Another quail hatch...cortunix quail this time...18 out! More PICS!

[Jessika]

I checked and there was nothing going on in my hatcher....and quail are due today.

Then I went and checked again...right now and guess what...5 minutes later there is a little yellow quail roaming around in there. Hurray!

I hope he/she has room...there are tons (over 40 eggs I think) in there.

 

[Jessika]

You know what else.....I have EE, Orps, and sebright (plz tell me I spelled it right) going in to the LG I am going to try to use as a hatcher. They are due in 72 hours. The quail are already taking up my hova-bator. Oh yeah....I put a ton of BR eggs in there yesterday....and oh yeah I have more EE due in 1 week! OMG....can we say addicted...lol. I was (and still am) way afraid my hatching rate(s) would be lousy because A) I am new to incubating and B) These eggs were shipped. So wish me luck.

Addicted...what ever...can you have too many chickens (or quail) ?

Now there are 4 out! I'm gonna get some zzzzzz's and then check again in 8 hours. I am just leaving the lil quail babies in the hatcher for now.

 

[Jessika]

all 4 are out...eating and drinking...doing awesome! This is nothing like how the BW acted. I am still so amazed!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Great job!!

How many more yet to hatch? Where they all the same date?

I have 6 A&M and 19 button quail eggs in the hatcher, and one lonely little button quail chick. Mine have had a few pips that have been there since this morning, and nothing since. Hope I can get at least one more baby!!

Keep us posted!!

 

[Mrs MIA]

Congratulations!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my coturnix.

They are the sweetest babies. The BWs are skittish, but if you raise them with the coturnix, they mellow out a little.

 

[Jessika]

It is 11:30 pm Monday 10-20-08 my pacific time...

Well there were no more when I went to work this afternoon...so I left them in the bator and prepared for no more hatch. Plus while I was sleeping this morning the temp jumped to 104 degrees so I thought...crap...I fried them. They were due on Monday/today. I called around 10 pm and kids looked and still no more. I prepared for a bad hatch....then I got home and found 4 more little cuties in my bator....2 piped and hatched while I watched. Fast little guys/gals! And the 4 that hatched last night/early morning are doing great. Eating and drinking and tons of poop in the container (meaning insides of little guys appear to be working).

4 yellow ones hatched yesterday...today's are mostly black striped ones (one yellow). Such a surprise!

A few more questions....How long should I leave eggs in hatcher before I assume they are "bad eggs"?

And the yellow ones are "pharaoh" quail? Then are the brown ones "cortunix"? I am a little lost because they came out of same eggs. I don't care what they are...lol...not like I am looking for purebred quails...but why are they different?

How's it going Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain? I appreciate your help with all my "quail" questions. I still want to try BW again...I think something went wrong in incubation process because.....knock on wood...these guys are doing so much better. That is in my plan for next spring.

Hey shelleyd2008! How the hatching going for you? Ya....I am shocked mine took almost 24 hours between hatching sessions. Ya they were all put in together....same date...but about 20 of them I put in LG while about 20 went to Hova-bator 1588 for the actual incubation. I wanted to test out hatch ratios. Then I put them all together in the hova-bator 1602 to hatch them. The 4 that hatched last night were from the 1588....while the 4 I have that hatched right now are from the LG. So far even ratios....but we will see.....

Thank you guys (Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain and shelleyd2008) for telling me about the quail waters. I bought 2 water thingys on ebay and some of that gro-gel stuff (I thought it can't hurt to have on hand). These guys are way awesome....and I have not had to dote on them really at all.

OK...and on to pictures....here are the 4 from "last night". I just took these pics..

AND THE NEW 4 STILL IN HATCHER! (Tho one is hiding out of sight)

 

[Jessika]

Now there are 11 out! I am so excited! I just had to add this....lol

 

[shelleyd2008]

Did you get any A&M's? The yellow ones look like the 2 A&M's that have hatched out of mine! Other than that, I don't know. This is my first time with quail. I have only 1 button, and 2 A&M. Another button was pipped, but it died in the shell. I hope I get more to hatch!

Yesterday (Monday) was day 16, I think, for the A&M's, and middle of day 15 for the buttons, Again I think. I know I set them on the same day, but pretty sure I set the A&M's first. Was trying to figure out a way to put the buttons in the plastic egg trays the A&M came in, to make them easier to turn.

I would love to know how long to leave them in the hatcher. I was thinking I would leave mine in there till Friday? That would make them around 19 days, I think. I have been told they hatch anywhere from 15-18 days, so I might need to leave them in there longer. Maybe Mrs. AK will come back and let us both know?

Very cute babies!!

Oh btw, I thought pharoahs and cortunix were the same thing?? Could be wrong, there are so many different names for these birds! I have a trio of adult pharoahs I bought last weekend at an auction. They look like the brown cortunix...

<edit> I just noticed your thermometer. There are 3 readings on it?? What do they represent?

 

[Mrs MIA]

I know, it's confusing... I may not even have it right

But my understanding is they're ALL Coturnix (Japanese, pharoah quail), but different varieties. The white (yellow chicks) are likely Texas A&M (TAM) and the browns are just... well, browns.

If you have a striped one like the browns, but yellow, that's a Golden. There are some that come out mostly dark chocolate brown too, that I think are very pretty, and they're called Tibetans. Then there's the Tuxedos (white chest)... There's all sorts of names for them... www.feathersite.com has all the different varieties, I think.

As for how long to leave them, I wait until I've had 3 days without any hatching activity. And even then, I take them out one by one and put them up to my ear... you can hear them tapping in there if they're getting ready to pip.

I did that once with a chicken egg that I thought had pipped and died... put the hole right up to my ear and was nearly deafened by the chick when it peeped loudly in protest!

I quickly put it back in.

If you have an ideal hatch, and I've had this with Bobwhites... they will all pip to a point, and then wait, and then it's as if someone fired a starting shot... they all start zipping at once and hatch within an hour of each other! It's crazy!! I think the quail like the slightly higher temps, too. I have better hatches at 100-101°F with them.

It so exciting when someone has a good hatch. Seriously, with the Coturnix, you can start breeding them in 6 weeks and have babies of your own 2 months after hatching the first set!

 

[Jessika]

Thank you guys! Now I have 18 out! Gotta run to work before I am late.....

Edited to add....So I am on my way out the door and I go to count the 11 cortunix (2 1/2 weeks old) that I ought locally. Well...there were only 9 in the brooder (Still trying to figure out how the weaseled there way out...now wondering if they are related to mice). I found one right next to the cage....but 1 is MIA. 1st thing that came to mind is they do not need the brooder anymore.... 2nd was Oh my....My Hubby is going to kill me. So I am leaving a note for children to go on a "quail hunt" before their father gets home at 6:30.

I have lost a few chickens and such in my time....but kids have always found them safe and sound (I can't take credit for it). ut darn it I don't hear any chirping (Really hard to hear with 4 brooders in the house lol)