Heat Plate vs. Heat Lamp

[Sapphire22]

Update No.2: 3 more have hatched, so I am up to 50% hatch rate so far. These 3 have been named Jupiter, Bea and Magic, and 2 more have pipped, so here's hoping for 2 more before the end of today

oooooh eggciting. I can't wait for mine to start hatching.

 

[WVduckchick]

Update: 3 out of 12 have hatched so far (its day 18 today) and I actually managed to see all 3 hatch! They have been named after the song/artist playing on the radio at the time they hatched (my brother's idea). There is Fernando (named for the Abba song), Amy (named after Amy Winehouse) and Bandit (for Clean Bandit).

Finger crossed more hatch Thankyou everyone for your advise and I will see how the heat plate does tonight

Congrats! And continued success!!

Absolutely love the naming idea.

 

[harriamelia]

I am also on my first batch of quail eggs (day16) and have also got a plate brooder it's from comfort chicks I can lower the legs to really low but also never seen a baby quail other than on youtube! so unsure how low to go.... will they instinctively go under it?
Now worrying that will need a heat lamp. my brooder box is indoors at the moment and The south of England is having a heat wave so the temperature outside the box is high and no draughts but now really anxious!! Not sure what to do for the best.......eakkk

I have the comfort chicks heat plate and it does go very low. I tried taking the legs out of the side so it tilted and the chicks could snuggle up under it but two actually died right under the slanted bit. I have had 8 hatch total so far (and only those two have died), the other six love the heat plate once I put all four legs back in. Just put it down as low as it goes, and put a tea towel, folded twice, under. They are having no problems with it now. Also, the room I keep my brooder in is tiny and has a huge window in, and the sun hits it right at 3:00 (I am in the north of England and we are having a heatwave, too) and I have been worrying about the heat. I just put a blanket over the end of the brooder so they are in the shade, which is really all I can do. They seem happy enough. Good Luck!

 

[harriamelia]

Update No. 3: End of day 19 and 8 chicks have hatched and 6 have survived. Bea and Amy died due to a nightmare of a situation with the heat plate (all fixed now). But I cried... alot. So, survivers are: Fernando, Bandit, Jupiter, Magic, Penny (for Penny Lane by the Beatles) and Jess (for Jess Glynne). I still have 4 eggs that have no hatched (one is either cracked or has pipped?), so I will run the incubator until day 21 and then will probably give up on them I will post pictures once my phone is fixe

 

[Ebony Rose]

I have the 'comfort' brand heat plate; advertised as suitable for quail too. I put one side to the lowest available setting, and the other side up two notches to allow the quail chicks to find their 'sweet spot' under the device.

As they grow, I increase the space underneath a notch on the higher end on a weekly basis for the first couple of weeks, and then increase the space underneath it a notch on each leg weekly thereafter.

I remove mine from the heat altogether by about four weeks because I am able to; I live in Panama, in a region that is hot and humid with rain forest conditions; Where I am, the temperature ranges between the mid-70's to mid-90's (F), day and night, year round.

If you live in an area that gets significantly cooler than my coolest temperatures, you may wish to extend their time under heat by a week or two just to ween them off of the additional heat. Coturnix quail are full-fledged adults between 6 to 8 weeks of age, and should be close to fully feathered between 4 & 5 weeks old.

As adult birds, they can easily survive temperatures approaching single digits provided that they are in a draft free environment. Drafts change the story dramatically. A 2°F night with just a 10 or 11mph wind will create a wind chill of -25°F.

Listen to your chicks while they're under the brooding plate (heat plate). A happy chick does not 'cry' or peep much. A happy newborn chick sleeps a lot, often with legs splayed out in odd directions (be prepared for it, because it will look like they've died); let them sleep. A dead chick typically looks as flat as a pancake. Expect some chicks to die within the first two or three days after hatch; this is nature's way of culling the weak, diseased, 'not quite right' birds from the flock. It's heartbreaking but normal.

A side note about new coturnix quail chicks; it's been my experience that the males tend to take a posture that grants them the tallest possible stance, even at only one or two days old. Not scientifically proven, so your mileage may vary, but check it out and see if it holds true for your covey.

 

[Ravenlover]

Hello,
I am currently 2 days away from lockdown with my 12 coturnix Quail eggs. I bought a Heat Plate a few months ago from UKPoulty, which said it was suitable for Quail chicks. But now I am having pre-hatch anxiety and double checking absoloutly everything and I read a few threads on here last night where people with more experience (this is my first hatch) said that a heat plate was not suitable and was dangerous for Quail chicks.
I wanted more opinions, should I run out ASAP and get a heat lamp instead and disguard the heat plate? Is it dangerous? Is it even suitable for Quail chicks?

I am freaking out a little bit!

It happens we all freak, i ended up useing heat lamp black ceramic thats meant for brooders off amazon with a reptile lamp to run it and i just raise and lower it with a temp reader and such, thats cuz i was broke lol i wanted to try a heat plate, but i hear bad things from the cheap ones and didnt have the cash to dish out as much as a incubator costs for one at the time