First Attempt coming soon!! Advice?

[sniper338]

Hello all, I'm new to the forum. I've been reading on here some though learning and figured I would join in.

I'm building my cages and about to get quail to start raising. I bought my incubator yesterday. From reviews that I read I just went ahead and got the hovabator 1588 with egg turner and quail racks. It seemed to be a decent one. The brinsea ones look great, but I didn't care to spend that much money!

What advice do yall have for hatching my first batch? What I haven't figured out is if there is a certain way I should lay the eggs in the racks..? pointed end down?

How long do I leave them in the incubator after they hatch before I move them to the chick brooder?

I have the starter wild bird feed stuff, do I need to crush it more and get it real fine for the chicks to eat?

I'm in for it here, but how much odor does a few quail cages give off, if cleaned regularly? I'm not worried about it in any way, just wondering if it will stink up my shed bad...

Can the quail after a few weeks when they are out of the brooder and go into the cages and run withstand the cold fairly really well? or am I going to need a heat lamp on them when temp outside gets in the 30's?

How should I arrange my cages? I have two small cages (about 2ftx2ftx2ft) I was going to use for breeding, (3 female, 1 male) and one big cage I was going to throw the rest in.... Can I put a large mix males and females together? Or should I just keep all females and butcher males only?

My big cage is a 2 story 4ft long, 2ft wide, 2ft tall each story both inside the shed, and the run attached to it is 12ft long 3ft tall and 3 ft wide rectangle.... How many quail can or should I keep in this bigger enclosure?? I plan on butchering to eat for numbers management, and or giving to others to eat or selling live birds to others that want to raise them...

Breeding - as with anything I am guessing I should try to get my males and females from different breeders to start out with? I kind of assume after a year of breeding and turnover all the quail would tend to be related anyways either way I go..??

Any advice for a newbie?

 

[Impress]

What advice do yall have for hatching my first batch?  What I haven't figured out is if there is a certain way I should lay the eggs in the racks..?  pointed end down? Pointed end down always. The air cell is at the blunt end,a nd you want that aimed up.

How long do I leave them in the incubator after they hatch before I move them to the chick brooder? Let them dry out, no rush, they absorb their yolk right before hatching and that holds them over for a bit.

I have the starter wild bird feed stuff, do I need to crush it more and get it real fine for the chicks to eat? I run mine through a food processor to powder it a little bit more. A blender works as well.

I'm in for it here, but how much odor does a few quail cages give off, if cleaned regularly?  I'm not worried about it in any way, just wondering if it will stink up my shed bad... Depends on the amount of quail and how often you clean really. Be ready for it, quail poop a LOT.

Can the quail after a few weeks when they are out of the brooder and go into the cages and run withstand the cold fairly really well?  or am I going to need a heat lamp on them when temp outside gets in the 30's? Hatching in the winter has the drawback of really needing to keep them under heat through the cold. They don't adapt quickly, you would have to slowly wean them from the heat and down to normal low outside temperatures and really really watch them to make sure you don't accidentally kill them.

How should I arrange my cages?  I have two small cages (about 2ftx2ftx2ft) I was going to use for breeding, (3 female, 1 male) and one big cage I was going to throw the rest in....  Can I put a large mix males and females together?  Or should I just keep all females and butcher males only? What kind of quail are they? A coturnix needs about 2 square feet minimum per each bird.

My big cage is a 2 story 4ft long, 2ft wide, 2ft tall each story both inside the shed, and the run attached to it is 12ft long 3ft tall and 3 ft wide rectangle....  How many quail can or should I keep in this bigger enclosure??  I plan on butchering to eat for numbers management, and or giving to others to eat or selling live birds to others that want to raise them... You will need to do the square foot math to prevent cannibalism, fighting, and sick overcrowded birds.

Breeding - as with anything I am guessing I should try to get my males and females from different breeders to start out with?  I kind of assume after a year of breeding and turnover all the quail would tend to be related anyways either way I go..?? Keep trying to switch out your males, from different breeders and different areas. Inbreeding will get you sickly birds very quickly.

Any advice for a newbie?

I hope I helped some, good luck! (Typed answers after your questions up there. ^)

 

[sniper338]

I picked up some bobwhite quail today, they aren't in the best of shape because they were over crowded in the cages the guy kept them in... He didn't keep a light on them, no sand box for them to play in or bath in, not a great food diet, he was feeding a lot of milo... They were kept in cages in a shed with a window in it for the only light during daytime only... yet the birds were still shaded pretty well in the cages so not much direct sunlight...

They guy hasn't been getting any eggs out of any of these birds... I mean from what I am read and learned its no wonder why... With a lot better living conditions already do yall think I can get these birds to breeding and laying?


and advice any have to get these birds much happier faster?