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Help guide me through hatching and first time quail

post #1 of 6
7/9/12 at 9:55pm
Thread Starter 
Hi everyone! About a month ago my parents expressed to me that they want quail. I have an incubator so I told them I would make it happen. Well today 25 jumbo brown quail eggs were put in the mail for me. I have only hatched chicken eggs, and have only raised chickens and ducks. So I would love input from you knowledgable quail owners just to make me a little more confident.
Let's see if I have this all right, hatching- let set in incubator for 3 days. Will take 17-19 days to hatch. Temp at 100f the whole time. Humidity between 45-50%, and 65-70% during the hatching period. The quail hatch quickly and will want to jump put when opened.

Brooding- any tips on this would be great. Haven't found a whole lot.

Growth- ready to be outside around 5-6 weeks, ready to eat by 10 weeks, and when do they lay?

What else should I know? Thanks guys. I'm getting excited for this new endeavor!
My swap page- http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/clucknpeck-swap
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My swap page- http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/clucknpeck-swap
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post #2 of 6
7/10/12 at 1:35am

Congratulation's!! jumpy.gif

 

Ya, u got that pretty well right for the temp it 101F and 16-19 days...lol and i think ull do just  fine if i find anything new ill let u know for sure!!! frow.gif
 

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post #3 of 6
7/10/12 at 7:28am

Brooding:

                    Summer                   Winter

Week 1           90f                             95f

Week 2           85f                             90f

Week 3           80f                              85f

 

If they are to go outside, they should be being adjusted to the current outside temps with no changes of more than 5 degrees at a time after 4 weeks of age.

 

Feed:

 

Feed highest protein (28%) feed, such as game bird starter, for weeks 1-3, then you can begin to step down about 4% per week to 18% if you are growing them out to eat. 

 

Everything I've read said to keep the temp in incubator at 100 because over that can cause deformities to develop while under that caused delayed hatching.  My first hatch was not successful at all (hatched 5 out of 24, with one dying at age 4 days) but I'm going to try again in a few weeks when I get my current group out of the brooder in about 2 weeks.

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post #4 of 6
7/10/12 at 11:54am

Clucknpeck,

 

Maybe I missed it, but what type of incubator are you using?
 

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post #5 of 6
7/10/12 at 9:40pm
Thread Starter 
I have a hovabator. It is one with no fan...

I am kind of nervous because my last hatch was not so good. Well it would have been about 60% but one batch of eggs didn't really hatch at all. So it could have been rough shipping. I also didn't let the eggs set.
My swap page- http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/clucknpeck-swap
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My swap page- http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/clucknpeck-swap
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post #6 of 6
7/11/12 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by clucknpeck View Post

I have a hovabator. It is one with no fan...
I am kind of nervous because my last hatch was not so good. Well it would have been about 60% but one batch of eggs didn't really hatch at all. So it could have been rough shipping. I also didn't let the eggs set.


You can add a PC fan with 5-9V for about $5.

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