My Experiences with Quail

You'll want to keep the light to one end so that the chicks can move away from it if the get hot and closer if they get cold.

My brooder is about 1' x 2.5' (a 12" x 5 foot roll of shelf liner cut exactly in half fits perfectly), so it's pretty wide. I use a swing arm desk lamp attached to a table nearby, so I move the light up and down depending upon how the chicks are acting. I don't cover the brooder for the first week (depending if the chicks are jumping) so I can get the lamp right in the brooder if needed.

Here's an update of my families inagural hatch:

6 dozen eggs
20 hatched chicks

I have a question for the experienced hatchers, How much longer should I leave the eggs in the incubator?

I put them in on 10/13 in the evening, today in day 18 in the bator.

i go 20 days max(sometimes if you have low temp you can go 21) they all should hatch by then. day 18 is the normal hatch day, so some might be a little slow.

Oh, it looks like you have a bunch of different colors in there! Congrats on the hatch!

Well my girls are now 2 weeks old and I finally got into gear and built my 1st brooder grow-out cage. After reading through a lot of threads on the BYC forum I had a list of goals for my brooder:
• No/ limited waste feeder
• Auto waterier (this has not been completed. When I complete my roll-out cages I will integrate this with all cages)
• Light/ heat source on a thermostat (I have not yet added the thermostat, I will add this when I cull and move them to the breeder cages)
• Can use as grow out cage
• Clean out tray
• As always recycle/ re-purpose as much of the building materials as possible
• Cage suspended from ceiling of shed to make it harder for any predators to get at the cots


Here is what I have built:

Measures 24”x48”, 15” tall at front & 8” in back. It has 2 doors in the design, the side with the heat source has a Plexiglas door to keep the heat in, and the other is 1/2” wire.


Three sizes are galvanized metal, I installed my light on one of these for safety as well as it helps radiate heat. When I need to replace the bulb it can be done from the outside by removing 2 screws. I covered the hole for the light with ½ wire.


I have a built in slide out tray for catching the amazing amount of quail droppings that corturnix create. I designed it so that it is a snug fit and no gaps for predators can get at the feet of my girls.


After seeing how much feed these quail waste, I had to find an efficient way of feeding them. I got this idea from Randle’s post on
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=580498&p=1
It only allows a 1/8” for the GB feed to spread in the bottom of the feeder. They have been in this cage for a little over a day, this is normally long enough for cots to scratch empty a feed tray, and there is NO waste in the clean out tray. I am trilled with this feeder idea, thanks Randle. By placing the feed tube thru the top of the cage I can check it and keep them fed with out opening the cage.



Here are some pics after the girls moved into the new condo.




Update on expenses for my quail project:
• $0 – wood and Plexiglas are recycled
• $0 – metal and wire were free from work
• $0 – light was repurposed from around the homestead
• $0 – feeder and waterer were moved from the plastic tote brooder
• $ 6.47 – 1 1/4” wood screws for construction
• $ 6.28 – 4” to 2” PVC reducer

Total spent so far $ 67.88 (note I am not adding in feed costs, as we all have those)

Next: Roll-out cages

I love the look of that G/O pen and I like that idea for feed waste reduction, looks great.

I Like it,

Quote:
COULD NOT TELL, DO YOU DOORS HINGE ON TOP AND OPEN FROM THE BOTTOM? IF SO, HOW HARD IS IT TO KEEP THE QUAIL IN? LOOKS GREAT.

Quote:
The hinges are on the top. They haven't been in there long but when I have opened the cage to change water they haven't made any effort to get out.