➡ Quail Hatch Along🥚

[room onthebroom]

How long does the thrashing last after the heads gone?

 

[CoturnixComplex]

How long does the thrashing last after the heads gone?

10-30 seconds most of the time. Occasionally one will twitch minutes later. I'm a fan of having somewhere out of sight where the head drops and then a place to set the body afterwards for a minute and drain but some people are less squeamish.

 

[muddy75]

Hi quail peeps! I have been gone so long! I have badge-earners to belatedly congratulate, congratulations to belatedly thank, and a ton to catch up on.

I am just popping in real quick to say I'm mid-hatch with @el dorado quail 's babies and while this has been a PAINFUL hatch I do still have cute babies popping.

Stats:

My eggs 17 put in, cracked two developing on each other badly and pulled them early, cracked two on each other AGAIN later (I'm glad it was my eggs! I always candled them last and apparently lack wrist stamina...),l left them in, 10 looked probably-good at lockdown, 6 have hatched so far, there's at least one more pipped, all fat problem-free babies. I think it's going to end up at 8 or 9/15 which is not amazing but my older trio has apparently started to dip in fertility.

Extra research eggs 7 out of 20 looked good at lockdown, I miscounted by one initially (meh, okay, can live with), 60/40 clears and early quitters, 4 have hatched but one has splayed leg I'm trying to correct.

Celadon eggs maybe 15 of 100 looked good at lockdown?! Maaaaaybe. I was generous out of desperation. 5 hatched so far, two more pipped, 1 splayed leg case and 1 with toes that don't want to uncurl. GAHHHHH.

Very small difference in hatch rate across incubator top and bottom so at least my jacket worked.

I HATE SHIPPED EGGS OMG. I don't think it was my fault considering the wildly varying hatch rates across egg types but I still feel bad and I am bummed because I wanted some. There are so few I am going to take an adult male instead of any chicks and breed him to my het celadon female from a different source. They breed so fast it won't be that long before I have some blue layers too.

Ok, on to baby pics!
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So happy you are back!!!! I was sooo close to “hunting you down” I’ve got soo many cool colors from “homegrown” hatches that you will appreciate! Hoping to get pics soon! I’m starting to agree with you on “shipped” eggs....I never dreamed that “heat” could be worse than “cold” with eggs! My celadon produced zero due to incubator malfunction but myshire has agreed to replace even though technically my fault.

 

[room onthebroom]

10-30 seconds most of the time. Occasionally one will twitch minutes later. I'm a fan of having somewhere out of sight where the head drops and then a place to set the body afterwards for a minute and drain but some people are less squeamish.

Oh that's not too bad. I remember my dad killing a rattlesnake that thrashed for a disturbingly long time.

 

[Sara L]

Shipped? That's pretty impressive. I didn't try to candle them either. I figure I'll check once they're far enough along for the CAM to be developed and pull the clears then. 18 days to hatch, right?

Yep, and mine all hatched at the same time...once they pipped it was only a couple of hours and they were all done...no stragglers or early hatchers.

I've hatched button quail from shipped eggs and my own, they vary from 16-18 days, it may depend on the strain? I've hatched them alongside coturnix by adding 2 days after adding the coturnix so I don't think it was variation in the incubator temps. I do love that they hatch all at the same time, they seem to coordinate in the shell to hatch all at once. Any that don't hatch with the others probably have issues (possibly human caused) and probably won't make it if assisted. Usually any that make it past 5 days will make it to adulthood (barring accidents) in my experience.

 

[ShrekDawg]

That is the point (or one of them). If you’re gonna eat meat, it’s good to know what that dinner is really worth—what the cost was—and be truly grateful.

That is a good point!!

I think my daughter finally gets it. She no longer gets upset when it's time to butcher. She does still talk to them at the end, which I don't think is a bad thing. She wants them to be happy right to the end, but has no problem butchering anymore. She went right out and snatched up a little roo the other day for me. Told him "sorry squeeky, but you just won't shut up". Then hung out during and buried his entrails in the garden after. She's 13. You can do it.

OMG! sorry squeaky

 

[RUNuts]

I use kitchen shears, sharpened a bit. The ones so far fit in one hand for the deed, then clothes pinned to the wire fence. Once all completed, start cleaning.

Thrashing last 10 seconds. Over quick.

 

[room onthebroom]

I use kitchen shears, sharpened a bit. The ones so far fit in one hand for the deed, then clothes pinned to the wire fence. Once all completed, start cleaning.

Thrashing last 10 seconds. Over quick.

Do you know if its the same amount of time for chickens?

 

[Kiki]

Hi quail peeps! I have been gone so long! I have badge-earners to belatedly congratulate, congratulations to belatedly thank, and a ton to catch up on.

I am just popping in real quick to say I'm mid-hatch with @el dorado quail 's babies and while this has been a PAINFUL hatch I do still have cute babies popping.

Stats:

My eggs 17 put in, cracked two developing on each other badly and pulled them early, cracked two on each other AGAIN later (I'm glad it was my eggs! I always candled them last and apparently lack wrist stamina...),l left them in, 10 looked probably-good at lockdown, 6 have hatched so far, there's at least one more pipped, all fat problem-free babies. I think it's going to end up at 8 or 9/15 which is not amazing but my older trio has apparently started to dip in fertility.

Extra research eggs 7 out of 20 looked good at lockdown, I miscounted by one initially (meh, okay, can live with), 60/40 clears and early quitters, 4 have hatched but one has splayed leg I'm trying to correct.

Celadon eggs maybe 15 of 100 looked good at lockdown?! Maaaaaybe. I was generous out of desperation. 5 hatched so far, two more pipped, 1 splayed leg case and 1 with toes that don't want to uncurl. GAHHHHH.

Very small difference in hatch rate across incubator top and bottom so at least my jacket worked.

I HATE SHIPPED EGGS OMG. I don't think it was my fault considering the wildly varying hatch rates across egg types but I still feel bad and I am bummed because I wanted some. There are so few I am going to take an adult male instead of any chicks and breed him to my het celadon female from a different source. They breed so fast it won't be that long before I have some blue layers too.

Ok, on to baby pics!
View attachment 1849894 View attachment 1849895 View attachment 1849896 View attachment 1849897
View attachment 1849899

Oh my.

 

[Kiki]

How long does the thrashing last after the heads gone?

Too long for me. Maybe a minute...if that.