Brooding Coturnix Quail: Heat em up! (Ah. But how?)

[Joylime322]

I put security cameras facing into the brooder looking under the plate at table level. I have an app on my phone I can watch them thru.

How much did the camera cost?

 

[Nabiki]

I use a reptile heat lamp. It has all of the adjustable temperature advantage of a regular heat lamp without the light so they chicks get regular day/night cycles.

I don't like the idea of a place where I can't see all of the chicks. They can be incredibly suicidal during those first few days.

 

[FloorCandy]

How much did the camera cost?

Idk we had joined a beta of a product a while back and got them free. I can’t imagine they were that pricey.

 

[FloorCandy]

I use a reptile heat lamp. It has all of the adjustable temperature advantage of a regular heat lamp without the light so they chicks get regular day/night cycles.

I don't like the idea of a place where I can't see all of the chicks. They can be incredibly suicidal during those first few days.

Last hatch, one kept wandering out and getting lost and would call his friends, they all would go to him, and I kept finding them shivering in the corner all piled up, not a single one under the plate. I shoo’d them all back under the plate, and I hear cheep cheep cheep thru the baby monitor, so I go back up to check on them, same thing. They would look for the plate but not find it, turns out they needed a night light! They got lost because it was TOO dark. I put a desk lamp on the lowest tick of a dimmer switch on the end of the table on the side near the plate, and they would wander back to the light.

 

[Kiki]

Last hatch, one kept wandering out and getting lost and would call his friends, they all would go to him, and I kept finding them shivering in the corner all piled up, not a single one under the plate. I shoo’d them all back under the plate, and I hear cheep cheep cheep thru the baby monitor, so I go back up to check on them, same thing. They would look for the plate but not find it, turns out they needed a night light! They got lost because it was TOO dark. I put a desk lamp on the lowest tick of a dimmer switch on the end of the table on the side near the plate, and they would wander back to the light.

Plates are not good for quail.
Get a clippy lamp.

 

[Joylime322]

Plates are not good for quail.
Get a clippy lamp.
View attachment 2343759

So do you just put the heat bulb in this?

 

[NatJ]

I am really uncertain about what to get as a heat source for these little guys. I have heard many things. "Lamp is best!" "Plate is better!" "MHP WINS!!" And so on and so forth.

If you use a heat lamp or anything else that heats a large area: do be sure the brooder is large enough that they can get away from the heat, too.

When people use a big heat lamp bulb over a plastic bin, the whole space gets hot. Larger brooders, especially with some wire sides for airflow, have less trouble with this.

For small spaces, sometimes a simple incandescent light bulb is enough--they give off heat too, but less than the bigger heat lamp bulbs. (CFL and LED kinds stay cooler, so not a good heat source.)

(Disclaimer: I have no quail experience, just chicken experience, but I think this particular information applies to both species. I always have used heat lamps.)

 

[Joylime322]

If you use a heat lamp or anything else that heats a large area: do be sure the brooder is large enough that they can get away from the heat, too.

When people use a big heat lamp bulb over a plastic bin, the whole space gets hot. Larger brooders, especially with some wire sides for airflow, have less trouble with this.

For small spaces, sometimes a simple incandescent light bulb is enough--they give off heat too, but less than the bigger heat lamp bulbs. (CFL and LED kinds stay cooler, so not a good heat source.)

(Disclaimer: I have no quail experience, just chicken experience, but I think this particular information applies to both species. I always have used heat lamps.)

My concern is that its getting colder....

 

[Nabiki]

My concern is that its getting colder....

As long as they have a place that is warm enough, they'll be fine. There should always be a warm side and a cool side to the brooder.

 

[Joylime322]

As long as they have a place that is warm enough, they'll be fine. There should always be a warm side and a cool side to the brooder.

Hm... I still am unsure about what to do hahaha