!!!Help Needed Please!!! - I would like to start something NEW :) TPP

[Mrs MIA]

Angi_H here on BYC sent me 132 jumbo coturnix eggs. 112 went into the hatchers, and I am VERY happy with the hatch so far... they're pipping and popping like popcorn!!! She doesn't check in here very often, though... I have her email if your interested in contacting her.

Oh, the choices, eh?

 

[TommyVT05]

Thanks for all the info everyone.

Got back from his place about 2 hours ago. Its a nice place...like a $4 million dollar home up in the hills (explains the high cost) versus broke college bird lovers like me. Haha

Anyhow, I thought his "breeding" cages are better. Its actually a 15feet by 15 feet avaiary with 4 types of breeds running around. He even told me they sometimes cross each other so I dunno about the purity on these things. Besides there are 500 of them in a cage that size and eggs are on the ground like rocks...I dunno...

Should I get them for these prices...

$3 for week olds

$7 for 2 month olds

$25 for year olds

Eggs are $1 each...

He said he got a hatchery up in his house with 700 eggs being incubated right now but wow! With a flock that large...I can't understand why the prices are still so up there...you know? All and all...these are just...quails...and Bobwhites for that matter...ones people go hunting for. Lol

As for the broodyness...some are and some aren't (explain by how some of the eggs are just all over like rocks). Only about 10 nest are around the whole avairy while others are just all over. With that being the cage...will these offsprings be broody?

I might go with eBay for the eggs...however, those who raised chicks from eBay...are they of good quality...broody, and wild?

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

- Tommy

 

[Mrs MIA]

My understanding is that they only live a few years... I'd get the month old birds, since they're close to laying age already, but still young. I can't see spending $25 for birds that are almost past their prime...

 

[gamebirdsonly]

As far as Bobwhites I've never had any go broody on me but I have had gambels go broody in a small pen like you mentioned before.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

It sounds like this guy thinks his birds are made of gold. Like you said, they are commonly used for hunting and you know that the hunting clubs don't pay those prices for them.

I would go with Ebay eggs and save you some money. They grow pretty quick. My Coturnix are only a couple days old and they have probably doubled in size already.

Also, the breeder mentioned that they sometimes cross. So your paying top dollar for something that may not even be completly what you wanted. You know what I'm saying? I mean any resulting crosses would be interesting for sure, but your paying top dollar for Bobwhite quail and not a mix.

Just my opinion. Good luck with your new project!

-Kim

 

[Ace_king_brahma]

That's too expensive to me. I have some quaility quail that I got for about 20 cents an egg. My California Valleys were close to a dollar a piece and that was my most expensive quail.

 

[bwhite28]

bobwhite quial eggs are not worth a dollar a piece. They should only cost about a quater an egg if that. The problem with 2 month old birds is they are only 8 weeks old and they don't mature until they are 16 weeks. The reason i say that is you won't be able to tell if they are male or female unless you vent sex them or have someone vent sex them. This should be done by a pro to make sure you can get the pair or trio you want. Thats something to take into consideration.

 

[Mrs MIA]

The guy lives in a $4M home... he has to pay for it somehow!!!

ok... j/k... but yeah, that's a little excessive. The coturnix I got came to $0.15/egg for 100. Actually, $0.11/egg, since she sent 132.

So, bwhite28...Bobwhites aren't like the coturnix where you can sex them at 3 weeks by their plumage, huh?

I have 4 babies, and wonder what I have, and if I should keep them. Can they eventually be integrated back into the pen with the parent pair, or would it be best to keep them separate?

 

[TommyVT05]

Yeah...

Its pretty lame that this is the only Bobwhite breeder in San Diego. He is monopolizing it!

He told me..."This is my hobby"...yet...as I ask him more to "reveal" his real purpose, I got him to tell me the he has a hatchery up in his $$$ (bling-bling) house with like 700 eggs being incubated and 500+ chicks. I didn't know selling large amounts of chicks like that at those prices could be a hobby. IMAO

WOW! Some hobby isn't it!

I am so evil.

Should I order 1000 eggs, hatch them out, and sell them for just $1-$2 each just to piss him off? Haha

Just kidding, thats too mean and not worth my time.

I will go ahead and order 20 eggs online. 20 or 30. It will cost me like $10-$12 total.

STILL...I AM MOSTLY CONCERNED ABOUT 1 THING : )
Will eBay Bobwhites go broody or are all those just bred for one thing...lay lots and lots of eggs to sell?

- Tommy

 

[TommyVT05]

Oh...

I forgot to add...there is something funny I thought about the conversation that I would like to share. He actually told me "The eggs 'communicate' when their mom sits on them after all the eggs are laid so that they know who will hatch out first and all will establish the pecking order before they hatch and that is why they all hatch in the same day, just different times".

I was like..."Wow! Really? Interesting...(with a shocked looked and a little grin)"...and never said a word even though me, you, and the rest of us know that is WRONG WRONG WRONG!

I was gonna tell him what really happens but since he just continued on and talk like he is pro at it...I just let him do his "thang" and didn't even bother...

- Tommy