California - Northern

[PetRock]

My Bob White Quail eggs are finally hatching. I had 39 initially and 26 went into lockdown. When I went to bed last night at 9 there were about 8 I could shat I thought looked like pips...2 of those looked like they might be starting to zip. (The eggs are soooo little it is hard to be sure what you are looking at). I couldn't sleep so I got back up about 9:30 and, of course, checked them again. No progress. Sat and watched TV for a couple of hours until I was feeling good and sleepy. At about 11:30 I went back to take another peek before heading back to bed. 8 of those little buggers has already popped out of the shells and were scattered all over the incubator! OF course as soon as I got up this morning I came out to check. I saw 15 empty shells but only 3 babies. I immediately opened the incubator to figure out where they went. I lifted up the quail egg carton they were hatching in and the rest were all crowded underneath it. There is another egg zipped and 7 more in there. Now...to figure out what the heck I am going to do with them!!!

Very cute!!! When I hatched the Bobwhite eggs that came with my incubator, I ended up with 2 or 3 of them somehow getting under the screen and into the water tray. They are crazy little things!

 

[highcountrybell]

My Bob White Quail eggs are finally hatching. I had 39 initially and 26 went into lockdown. When I went to bed last night at 9 there were about 8 I could shat I thought looked like pips...2 of those looked like they might be starting to zip. (The eggs are soooo little it is hard to be sure what you are looking at). I couldn't sleep so I got back up about 9:30 and, of course, checked them again. No progress. Sat and watched TV for a couple of hours until I was feeling good and sleepy. At about 11:30 I went back to take another peek before heading back to bed. 8 of those little buggers has already popped out of the shells and were scattered all over the incubator! OF course as soon as I got up this morning I came out to check. I saw 15 empty shells but only 3 babies. I immediately opened the incubator to figure out where they went. I lifted up the quail egg carton they were hatching in and the rest were all crowded underneath it. There is another egg zipped and 7 more in there. Now...to figure out what the heck I am going to do with them!!!

great job! the bob white quail are tooo cute!

 

[Kaylish]

My Bob White Quail eggs are finally hatching. I had 39 initially and 26 went into lockdown. When I went to bed last night at 9 there were about 8 I could shat I thought looked like pips...2 of those looked like they might be starting to zip. (The eggs are soooo little it is hard to be sure what you are looking at). I couldn't sleep so I got back up about 9:30 and, of course, checked them again. No progress. Sat and watched TV for a couple of hours until I was feeling good and sleepy. At about 11:30 I went back to take another peek before heading back to bed. 8 of those little buggers has already popped out of the shells and were scattered all over the incubator! OF course as soon as I got up this morning I came out to check. I saw 15 empty shells but only 3 babies. I immediately opened the incubator to figure out where they went. I lifted up the quail egg carton they were hatching in and the rest were all crowded underneath it. There is another egg zipped and 7 more in there. Now...to figure out what the heck I am going to do with them!!!

Too Cute!

 

[Happy Chooks]

My Bob White Quail eggs are finally hatching. I had 39 initially and 26 went into lockdown. When I went to bed last night at 9 there were about 8 I could shat I thought looked like pips...2 of those looked like they might be starting to zip. (The eggs are soooo little it is hard to be sure what you are looking at). I couldn't sleep so I got back up about 9:30 and, of course, checked them again. No progress. Sat and watched TV for a couple of hours until I was feeling good and sleepy. At about 11:30 I went back to take another peek before heading back to bed. 8 of those little buggers has already popped out of the shells and were scattered all over the incubator! OF course as soon as I got up this morning I came out to check. I saw 15 empty shells but only 3 babies. I immediately opened the incubator to figure out where they went. I lifted up the quail egg carton they were hatching in and the rest were all crowded underneath it. There is another egg zipped and 7 more in there. Now...to figure out what the heck I am going to do with them!!!

Cuties, congrats!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Broody fever is hitting my place. I have 2 broodies right now and 3 others thinking about it.

 

[Audio51]

Quote: I will keep that in mind! Gotta figure out a secure place for them.

Quote: I know! Almost makes me want to keep them........almost...

Broody fever is hitting my place. I have 2 broodies right now and 3 others thinking about it.

That is so wierd how it seems to run in waves. Mine were all broody amonth ago. Now the only one that is broody is raising my meat bird chicks. It would be nice if they would do it one at a time.....

 

[debs_flock]

Yeah....I started the year with 1 usable incubator. Now I have 3 plus one I am using as a hatcher....

I started out with a Genesis, "who could ever need more than 42 spots", right? Then I got the second Genesis "so I could do staggered setting easier", 84 eggs!!! Then I got the third Genesis, "oh good, staggered setting and a place to hatch", 126 eggs! ..................... Then I got the Brinsea cabinet "what's the point in restricting yourself to the 190, might as well get the 380"...............506 eggs!!! It wouldn't be so bad, except the first time I ran it, I thought it needed to be full, with the three Genesis all being hatchers. It also has a VERY good hatch rate. Do you know what an influx of 300 chicks does to your pens? Especially when you'd rather raise them to see how they turn out instead of selling chicks.

Incubating chicks is a disease and definitely deserves it's own 12-step program.

My Bob White Quail eggs are finally hatching. Now...to figure out what the heck I am going to do with them!!!

They are cute, they pop out like popcorn.


They quickly look like this.

Soon you discover bobwhite are nuts and look forward to them looking like this.

Then this.


And they rapidly become this.


Oooh, I know what I'm having for dinner tomorrow!

 

[ronott1]

My Bob White Quail eggs are finally hatching. I had 39 initially and 26 went into lockdown. When I went to bed last night at 9 there were about 8 I could shat I thought looked like pips...2 of those looked like they might be starting to zip. (The eggs are soooo little it is hard to be sure what you are looking at). I couldn't sleep so I got back up about 9:30 and, of course, checked them again. No progress. Sat and watched TV for a couple of hours until I was feeling good and sleepy. At about 11:30 I went back to take another peek before heading back to bed. 8 of those little buggers has already popped out of the shells and were scattered all over the incubator! OF course as soon as I got up this morning I came out to check. I saw 15 empty shells but only 3 babies. I immediately opened the incubator to figure out where they went. I lifted up the quail egg carton they were hatching in and the rest were all crowded underneath it. There is another egg zipped and 7 more in there. Now...to figure out what the heck I am going to do with them!!!

 

[CackleJoy]

What a delightful story Rebecca. Chickens aren't the smartest animals on the farm sometimes.....LOL
How do you ferment your feed? I have been watching You Tube a lot lately and came across that. Does it cut down the waste? My chickens waste sooooooooo much. I have been day dreaming of making a restrictor ring for my big hanging feeders. I switched to pellets some time back trying to cut down waste from the crumbles I was feeding before.

Yeah....I started the year with 1 usable incubator. Now I have 3 plus one I am using as a hatcher....

One quickly discovers that hatching requires a buddy system. Every incubator needs a buddy!

I started out with a Genesis, "who could ever need more than 42 spots", right? Then I got the second Genesis "so I could do staggered setting easier", 84 eggs!!! Then I got the third Genesis, "oh good, staggered setting and a place to hatch", 126 eggs! ..................... Then I got the Brinsea cabinet "what's the point in restricting yourself to the 190, might as well get the 380"...............506 eggs!!! It wouldn't be so bad, except the first time I ran it, I thought it needed to be full, with the three Genesis all being hatchers. It also has a VERY good hatch rate. Do you know what an influx of 300 chicks does to your pens? Especially when you'd rather raise them to see how they turn out instead of selling chicks.

Incubating chicks is a disease and definitely deserves it's own 12-step program.


Aforementioned buddy system at work. See how well that turns out?

They are cute, they pop out like popcorn.


They quickly look like this.

Soon you discover bobwhite are nuts and look forward to them looking like this.

Then this.


And they rapidly become this.


Oooh, I know what I'm having for dinner tomorrow!

Hey - those quail looked yummy!

My Bob White Quail eggs are finally hatching. I had 39 initially and 26 went into lockdown. When I went to bed last night at 9 there were about 8 I could shat I thought looked like pips...2 of those looked like they might be starting to zip. (The eggs are soooo little it is hard to be sure what you are looking at). I couldn't sleep so I got back up about 9:30 and, of course, checked them again. No progress. Sat and watched TV for a couple of hours until I was feeling good and sleepy. At about 11:30 I went back to take another peek before heading back to bed. 8 of those little buggers has already popped out of the shells and were scattered all over the incubator! OF course as soon as I got up this morning I came out to check. I saw 15 empty shells but only 3 babies. I immediately opened the incubator to figure out where they went. I lifted up the quail egg carton they were hatching in and the rest were all crowded underneath it. There is another egg zipped and 7 more in there. Now...to figure out what the heck I am going to do with them!!!

We've never hatched anything besides LF chickens. Anything that just pops like corn would be FAR too addicting. Back away slowly...

I liked that last sentence - needing to figure out what to do with them once they hatch! That is our problem. I have a large (to me) broody room but it is starting to look like a hoarder lives there with all of the miscellaneous rubbermaids/icechests, hanging lights and even a broody nest.

 

[Kaylish]

I started out with a Genesis, "who could ever need more than 42 spots", right? Then I got the second Genesis "so I could do staggered setting easier", 84 eggs!!! Then I got the third Genesis, "oh good, staggered setting and a place to hatch", 126 eggs! ..................... Then I got the Brinsea cabinet "what's the point in restricting yourself to the 190, might as well get the 380"...............506 eggs!!! It wouldn't be so bad, except the first time I ran it, I thought it needed to be full, with the three Genesis all being hatchers. It also has a VERY good hatch rate. Do you know what an influx of 300 chicks does to your pens? Especially when you'd rather raise them to see how they turn out instead of selling chicks.

Incubating chicks is a disease and definitely deserves it's own 12-step program.


They are cute, they pop out like popcorn.

So what you're saying is I shouldn't even bother trying to find a 20 egg incubator - I should go straight for 40+...or MORE!

I REALLY want to start hatching, just no bator, or broody. I'm stalking Craigslist for a used one but am having no luck...any recommendations for newbie who's already obsessed but is having trouble justifying the expense?!!!