all who are hatching quail

[WaterfowlWierdo]

Yeah I am no bobwhite expert but I know that my coturnix hens went from laying 23-25 eggs daily to 12-14 daily when the temps rocketed up to the high 80s/mid 90s.

My bobwhites are little embryos right now but they'll be having fun in the sun in a few weeks

WW, why would natural lighting not be maximizing their potential this time of year? We're at just under 16 hours of natural daylight in the E WA / N ID areas right now and we've been over 14 for a long time

curious more than anything...

My birds have just been getting a really slow start.....And it doesnt help that I am not feeding a commercial feed either

 

[JJSS89]

Makes sense on the feed. Is it pretty low on protein or are they just reacting to the switch from commercial feed?

 

[WaterfowlWierdo]

I butchered off ten males so that should help. I had one roo per hen and it was way too much stress on the ladies. I didn't realize i had that many roos until i started sorting them out.

well that will taste good! Yeah, thats alot of roosters to have.

 

[titika]

well that will taste good! Yeah, thats alot of roosters to have. 

it's a lot quieter now too lol

 

[onionheadtg2014]

Is a chick grower ok to feed baby quail chicks?

 

[JJSS89]

Is a chick grower ok to feed baby quail chicks?

Quail chicks need 28% protein. I think some folks do 26% but most chick starter is around 20% and wouldn't give the little buggers enough protein.

 

[WaterfowlWierdo]

it's a lot quieter now too lol

Haha I bet! My white ringneck rooster crows every morning and evening, but its not very loud

 

[702marine]

little Gambel is getting his/her mohawk...

 

[Sill]

So my coturnix hatch is finished. It was my first time hatching any type of poultry or game bird. I've hatched reptiles and parrots previously. This was the hatch from hell. Pretty much anything that can go wrong did. My incubator got unplugged for 6 hours, I had two temperature spikes up to 104-105 in the hottest spots of this still-air incubator, and my hygrometer went out so I was guessing at the %. The incubator was in my basement which has very steady temps so I don't know what caused the temperature spikes. I think my thermostat is going bad.

I don't have a turner at this time so the eggs were hand turned every 6 hours. I set my biggest eggs, 13-14 grams. The chicks started hatching on day 17 and finished on day 18. I got 45 chicks out of 92 eggs initially set. Ten never developed at all (probably infertile), three got blood rings in the first 5 days, and 3 made it to the external pip but died before absorbing yolk sacs. The rest of the unhatched eggs failed somewhere in the middle. The 45 I did get are going strong and eating like pigs.





I've got new thermostats, hygrometers, and turners ordered for this incubator as well as a home-made cabinet incubator. I should get a much better hatch next time! I plan to use the cabinet incubator as my main incubator and the Hovebator I used for this hatch as just a hatcher.

 

[Sill]

What's the best way to clean a styrofoam incubator after a hatch? Someone mentioned fumigating.