Excalfactoria quail as a new laboratory research animal.

Chinese painted quail (Excalfactoria chinensis), which is sometimes reared as a bird for pleasure, appears to be an excellent candidate for a laboratory research animal. Handling and general care of this species are very easy because of its small body size and hardiness. The body weight (mean +/- SEM) of the newly hatched chick, adult male, and adult female is 3.93 +/- .05, 47.66 +/- .52, and 55.89 +/- .75 g, respectively; that is, approximately half the size of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Furthermore, Chinese painted quail shows excellent reproductive performance. It reaches sexual maturity around 8 to 9 wk of age. Laying ability, fertility, hatchability, and viability up to maturity are 60 to 80, 91, 84, and 78%, respectively. These values are equal or superior to those of Japanese quail, which has been widely used for biological research. In the future, Chinese painted quail may be an alternative to Japanese quail or might surpass Japanese quail as a laboratory research animal because of its smaller body size and excellent reproductive performance.