How many eggs can be laid by the present day decendants of the Japanese quail?
In the early 20th century, Japanese breeders began to selectively breed for increased egg production. By 1940, the quail egg industry was flourishing, but the events of World War II led to the complete loss of quail lines bred for their song type, as well as almost all of those bred for egg production. After the war, the few surviving domesticated quail were used to rebuild the industry, and all current commercial and laboratory lines are considered to have originated from this population. Modern birds can lay upward of 300 eggs a year and countries such as Japan, India, China, Italy, Russia, and the United States have established commercial Japanese quail farming industries. Japanese quail are also used in biomedical research in fields such as genetics, embryology, nutrition, physiology, pathology, and toxicity studies. These quail are closely related to the common quail, and many young hybrid birds are released into the wild each year to replenish dwindling wild populations.