First time incubating

[WalkingNorth]

omg I have veins! lol Finally found a flashlight strong enough I can only see in 3, one looks infertile, the other has a detached air bubble and the last has veins

I might have a baby quail! woot!

Just one week to go, lockdown in Friday

 

[FenDruadin]

Congrats!!!! Isn't that the best feeling? It feels like a little miracle every time I candle an egg and see veins in it the first time.

The eggs under my silkie are doing well, too. One quit, but that's not surprising--it was small and porous, so I didn't really expect much from it. The other two are kicking up a storm. Can't wait for babies under the mama.

Just wait till lockdown, and the first pip... then the first hatch... omg it's such a rush!!

 

[WalkingNorth]

Thanks, I had myself thinking none of them would hatch, after finding the first two I though for sure it was a bad batch. I'll be so happy if even one hatches

Are you going to post pics of the silkies when they hatch? Can't wait to see them

 

[FenDruadin]

Sure! In the meantime:




That's Moxie, with her first babies, Proxie, Magic, and Spirit. One of the two babies on the right (the dark two) is the one sitting on eggs now. The other is the father. Alas, sweet Moxie and Proxie (the light colored baby) were eaten by a raccoon due to my negligence. Moxie raised one more baby after this--from eggs I thought were infertile. Her remaining baby is a light-colored chicken like her, named Dixie. I have children. They name my chickens. It's confusing.

Here. This is either the father or the mother of the upcoming babies (I don't know which because they looked exactly the same as babies, lol):

 

[TwoCrows]

How cute is that!!

 

[WalkingNorth]

Aw, they're super cute





These are my current babies. The male in the second pic left died the day after we got him The last two are females, a cinnamon? one and a white one. Hopefully I'll get some boys for them

 

[WalkingNorth]

So today is lockdown, filled the bottom with water and put in a full container that's high enough that they can't get inside and drown. Humidity has risen to 70% and temp is holding steady

phew!

Have been running all over the place trying to find good food for them. Apparently rural saskatchewan's response to, 'Do you sell game bird feed?' is 'What's a game bird feed?'

Have managed to locate a source 2 hours away but it's a chicken feed. It's a non-medicated layer crumble. 35% protein. I've read the forums and everyone talks about a crumble starter, generally non medicated but closer to a 23% protein. I could ebay it and use the layer until an ebay order arrives, but the store that's two hours away is also happy to ship me the feed, so it would be a lot easier to keep supply from them.

Will the layer work for the little ones and the adult ones long term? When should I start supplementing with boiled egg for the babies?

thanks

 

[TwoCrows]

The 35% feed might be too high in protein for long term and would probably cause health issues. However, if you dilute it with some chicken chick starter of 18% or 20%, mixed 50/50 you would be bringing down the protein level to about 28% protein which is perfect.

 

[WalkingNorth]

I ended up calling an aviary a few hours away from me and they put me onto a 23% Turkey grower, going to have to use the food processor on the pellets but it's looking okay.

Thank you for the advice though! Now I know what to do if I cant get my regular food.

So today is day 15 and I'm checking the eggs every hour. I'm dreaming of baby quails LOL I'm so excited, the wait is killing me! Doesn't help that my two hens are seriously stirred up and calling like crazy things

 

[WalkingNorth]

Got my first pip today The little guy is like 'She's a novice at incubating? I'm gonna pip backwards!'

I have no idea what to do. Keeping them well misted (not wetting the pip) and made sure the air vents are open for circulation.

Call me a city girl, but somehow I couldn't see these small things actually surviving under my bumbling care and hatching. I'm so thrilled to get this far