I got a box from alaska - quail

[MissPrissy]

53?? Is there some cheap land I can buy and be your neighbor?

 

[BirdBrain]

Nothing is cheap in Alaska.

 

[MissPrissy]

Over night activity -

1 baby hatched and managed to get its head under the hardware cloth bottom and drown in the water tray.

1 pipped and died in the night.

1 golden hatched but with severe cross beak and one eye

I am going to candle the few eggs left and if I don't see movement I am going to end the hatch today.

Clean the bator and get ready for my orps to hatch.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Oh MissP. What a bad night.

I'm so sorry you had to wake up to things going so badly. Here's to a better start to your morning!

 

[MissPrissy]

It was very disappointing but very normal too.

Thank you, Stacey. I hate when these things happen. I try to shake it off and move on quickly.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
That is one thing I learned very quickly when I started hatching and raising my own flock. Things do happen, however unpleasant they are, and all you can do is shake them off, move on quickly, and try not to look back to much! It's Friday, so things are bound to get better!

 

[gumpsgirl]

I forgot that I wanted to ask you some questions about the quail. Do you process them yourself or have someone else do them? I'm trying to figure out this whole quail thing. I really think that they are going to be on my list for next spring! Do they lay year round or seasonally? I just want to make sure that I get some next spring! I also want to make sure that I understood you correctly when you said that they are ready to eat in 8 weeks. Is that right?

 

[MissPrissy]

Tori, said they lay from april to october.

You will want to process these yourself. It is no different than my dh going hunting and bring in his limit. We skin them quick and easy.

I am told the jumbo coturnix should weight about 13 - 15 ounces each. Perfect for a 1 person serving size.

 

[gumpsgirl]

So am I wanting to hatch the jumbo coturnix then?

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Actually, there's quite a bit of land available on the Peninsula, and if I had extra cash right now I'd be buying it. Things are a little more expensive because they have to be trucked/flown up, similar to Hawaii in a lot of respects, but there are a lot more people of the self-sufficient mentality here, too.

I think we've only broken 65°F about 5-6 times this summer. We're on par for being a record summer for low temps. Of course, the downside is the fact that the winters are as long as the summer nights... long and cold. Makes you appreciate the summer a lot more, for sure!

I've been told that the normal breeding season for the Coturnix is April to October, typically, but that it can be extended with artificial light just like the chickens. They CAN lay year round, but it's best to give them some time off. The size of the egg compared to the bird is like a chicken laying a very large goose egg... it takes a toll on the female so you want to feed a higher protein diet and make sure they have lots of calcium sources and fresh fruits/greens and seeds available.

There are a lot of good websites out there that talk about raising the quail if you do a google/yahoo search for "coturnix quail".

It saddens me to hear about your hatch last night, Miss P... I'm sorry. :aww They're not always the brightest bulb in the box. I had a coturnix hatch from my first batch that was blind - his head was misshapen, and resembled a salmon-head carcass. I called him Igor until I realized that he just wasn't going to be able to survive... he was a sweetie, but so sad. But it sounds like you have plenty of quail to start with for now... 5-6 weeks you'll start seeing eggs, and I KNOW there will be another hatch! LOL!