I eventually found a local source for Japanese Quail eggs. The good news was no shipping and $20 for 8 dozen. The bad news, only 35 hatched and so far 18 have died.
I incubated them in a Brinsea Octagon 40 with auto-turn and humidity pump. When I asked the breeder about the egg size differences and what to expect, he said he ate the bigger ones and only had a 50% hatch rate ...
My first 2 quail hatched at day 16, the bulk at day 17-19, with 4 quail at day 22.
Temperature and humidity were dead on the entire time. I stopped the turn at day 16 when the first two hatched. Most chicks were about the same size and fluffed up a little bigger than golf ball size when dried. About 1/6th of them were noticeably smaller. I assume this was driven by the various egg sizes.
Now to my current dilemma, I have them under an EgoGlow 50 and added a heat lamp. At first I had them on newspaper after reading new chicks would eat the wood shavings. I currently have them in a 4'x4' pen with wood shavings, the EcoGlow, and a heat lamp. They have free access to fresh water (chicken water with marbles) that is at the right height for them and I am feeding them Purina Startena which is a 30% gamebird chick feed I got locally. They seem to be happily running around with lots of energy and eating and drinking well. What I can't figure out is why they keep dying.
I am aware of the biosecurity issues and these are the only birds I have. When I pick one up they are really lively. They don't huddle much (not cold) and run under the heat lamp at will. They are all about a week old (give or take a little) right now.
Do I need to spike the water with sugar or some electrolytes?
Am I doing something wrong?
Or, did I just get bad eggs from a hobby breeder that didn't know what the heck they were doing. Oh, did I mention some of them are A&M Whites too?
At this point, I'm looking for guidance on whether I should just grow these guys out and eat them or, keep them to lay eggs and raise more little ones. I'm assuming at this point I have inbred birds with bad genetics and need to write them off as "a lesson learned" but, I also want to make sure I'm not missing something basic and causing these problems myself.
I am in East Texas between Lindale, Mount Pleasant, and Sulphur Springs which is about 90 minutes from the East side of Dallas. Are there any reputable breeders out here if I start over? If not, where are the good online sources for eggs or chicks that are good LARGE JAPANESE quail?
TIA,
Sid
I incubated them in a Brinsea Octagon 40 with auto-turn and humidity pump. When I asked the breeder about the egg size differences and what to expect, he said he ate the bigger ones and only had a 50% hatch rate ...
My first 2 quail hatched at day 16, the bulk at day 17-19, with 4 quail at day 22.
Temperature and humidity were dead on the entire time. I stopped the turn at day 16 when the first two hatched. Most chicks were about the same size and fluffed up a little bigger than golf ball size when dried. About 1/6th of them were noticeably smaller. I assume this was driven by the various egg sizes.
Now to my current dilemma, I have them under an EgoGlow 50 and added a heat lamp. At first I had them on newspaper after reading new chicks would eat the wood shavings. I currently have them in a 4'x4' pen with wood shavings, the EcoGlow, and a heat lamp. They have free access to fresh water (chicken water with marbles) that is at the right height for them and I am feeding them Purina Startena which is a 30% gamebird chick feed I got locally. They seem to be happily running around with lots of energy and eating and drinking well. What I can't figure out is why they keep dying.
I am aware of the biosecurity issues and these are the only birds I have. When I pick one up they are really lively. They don't huddle much (not cold) and run under the heat lamp at will. They are all about a week old (give or take a little) right now.
Do I need to spike the water with sugar or some electrolytes?
Am I doing something wrong?
Or, did I just get bad eggs from a hobby breeder that didn't know what the heck they were doing. Oh, did I mention some of them are A&M Whites too?
At this point, I'm looking for guidance on whether I should just grow these guys out and eat them or, keep them to lay eggs and raise more little ones. I'm assuming at this point I have inbred birds with bad genetics and need to write them off as "a lesson learned" but, I also want to make sure I'm not missing something basic and causing these problems myself.
I am in East Texas between Lindale, Mount Pleasant, and Sulphur Springs which is about 90 minutes from the East side of Dallas. Are there any reputable breeders out here if I start over? If not, where are the good online sources for eggs or chicks that are good LARGE JAPANESE quail?
TIA,
Sid
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