection is unlike anything we have ever seen, and has become a Southwest Gamebirds staple. We thank William Foster at K.Dale Coturnix for making this collection available through Southwest Gamebirds and for his help with our breeding program which has now achieved jumbo weights in over 30 varieties from this collection. If you're looking for something striking to add to your flock, the German Sparkly Collection is a winner on all fronts for meat, eggs, aesthetics, and temperament. These are some of our largest and friendliest birds, so they are a great option as a pet or a production bird.
A few things that impress us about this collection include low chick mortality (some of the lowest we have ever seen in quail), calm disposition, impressive size, and great overall health and conformation. Because of this exceptional mixture of traits, we've chosen to maintain this collection in a way that balances the preservation of these traits. This is a collection, not a pure plumage variety or assortment of pure plumage varieties, so it will be similar in form to the original German import.
The Sparkly gene is incomplete dominant and in heterozygous form appears to amplify almost any color or plumage pattern, which is shown in the majority of the product pictures here. In heterozygous form, the Sparkly gene has a striking effect on these varieties. Pearl Fee Sparkly and Italian Sparkly become speckled on the entire bird; Falb Fee Sparkly males exhibit grey, brown, or peach tones through the ventral plumage, which is normally fully diluted; and wild type Sparkly males exhibit a deep brown diamond pattern on the ventral plumage, which is normally solid copper. Note that the most desirable and striking patterns will not breed true when paired together, but will produce a portion of birds with darker plumage (pure Sparkly) and a portion without the Sparkly gene, such as Falb Fee, Egyptian, Italian, Golden Manchurian, Pearl Fee, and Pharaoh which are all common in this collection due to our breeding strategy to select for conformation first, then temperament, then size, and finally plumage.
What to expect: Over 30 varieties, including several never seen before in the US. The most common varieties include Pearl Fee, Golden Manchurian, Italian, Falb Fee, and Egyptian, most of which will carry the sparkly gene. We've kept a fairly large gene pool from the original import, so this collection may still include some surprises. These birds will also commonly achieve jumbo weights.
We ship all German Sparkly Collection hatching eggs with care in custom foam for insulation and protection during transport. The post office can be unpredictable, but this shipping method gives your eggs the best chance of maintaining viability, and we always include extra eggs free of charge when available. While we cannot guarantee your hatching success, we are more than willing to assist with any incubation or shipping related issues, so feel free to contact us at any point of your quail journey if you have questions or concerns about your eggs. Our goal is to make you happy with high quality eggs, fast shipping, and good customer service.