How to hatch and care for quail chicks 1. First, I collect the eggs. 2. Then I put the eggs on the incubator for a day. 3. Next, I put the eggs in the incubator and I make sure the temperature is at 99.5F. 4. Then, I let them sit in the incubator for 23 days, and I have to turn them 3 or more times a day. 5. After 21 days I stop turning them. 6. Then I wait for them to hatch. 7. I have to wait a few hours for the chicks to dry off, then I can move them to their brooder. 8. The brooder has to be 99 degrees for the first week, there has to be marbles in the waterer to prevent them from drowning. 9. You have to give the chicks 24% Game bird Starter until they are 6 weeks old. 10. Use towels as bedding. 11. If only one hatches, then put a stuffed animal with the chick. 12. Cover the brooder because they can fly. THANKS!
That's all cool if your quail species hatches at 21+ days. Some folks species hatch faster than that. For anyone raising any species of "QUAIL" put a top on your brooder from day one. It will save you a bunch of heart ache! Even the fast developers can't really fly, but they jump really high, compared to chickens at 5-10 times their weight. Never underestimate a quail chicks ability to jump 12+ inches. If you are raising coturnix, they should have wing feathers by day 5, then the (Pole vault) over the wall of the brooder will be slightly feathered wing assisted. Put a top on that brooder from day one!
My first Coturnix hatch at a week old are now quite adept at "Pole Vaulting" over the side of the brooder! The little ones hop too, but not anywhere near as high...
You bet they can fly, I have day olds jumping out of my bator. While that isn't flying I guess you could say they jump. For future reference you should test run your incubator for a few days. I don't do thiis because mine runs non-stop. You will have better hatches if you let your eggs sit for a fwew days. I collect eggs for 5 days and then set. Towels are not the only thing you can use as bedding. I use aspen or pine shavings. Good info sheet though.
I know you don't have a hygrometer to measure humidity yet, but this would be good for you to add, too. They aren't all that expensive.
Hatching and raising what? Not Coturnix. Please put BobWhites in your title if that is what you are refering to. Otherwise you are misleading people into believing that all types of quail are incubated the same way in any type of incubator they have. They are not all hatched the same. That is why there are so many different threads on their hatching. What kind of incubator are you using with that temp? You need to say. Different types of incubators require different temps for different varieties of quail. Even within the same species, there are different requirements for the different varieties for better hatches. That's why its so confusing. Then we go to the time of year that you are hatching. That changes things again. I have never brooded my babies at 99*, it is not necessary to brood Coturnix at such high temperatures. It may be necessary for the Buttons thoughm I don't know. I am finding out that even in the Coturnix, the different sizes have different requirements. I suspect that the different colored varieties also have different requirements for good hatches with less loss of birds. I think your 12 steps is a good idea for new people to get a start on raising them. But across the board for all the varieties of quail, well, its just not that easy.