Help talk me into quail (for meat)

[DemeterAD9]

Little progress through the night. 5 pips now and one seems to be trying to zip. Blue one has not yet pipped unless it’s on the other side.

 

[DemeterAD9]

First one to hatch! It zipped and popped out in short manner as I didn’t even see the zipping on this one.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Was getting ready for bed and this one appeared when I was done. Appears to be all yellow down which is interesting.

I might move the chicks into a separate bowl so they don’t disturb the other eggs too much.

 

[DemeterAD9]

I’ll have to be content with 5 chicks. 3 hatched on their own and the 2 that pipped at the wrong end need a little help so of course I gave them a hand, just enough so they can kick themselves out. They all seem pretty normal so far but I’ll leave them all in the incubator till the last one dries off.

It looks like the blue egg died some days ago. Tiny feet and lots of yolk.

And some of the shells, you can see which one I had to help.

Baby photos is a few hours, when I move them to the brooder. I think 2 were blonde and the other 3 were the expected brown stripes color.

 

[Nabiki]

If the yellow ones don't develop any markings, they will be white.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Put them all in a clean bowl inside the incubator with a bit of food before I went to work. They certainly went to town on it while I was gone. The last to hatch looked to have one foot with curled toes but I think they are straighter now than they were.

When I got home they all went into the brooder and figured out the water/food and brooder plate faster than I’ve ever seen chicks do it before. They must have amazing survival instincts compared to the average chicken chick.

Curious to see how they feather out. I was under the impression these were average jumbo coturnix quail with little to no color variations. But I won't complain as it makes telling them apart so much easier. Surely they can't all be one gender right? Guess I'll know in ~2 months.

 

[Nabiki]

I would be careful of using paper towels as bedding. I can't see how much texture they have, but if they're too smooth your chicks can end up with leg injuries. I recommend grippy shelf liner for their first couple days, then over to bedding (I use pine shavings, but there are plenty of good options).

 

[DemeterAD9]

I would be careful of using paper towels as bedding. I can't see how much texture they have, but if they're too smooth your chicks can end up with leg injuries. I recommend grippy shelf liner for their first couple days, then over to bedding (I use pine shavings, but there are plenty of good options).

I’ve got pine pellet bedding I’m switching them over to soon. The paper towels were just to help them find the food more easily but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. As for texture, they didn’t seem to have a problem zooming around on it so it must be okay for them to grip. I do the same when hatching chickens, at least for the first few days.