First hatch into the brooder. So happy!

[enchelion]

This is our first ever batch of quail, and I was steeling myself for disappointment given the unfamiliar skillset and vagaries of shipped eggs. But, come Day 17 I was surprised to find 7 fluffy little walnuts wobbling around their incubator. Pretty sure they hatched last night, and all were dry and hungry by this evening so into the brooder they went.

Six healthy chicks, and one with a twisted foot my wife set with a splint. Little Gimpy is thankfully putting weight on the foot and scooting around a bit better now even though it's a bit tricky wearing a big ski boot. If nothing else his/her leg muscles seem strong and they're eating so we're hopeful they pull through and thrive.

Started with 16 intact eggs, and at least one of the remaining ones is wobbling and moving, so I'm already pretty thrilled with the hatch rate and crossing my fingers for a couple bonus babies in the next few days.

 

[redinator]

@Sefirothe doesn't this make you want to hatch more

 

[Sefirothe]

@Sefirothe doesn't this make you want to hatch more

Awww, cute little nuggets.

If my girls ever start laying eggs, I will definitely be hatching more!

 

[Nabiki]

and congratulations! If you're new to quail, you may want to check out the articles in the learning center here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/quail.32/

 

[enchelion]

Odysseus and I couldn't help but have breakfast with the babies. Thought I think he would rather have had the babies *as* breakfast he's content to just watch.

Everyone is moving around well and eating a ton, even gimpy.

 

[enchelion]

Thank you! And the forums/articles have definitely been helpful. I've been enjoying the ADHD hyperfocus on learning everything I can the last months.

@Sefirothe doesn't this make you want to hatch more

Living up to your sig I see.

 

[Sefirothe]

Thank you! And the forums/articles have definitely been helpful. I've been enjoying the ADHD hyperfocus on learning everything I can the last months.

Living up to your sig I see.

Did you have any more surprise hatches?

 

[enchelion]

One late hatch that I don't expect to thrive, but I'm seeing how it does overnight. It couldn't fully kick it's way out of the egg, looks like one leg might have been deformed or developed wrong, as it can't move it away from it's body. I eventually helped it out of the shell, as it hadn't managed to get any farther after knocking out a small circle (larger than a pip, but not a zipper). I'm keeping it in the incubator to observe, with some water and food available. I'll make the call tomorrow on whether it's better to cull. None of the other eggs have gotten any visible progress, so I don't expect anything more at this point.

In better news, we took off Gimpy's brace and they're walking around almost completely normally! Nice strong legs. Their foot is still ever so slightly off-kilter but they can run about 90% as well as the rest, and I expect a lot of the difference is just having to re-learn how to walk without the boot.

 

[Susan Skylark]

The addiction begins! Congrats! They are hilarious and adorable...and addicting! I hatched some overflow chicken eggs for a friend and once saw a video of another friend's peachick brooder, in both cases I wondered what was wrong with the chicks (nothing), apparently quail have ADHD or something, zipping around like maniacs vs an occasional head turn or eye blink was the only sign of life from the peachicks!

 

[enchelion]

Late-hatch is doing... Decent. They've certainly got the will to survive, given the loud and insistent cheeping this morning. They're mostly supine and wobbling around the incubator. I gave them some sugar water with a syringe as I was worried they were dehydrated, and they swallowed it happily. Their feet are still pretty badly curled, but the legs look much more even.l than last night.

We can no longer easily tell which chick was gimpy, so the bracing seems to have been a complete success. That's heartening as I expect we'll need to do work on late-hatch as well. Though I have to keep reminding myself that late hatch has barely been out of the egg more than 12 hours.

@Susan Skylark right? I'm having to desperately hold myself back from ordering more eggs (and definitely planning where the aviary will go after I graduate them from the hutch I already built). Also amazing how fast these little fuzzballs are up and going. I'm more used to like baby rats that don't even open their eyes for a good two weeks.