How to breed Japanese Quail

[animal8]

I was interested in at some point breeding quail (only very small clutches). I have found an incubator that might be suitable to do the job. It's got automatic turning, temperature and humidity control and has a setting specific for quail (so it times the length of the inubation and turns off egg turning automatically 2 days before hatch day). It also only holds 7 eggs, which I thought would be perfect for me as I'm not prepared to be able to keep a whole load of quail at the same time and it also cuts the price down because it's so small. Would this be ideal?

I was wondering about what would be suitable for a brooder, though. I did think about buying a glass tank that would be suitable for all the birds once fully grown and divde off a section with a piece of cardboard for them to stay in while they're younger. I would have shaving as bedding, but cover it with that cheap dishcloth stuff for the first week and I'd have a brooder lamp for heat. Does anyone know the temperature that the brooder should be at? I know you can just how hot or cold it is based on where the chicks choose to huddle, but I wanted to know if there was a set figure. As they grew older, I would get some netting to cover the top to stop them jumping out. Do you think this would be possible? The other thing I was thinking about was to just have a cardboard box with the dishcloth in the bottom and the brooder lamp above this. Would this be a better set up? Then when the birds are big enough I could transfer them into a suitable cage.

What would you suggest for food? I know a lot of people use Game bird starter, but I haven't had any luck finding any suppliers that I can get ahold of some from. Would it be okay to use Chicken Starter and progress to Chicken Grower? I know quails need higher levels of protein than chickens, but could I supply this additional protein in the form of meal worms and crumbled up boiled egg?

 

[JJMR794]

Animal8 There's A Sticky Here In The Top Of The Forum Section That C Overs Coturnix Quail Very Very Well... For Brooders I Use The Large Plastic "totes" Which Work Well, Are Readily Available Here In Many Stores, Are About As Inexpensive As You Can Get, And Readily Reuseable.

Oh And If You're Getting A Bator, I Recommend Getting A Decent Size Bator As These Lil Guys Are As Addictive As Drugs And You;ll Just End Up Needing 1 Thats Larger Anyways.... Might As Well Cut To The Chase And Be Done With It

 

[JJMR794]

SORRY FORGOT...

OXFORD? AS IN JOLLY OLE ENGLAND OXFORD? WE'VE SEEN A FEW FOLKS FROM THE UK ON HERE AND A FEW OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD THAT DONT SEEM TO BE ABLE TO GET GBS. UNMEDICATED CHICKEN STARTER + ADDED SOYBEAN MEAL IN A RATIO THAT GETS YOUR PROTIEN CONTENT UP TO SOMEWHERE AROUND 28-30%... TURKEY STARTER IS OFTEN THE CLOSEST READY MADE SUITABLE SUBSTITUTE HERE IN THE STATES, BUT I AM UNSURE WHAT FORMULA YOUR'S THERE IN ENGLAND WILL HAVE

 

[Czech's_chicks]

Quote:
Couldn't agree more.

I was telling my son, this morning, that I can't wait till my silkies start sitting so they can do my hatches andwe can have a continuous run of quail so we can start eating them...he says...YOU EAT THEM????

YEP! In order of meat preferences, it's quail, silkie, turkey, muscovy, then regular chickens!

 

[animal8]

Maybe you would be right about the larger bator...I could totally see myself getting addicted to breeding these little guys. I suppose I'll just have to see how I feel about it after I've had my first lot of quail

Can anyone post pictures of the setups they have? Brooders, bators, housing etc?

How would you measure out the ratios for the feed? Is there anything else anyone would recommend for raising baby quail?

 

[saddina]

Czech's_chicks :

Quote:
Couldn't agree more.

I was telling my son, this morning, that I can't wait till my silkies start sitting so they can do my hatches andwe can have a continuous run of quail so we can start eating them...he says...YOU EAT THEM????

YEP! In order of meat preferences, it's quail, silkie, turkey, muscovy, then regular chickens!

I've eaten quite a bit of silkie while in Asia for work back in the 90's, when it's silkie or monkey, i'll have the silkies.​

 

[7L Farm]

I use the Brinsea 40 DX. Its pricey but does the job extremly well. It can hatch a 120 quail at a time. I've only had it for less than a year & it's paid for itself already.

 

[animal8]

Quote:
I think I would want something smaller than that as I mainly want to keep quail as pets rather than for use as produce (eggs or meat), so I think it would take a long time for me to get my money's worth from a really expensive bator. The one I found is about £94.99 (which granted is quite expensive, but cheaper than some I have found). It only holds seven quail eggs, but I think that would be enough to fullfill my needs to begin with (at least until I have enough confidence to start breeding on a larger scale), it has full humidity and temperature control, though I will be getting one of those reptile thermometre/hydrometre things, has an inbuilt fan and automatic turner with an auto stop two days prior to hatching (I think you set the length of the incubation period at the beginning).

So, fairy pricey, but nicely sized and covers pretty much all the bases for the incubation period. Do you think this would be ideal?

 

[saddina]

Assumming you're talking about the brinsea mini advance, I use the brinsea 20, which has an eco model that'll come to the same $$, holds 60 quail eggs (I usually do 20-30 at a time) the main advantage is if you get eggs shipped in, the post can wreck havoc on eggs, that still look fine. it's less of a disappointmet to order twice as many eggs knowing 1/2 may hatch than it is ordering the 7 the incubator can hold, and gettingno chicks, or worse a single chick that is lonely and peeping it's head off. For turning, I have min in the kitchen, you just shift the whole thing over a smidge, so when I go in for tea or to make a meal I rock to the next notch then, takes 3 seconds and no real work.

 

[FenDruadin]

I've been extremely satisfied with my Hovabator circulated air incubator. Holds temps extremely well despite fluctuations in the surrounding area, and for just over a hundred dollars you get a set-up that can hold 180 quail eggs and turn them automatically. You have to do humidity manually, and take them out of the turner at hatch time, but it's a great price point for hatching that many eggs, and mine has never let me down.