California - Northern

[chiqita]

I definitely need to start my quail project. I am a 35 year old nurse who is super burnt out; been in it for 14 years. I started homeschooling my 3 & 10 year olds in January & I'm trying to stay home & not work away from the kids/ house/ animals very much. Not only is my main focus my dad's health, but quail eggs are great for everybody! If I can have eggs/ birds to sell while still helping my dad & my kids by staying home-- I'm happy & at least I'm bringing in a little money. I have my Etsy shop online too, but enough to help with feed & supplies would be great! We own a hardwood flooring company that my husband is having great success with, but he gets anxious when I'm not working at all. I'm lucky that he's my kind of crazy & he understands, kinda, that I need my birds
So..... What kind of bator would you recommend for me to have about a hatch of 50-75/ month, Ron? Anybody ? Need great opinions!! Definitely need a turner

quail eggs are easy. Some even recommend still air!

But if you are going to do the occational chicken upgrade to a a hovabator or farm innovator. Madamwlf might still have a new one with all the bells and whistles vailible for 110. If You are doing less then 48 eggs at a time you can just use the chicken trays that come with.

If you are doing more every 18 days you can get quail trays for the turner. If you are serious about quail and want to set up some exotics let me know. I am going to be ordering some eggs from a breeder and you could piggyback with me if you want to try more pens.

Quail became more important to me last night. Did anyone see marketplace on NPR last night? They did a thing on Chinese food yesterday and I started doing a little research. I 2002 the government admitted 20% of the rice as contaminated with heavy metals. Including lead , chromium, cadmium. However they don't stop anyone from selling rice. And they don't test most other things. They export 80% of the world garlic and sliced strawberries according to one article .

I'm actually fairly blase about most food, I ferment my feed but do feed soy, and like home grown food for taste over other things. But when we lived downtown and they repainted the old Victorian we lived in, the baby next door got sick from lead in the soil getting into the veggies we were growing and that freaked me out. This totally freaked me out. I never thought of my food coming from china. Where they don't inspect. Apparently some American companies are doing their own inspections but I trust nestles less then the USDA. So we will be growing a lot more of our own meat this year. And I now get to research what processed foods don't have garlic powder and don't get grains mushrooms and ginger from China...

 

[chiqita]

I usually let my broodies sit wherever they choose, then move them to private quarters after the chicks hatch.  With 2 broodies, you will need to watch really carefully to make sure they don't fight over the chicks.  Some hens co-brood just fine, others not so much.  You just have to try.

This is what I do. Once they hear peeping they stay still. Before that they go ma if you move them.

Silver my tiney Icelandic has decided to move in with pumpkins the turkey so they can brood together. I'm not sure how this is going to go....

 

[lawatt]

I usually let my broodies sit wherever they choose, then move them to private quarters after the chicks hatch. With 2 broodies, you will need to watch really carefully to make sure they don't fight over the chicks. Some hens co-brood just fine, others not so much. You just have to try.

that was my original plan, but when i discovered last night that the two sharing a box were NOT sharing the eggs, the australorp had gathered them all under herself, i tried moving the crested CL (i was also worried she'd try to squeeze into one of the other two broodies' boxes, one of whom is set to hatch this weekend -- don't want her to break any more eggs, as one was broken monday in just this way) -- she's in a pen with her new nesting box, which she slept in last night (the move went easily without any fuss), but so far this morning (i've been watching off & on from afar for about 45 min) she's just pecking around in the pen, not sitting. i'll leave her in there today while i'm at work, and hope that she gets the idea -- and hope the eggs won't be too "confused" by her on-and-off behavior!

 

[ronott1]

We had another busy day yesterday!

I was very tired last night and went to bed on time. The wind and allergies always get me, especially this time of the year...

We did not make the top ten busiest threads but Mossyoakfarm made # 10 for ovation! I made it to the list for cooking advice! (that always cracks me up..I do love to cook and bake though) My Mom should be very proud. I took my pressure cooker up to her place near Shingletown a couple of summers ago and made Beef ribs in it. The ribs are pressure cooked and then grilled on a BBQ. She was very impressed by the process.

 

[SilkieRose]

quail eggs are easy. Some even recommend still air!

But if you are going to do the occational chicken upgrade to a a hovabator or farm innovator. Madamwlf might still have a new one with all the bells and whistles vailible for 110. If You are doing less then 48 eggs at a time you can just use the chicken trays that come with.

If you are doing more every 18 days you can get quail trays for the turner. If you are serious about quail and want to set up some exotics let me know. I am going to be ordering some eggs from a breeder and you could piggyback with me if you want to try more pens.

Quail became more important to me last night. Did anyone see marketplace on NPR last night? They did a thing on Chinese food yesterday and I started doing a little research. I 2002 the government admitted 20% of the rice as contaminated with heavy metals. Including lead , chromium, cadmium. However they don't stop anyone from selling rice. And they don't test most other things. They export 80% of the world garlic and sliced strawberries according to one article .

I'm actually fairly blase about most food, I ferment my feed but do feed soy, and like home grown food for taste over other things. But when we lived downtown and they repainted the old Victorian we lived in, the baby next door got sick from lead in the soil getting into the veggies we were growing and that freaked me out. This totally freaked me out. I never thought of my food coming from china. Where they don't inspect. Apparently some American companies are doing their own inspections but I trust nestles less then the USDA. So we will be growing a lot more of our own meat this year. And I now get to research what processed foods don't have garlic powder and don't get grains mushrooms and ginger from China...

Thanks chiqita!! I am serious about the quail. I can't get any more chickens right now. I have a few separate clutches of different ages right now. The youngest are 6 weeks. The quail are the only thing I can do that allows boys I'm trying to homestead as much as possible so raising meat is a big plan, too. I don't see anybody up my way selling coturnix do I thought maybe that should be me. I really want these jumbos to start. I have 4 Roos & 5 hens... I'm only getting 4 eggs/ day so far.
Still no babies yet... Would you take one out to check it? Should I just keep sitting on my hands?

 

[capayvalleychick]

What kind of camera and lens are you using?

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H7/H9. My husband bought it for me a few years ago. I know it's not something pros would use but would like to be able to learn how to use it to get the best shots possible with this equipment. I never use the manual settings because I don't know how.

Re: broodies.... I finally had a hen go broody on the floor of the main coop. When she would get up, the other chickens would scatter her eggs. So, she quit. I've had broodies quit when I moved them, but next time that's what I'm going to do.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
Those boys should sort everything out without resorting to killing or maiming each other. I have found the Orpingtons to play second or third fiddle very easily, they are not dominant roosters in any mixed flock I have had. I haven't had Welsummers so I will agree that he is more aggressive - once he tells the other ones that he is boss things should settle down.

If you feel there is too much bloodshed (and yes - they will pick at the combs which do bleed freely) you can always stand by with a long pole to poke them apart. Getting in the middle of it will just injure you too - I use a broom to push them apart sometimes, but I also let them fight until one runs away. If you don't let them get to that stage they will not get things sorted out and will go back again and again...

 

[ronott1]

Quote: Chiqita gave you great advice already! I have the Brinsea Octagon 40, which would hold something like 130 quail eggs. It is very automatic and has rails that adjust for the size of the eggs. The humidity pump would be right up a Nurses skill set alley(I think I just invented something here--of course my Advanced English Teacher would have said watch out for mixing metaphors and do not invent your own clichés....). It uses tubing and a turning offset system to create a vacuum and push water through tubing into a humidity pad inside the incubator.

If you are going bigger, then the cabinet incubators are the next step. Dickey incubators makes a model with two incubating trays and two hatching trays. You could hatch hundreds of quail each month in one of those. Brinsea and GQF also make cabinet incubators with Brinsea being the most automatic. For what you are doing, the Octagon 20 advance ex with humidity pump for incubating and then hatch in the foam incubator would work. I just worry about what you may want in the future.

It amazes me at how much I could hatch now and sometimes think I should have picked up a cabinet incubator. Maybe next year....

 

[chiqita]

Thanks chiqita!! I am serious about the quail. I can't get any more chickens right now. I have a few separate clutches of different ages right now. The youngest are 6 weeks. The quail are the only thing I can do that allows boys I'm trying to homestead as much as possible so raising meat is a big plan, too. I don't see anybody up my way selling coturnix do I thought maybe that should be me. I really want these jumbos to start. I have 4 Roos & 5 hens... I'm only getting 4 eggs/ day so far.
Still no babies yet... Would you take one out to check it? Should I just keep sitting on my hands?

If there are no pips I would check. Its a bummer to wait if they were all clears. Of you are doing quail for meat def pm me.

 

[Janeothejungle]

Could someone please call my boss and explain to him that I don't have time for "work", there is a coop to be built. Jeez. What is happening to me? I've got a fever.....