TN - Watermaals - Quail & Blue Quail Varieties

by Kristen Garrison
(Tennessee)

I am now offering my Quail (ABA recognized variety) and Blue Quail (currently unrecognized) Belgian Watermaal bantam lines through seasonally available hatching eggs and started birds. Eggs are usually available from March-July and started birds are available in the fall. I am not offering chicks of this breed at this time. Adults are occasionally available. I am one of the original founders of the American version of the breed and started working on mine in 2006. The avian influenza scare at the time made importation nearly impossible so I recreated the breed with what I had available: Belgian d’Anvers and silkies. It has been a long journey to get show stock that breeds true, but I have reached that point and am ready to share.

Watermaal are similar to the Belgian d’Anvers I also breed and raise but there are a few important distinctions: Watermaal females are supposed to have a nearly closed tail carried at approximately 50-degrees above the horizon, males have a lower tail carriage than d’Anvers, both sexes have small tassels on their heads that should not obstruct vision, triple spiked rose combs, smaller body size and a slightly slimmer and trimmer body profile than the d’Anvers.

Currently mine still tend to hold their tails more like d’Anvers ( higher with more spread), but I am working my way towards better type. Like any rare breed, they are in need of yet a little more refinement. This has not prevented offshoots from my lines from doing phenomenally at shows (some breeders garnering Best RCCL with birds that originated from my lines). They are, in fact, being exhibited across the US already at a higher level of perfection for showing than the recent imports from Europe (Watermaal have also been recently imported from Belgium by Greenfire Farms- perhaps around 2020).

Take a good look, this breed holds a lot of promise for success in the American showroom. I find my Watermaal tend to be calmer than my d'Anvers and slightly better layers. If you are interested, call, text or email me.
Visit my website for more information about what I raise: breezybantamfarm.webs.com

Kristen Garrison
Breezy Bantam Farm
931-252-7880
belgian_danver@yahoo.com