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  1. Susan Skylark

    Quail AI

    Sorry, this is not a post about a robotic brain for our little feathered friends though that might be nice, nor is it about some bird name Al, instead let’s talk quail artificial insemination, back in the day an AI technician wasn’t a computer guy! Has anybody tried it? Success? It doesn’t...
  2. Susan Skylark

    What a hatch!

    I hatched 7 coturnix this morning, boy has it been weird! I’m culling an older hen but don’t want to lose the color (ginger?) so I put her in a pen and got a couple eggs, marked them and then put them into lockdown in a separate incubator. Meanwhile the other eggs were hatching and all coming...
  3. Susan Skylark

    Matching chicks to shells, ideas for quail?

    Anybody know how to keep track of which chick came out of which egg? I have 9 quail eggs that just went into lockdown, 2 from an old hen I’m going to cull but if I can get a male out of her he’ll carry the sex linked recessive color gene I’m trying to keep in my flock. I’ve labeled the eggs...
  4. Susan Skylark

    Bald rumps?

    Do I have a rump pecker in my flock? I had a couple hens in different pens missing feathers just above the tail before switching to a large group pen, now I have a young male with the same issue. I assumed it was just obnoxious males, but it may be a cranky hen or two chasing off other birds...
  5. Susan Skylark

    Cold incubator for lockdown?

    I have a retired incubator that can’t get above 98.5 degrees, could i safely use it for lockdown? I know some people lower the incubation temp as hatching approaches assuming the physical work of hatching generates enough heat to make a lower temp more comfortable for the chicks. I’d assume at...
  6. Susan Skylark

    Incubator longevity: name brand vs cheapie, thoughts?

    I’ve only been incubating for a year, I’ve played with 5 different incubators so have some idea of their quirks in the short term but what about longevity? What is your experience with incubator lifespan (measured in incubation days) of your favorite name brand versus the Amazon look a like...
  7. Susan Skylark

    Quail hoarding

    I have a problem…big group pen means you can keep birds for a little while you otherwise couldn’t…old mascot males, half size mutants, that nice bird that doesn’t lay…I want 20…I have 30…I admit I have a problem and have already taken steps. I don’t need an intervention…yet!
  8. Susan Skylark

    What percentage of my eggs will be fertile, guess correctly to win absolutely nothing!

    So my flock is in transition, my males apparently hit a wall on their first birthday and either became grumpy old birds and literally lost his head or have sworn off girls altogether. My replacements are just eight weeks old yesterday, and mostly young, timid, and haven’t a clue what they are...
  9. Susan Skylark

    Incubation tips for unique species

    So I’ve hatched a few quail eggs over the last year, but my husband just brought home some rather unique eggs and I need some help: My biggest question is how to explain to him what happened to his Easter candy. Also how do you keep the chocolate from melting? Yes, this is a joke! Happy Easter!
  10. Susan Skylark

    Coloring quail eggs?

    I know quail eggs are already pretty, but with Easter around the bend i thought it might be fun to hard boil some eggs to take to an Easter brunch potluck (I won’t be peeling them, it took 2 hours when I did deviled eggs!). Can I color them too or does the dark shell make it moot? Thanks!
  11. Susan Skylark

    How common are blood rings?

    I know blood rings are a sign your embryo has died but just how common are they (what percentage of early embryonic deaths actually show one)? I’ve only seen one (but then again I have quail so could just be hard to see). So I’d guess about 1-5% of eggs with a dead embryo in the first half of...
  12. Susan Skylark

    Chicken feeders?

    I think I know the answer but have to ask anyway! A girlfriend of mine has some five gallon pail no waste feeders for her chickens and I would love some for my new giant quail pen, I think there are quail scaled feeding ports out there but what happens if you use the chicken sized ones? I’m...
  13. Susan Skylark

    Shipped eggs and chick health

    Anybody notice a significant difference between chicks from shipped vs home raised eggs? Obviously hatch rates tend to be lower but what about deformity, slower growth rates, higher sickness and death rates? I’ve only shipped eggs thrice but my current batch is a little frustrating compared to...
  14. Susan Skylark

    Group housing questions

    So I’m moving 3 pens of breeding birds (1 male and 4-5 females each) to a group housing arrangement with twice the floor space, deep litter bedding, and hiding places and have a few questions for those with experience. 1. Finding eggs: daily Easter egg hunt? Any tips on finding? 2. Fertility...
  15. Susan Skylark

    Guess that color, expert edition!

    So my mixed eggs chicks are 11 days old, I've got most of them figured out but I need some expert advice on a couple. I've got day 3 and day 11 pictures along with a link to what I'm guessing it might be. I have 2 chicks each of these odd colors. My current flock has EB, Fawn, Pharoah, fee...
  16. Susan Skylark

    Mean Chick

    No this is not a post about teen girls, rather I am seriously considering culling a perfectly healthy week old quail chick for tude! It just pecks constantly at the other chicks, I took it out and they immediately relaxed but put it back in and they are all nervy again. Anybody see meanness or...
  17. Susan Skylark

    American pansy?

    Just ‘discovered’ a new color variation over at thieving otter farms called American Pansy, gorgeous birds, should have gotten a batch of them rather than the mixed eggs! Anybody had any experience with them?
  18. Susan Skylark

    Large oblong air cell (saddled?) in shipped eggs?

    Sorry no picture, we’re in lockdown! I have a batch of shipped quail eggs, half of which didn’t develop or died early. Of the survivors over half have a large oblong air cell. I incubated affected eggs upright wide end up and upped the humidity but not too optimistic it did much, chicks are...
  19. Susan Skylark

    Murphy’s law of hatching!

    Last year at this time I borrowed an incubator and ordered some random quail eggs off eBay, had never hatched anything or kept poultry before. My eggs spent 8 days in the mail and a third were smashed, first incubation attempt I got 6/8 fertile eggs hatched. Second batch was 3 days in the mail...
  20. Susan Skylark

    Fridge/cold stored eggs revisited

    While torturing my quail eggs to see what you can and can’t do to them and still get them to hatch, I was rather puzzled by a twenty five percent mortality rate in late term embryos post water candling (also a No turn and cold weather hatch but water candling is not something I do routinely)...
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