Recent content by offbeatbassist

sorry I never came back on here.. I have yet to have a hatch above 50% I think.. but I have a new incubator now.. once I get quail rails for it, I am hoping for a better turn out..

Sorry didn't know what to post.. With the cage that had the death, the males are just barely hitting sexual maturity.. would m/f ratio matter at 4 weeks? For those I'd guess over crowded. We had 18 chicks in a storage bin (18x 32 inches) which seemed to be okay when they were small but...

why are my birds doing this? several birds are starting to show signs leading up to this, and we had one death. this one started healing, but last night we added in 2 others that were starting to look damaged, one of those two attacked this one and re-opened the wounds, even tho hers were no...

I have 2 hached out this morning and waiting on bunch more.. it my first hatch. How long is okay to leave them in the incubator while waiting on the rest? they are coturnix quail

I'll upload pics when I figure out how from my cell, How long can I leave coturnix quail chicks in the incubator after hatching?

yeah I was thinking I might wait for the 7 day candling before tossing them, but figured I would ask more experienced people first :D thanks!

I got a new incubator on Friday (from Ebay) and ran it over the weekend to try working out the kinks in temp and humidity - basically trying to learn how to use it. It is an unbranded, forced air incubator. This is my first time incubating eggs. I started 9 turkey and 2 duck eggs together...

One place I as reading said use infrared bulb so it doesn't disrupt their sleep pattern, so I purchased an infrared heat light. Would that be okay for after the first 7 days?

Am I correct to understand we run the heat lamp 24-7 for the chicks? It makes sense if they can't regulate their temp, but I wanted to confirm before we got chicks :) we were expecting to get day old chicks this weekend but they weren't ready yet, so we'll probably get them as 5-6 day old chicks

Thanks for the responses :) I'll definitely read the link. The days you are referencing (day 18) is for chickens? And other birds will be different.. My brother just got some chicks, but we have ducks, turkeys, and quail (soon), between the two of us, that will be laying fertile eggs...

Reading through the threads, I keep seeing lockdown mentioned. I am interested in incubating, but have not purchased/built an incubator yet. Most threads seem to be focused on current egg health or specific issues. Are you supposed to set the humidity as specific levels all the way thru, or...

Does the air cell develop on the fat end of the egg because we're supposed to incubate with the pointy end down? I haven't incubated yet, I'm just starting to read up on it :)

I will look up her threads, thanks! I have been in contact with a local Emu breeder, he had 13 birds when we visited but was expanding his flock regularly. He talked a little bit about the egg hatching, I think he said his average was about 52 days. I've done some reading online as well and have...

Thanks for the responses! I'll definitely check out the links and get going learning and socializing :)