Raising Quail?

[brooster]

I have quail eggs in the incubator (dont know what kind) the eggs are white parents are brown and white i think they are bobwhites. A friend gave me them but doesnt know the breed. I have no idea what i do after they hatch? Any websites or help would be awesome. So far so good when i candeled at 7 days everything looked god. Wish me luck.

 

[SamG347]

Yes they if they are pure white it is mostly likely they are bobwhites. Below is some good info on incubating, hatching, and raising quail. Good Luck

Common Quail that are kept by most include...
buttons, cortunix and bobwhite.

Quail housing can be anything from a wire cage up to a full blown aviary. Quail depending on breed should have ruffly half a foot up to six square feet per bird/pair. Any quail can be what is called Colony Bred...which is several females to 1-2 males. Most prefer pair or trio breeding such as bobwhite. And if you try to introduce new quail to your already existing ones this can result in severe fighting and sometimes death.

Quail need to be fed a high protein feed...20%+ and can also be fed treats like bird seed, greens, fruits, etc. And it is very important always to have a good supply of oyster shell and grit availiable to your birds.

Most quail are not sociable by nature. But Cortunix seem to be the friendliest out of all the quail. Bobwhite are wild and buttons are shy. But like chickens every bird is different.

Below is a chart on quail incubation times. Quail should be incubated at 102(still air) or 99.5(forced air). I have found 100 works in either type. Humidity should be 45-55% during incubation and should be increased on hatch day just like chickens. To around 60-75% percent. You can add paper towels to the incubator that you have rinsed under warm water to increase humidity and make sure your water wells are filled in the bator. Try to keep the amount of times you open the bator to few or none. And only remove chicks when they are dry and fluffy. Most of the time you can wait until all or most of the chicks have hatched to do this.

Button...16 days
Cortunix...16-18 days
Bobwhite...23-24 days

**Note: not all the chicks will hatch on the exact date. It is best to leave the eggs in the incubator for at least a week after the actual hatch day.**

Brood under a 100-250watt red heat bulb and keep a draft free area...brooder just like chicks. Make sure your waterer is drown proof because being that they are only the size of a quater it is very easy for them to drown. You can do this by either buying a no-drown base for a quart waterer or placing marbles in a regular chick waterer. For the first couple of days use either shelf liner, paper towels, or regular old beach towel for the lining of your brooder and you can switch to pine shavings after the first to second day. NEVER use Cedar shavings as these are poisonous to poultry. Cortunix and button quail mature around 5-6 weeks and start laying around this time. Where as bobwhite usually wont start laying until the year after they hatch.

 

[SamG347]

Forgot to say do not mix any gamebirds with chickens or other poultry and make sure your brooder is covered because bobwhite can fly at around the time they are a few weeks old. Also I suggest researching anything before buying or attempting to raise. Especially gamebirds.
Once again good luck