A friend of mine has loaned me a sportsman

[mhaines4102]

It had been robbed of parts and I almost have it completely together again. Does anyone have any setup advise for me? How about hatching advise. This guy said that he hatched quail in it, so he would set one tray per week and then move the eggs to the bottom for hatching and refill the tray so that he hatched every week. He did not change humidity, he just kept it on and said he got a 60% hatch. Anyone have an opinion on that? I have never used one, so I am at a loss.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
60% hatch rates on Quail seems really low. Quail folks may weigh in with the same thought.

AL

 

[okiehen]

hay hay okie, I cant help you as I know not a thing about the sportsmans I want one but cant have one yet.
I would think you could get better than 60 % hatch there's lots of folks that can give great advice.
Best of luck and happy hatching.

 

[monarc23]

in a sportsman, a quail breeder should be getting near 100% so it sounds to me like he should have been paying more attention to the humidity as quails need a good bit o that

I've never used as sportsman but i have an incubator that's close to as good as them and Ive been getting near 100% hatches on my quail eggs. Quails have great fertility and in a sportsman it should reflect that i'd think.

 

[mhaines4102]

THANKS! Man that helps. The humidity seems so important with chickens and such, I just couldn't see that working well. I have an incubator I am using now that serves well as a hatcher since it is horizontal. I think I will fix it up where it is exclusively a hatcher and do it that way. I just need more humidity. BTW, I have been hatching my eggs by laying them horizontal and letting them hatch that way. Is there an advantage to leaving them in the trays, or is it better to hatch horizontal. My only concern is once you get a whole bunch of peeps in the hatcher, they run over all the eggs and roll them everywhere. I am not sure it matters.

 

[okiehen]

I hatch my eggs in a carton and have had great hatches.
If it was me I would leave the eggs set in the turning trays make sure its flat. And turned off.
I don't like the eggs getting rolled around I think it messes up the unhatched chicks.