➡ Quail Hatch Along🥚

[RUNuts]

22 eggs, 16 at lockdown, 4 quitters, 4 assisted didn’t survive...

8 living chicks!
one still has a wonky neck but otherwise healthy.

Welcome to the thread!

30 backyard eggs at day 11 for me. All are developing. Pulled the 4 infertile ones from the other coop. This coop doing well.

Not the greatest hatch rate but 8 chicks is a success.
May I ask where the eggs came from?
Care to speculate on why the hatch rate was low?
We like figuring these things out to improve our own hatches.
Cheers

 

[snowyswampchick]

Got mine from a local guy, but I stored them too warm and then too cold the first days before incubation (was waiting for a hydrometer in mail)

 

[Fenrisulfr]

thanks so much for answering.
So I have a couple more questions though.

- I was planning to get the variety mix from myshire, so could i just group together a few individuals? (I believe my breeder pens can hold up to 5 birds- sp 1 males to 4 females). since it is the variety mix and there will be several lines so should i just put together the starter families with a few random birds from the mix? or should i specifically buy several different lines?

This works definately a few generations.

- how often should i replace breeders?

Cann't tell exactly ... I am now in the 3rd generation from one breeder, diverent colors. So as you, I am guessing these are more than one bloodline.
For my current breed I am using two other breeders for mixing blood lines.

I have no own experiance, but I read, that fetilize rate and hatch rate is dropping rapidly at a cetain point of inbreed, aswell as embryo errors. I gotta get the edges of this point by myself, too.

- My breeder cages are roughly 32"x24" they can hold 5 birds right? i will also just have a community cage with almost if not no males that 8'x4' this i figured can hold up to 30 birds, right?

It can work. I experianced higher aggressivity on more dense population. I have a peacfull flock of 1.3 (1 male 3 hens) on 47" x 24" ... every attempt to place a 4th hen didn't work.

- how do identify if one of my birds has the celadon gene without laying blue eggs?

You cannot. You just can calculate by their ancestors and try and error in breeding.

- My cages are at 1 ft height is this okay?

It is ok for the quails, I prefer 1.5 ft, because cleaning is more comfortable.


Cheers

 

[danalovesdogs]

Well this is a first... every egg that entered lockdown hatched!
Here are the stats @Kiki
22 HG set
20 fertile
2 EQ
18 bouncy babies!

 

[AltonaAcres]

Hey guys! I found someone selling Button Quail eggs on my local Craigslist. I have ALWAYS wanted these. i can't believe I'm getting closer!!!!!! I will get 12. Any tips, pictures, or stories about you experiences incubating/brooding/raising these teeny birds? SO excited

 

[Pennys Mama]

@Kiki how are your faker quail doing? Did you ever hatch them??

Also, kind of random, but I’m super curious how big faker quail and/or regular quail would be next to my little bantams

They look similar size but I’m sure the quail are probably way smaller.

She posted a video of them a few pages ago (yesterday). They're crazy tiny. They'd fit in a coke bottle cap with room to spare. The coturnix babies are probably about double their size, which is about half the size of bantam chicks. In the group picture there are coturnix & my HG bantam mixes.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Oh my word.......how will I manage to wait long enough to see them!!!!!!!

 

[AltonaAcres]

what do ya'll feed them? Any differences in brooding/hatching/raising them than chickens?

 

[Kiki]

Well this is a first... every egg that entered lockdown hatched!
Here are the stats @Kiki
22 HG set
20 fertile
2 EQ
18 bouncy babies!
View attachment 2097689

Set date and hatch date please?
I'm catching the sheet up now.

 

[Kiki]

what do ya'll feed them? Any differences in brooding/hatching/raising them than chickens?

Gamebirds crumbles for the first 6 weeks (30% protein)
Then I switch to regular old chicken layer crumbles.