- Thread starter
- #11
Kahlertm, brought up a good discussing factor that I've seen in other post too, but we can talk about it again....hope those folks come over here and throw some input too.
What are all the uses for your quail and even by-products? Here on our little farm we try to live and grow everything as naturally as possible. In doing that there have been some creative ways in recycling and hope to have has little waste as possible. Some these techniques will work on your small farm or even in urban settings as well where cots are allowed.
Let's start with an egg, or a hundred, you put in the incubator and wait 17 days and all of a sudden you have popcorn! I mean little fuzzies running around everywhere.
What do you do with all the egg shells and dude eggs? Ours go into the compost.
Currently, I brood the first week in a back room in the house, then to the outside brooder. I do this for several reasons but mainly it's easier to watch for any heat fluctuations and general health of the chicks...I don't mess them...hands off approach, they are "babies" and over sensory to the chicks can cause undue stress and even death. But what kind of bedding? I use equine pine pellets for all my chicks for several reasons:
1) They do absorb more, both odor and moisture. A big cause of death is the bedding gets wet or saturated and that cause the chicks to get damp and they will get the chills...and die.
2) Quail Lady says they smell good too. When you raise cots for the first time you will soon discover they stink and you don't want that. Regardless is you have 3 or you have a 100 chicks...cleanliness is a must.
3) "Splay leg" is caused from having a surface too slick for the chicks to properly get a footing and they damage/hurt their hardening skeletal structure. With pellets, it gives them a firm, yet good footing under them. I can literally count on 4 fingers how many chicks I've had that had "splay leg", and it was due to a birth defect or how it was situated in the egg prior to hatch.
4) What do you do with the bedding after it is soiled? Pine pellets break down very easily and quickly, so right into the compost! Flakes take years to break down properly to create good usable dirt. Plus the absorbency level for quail poop is nil to none.
(I could do whole thing on compost alone, but since this is quail talk, something to look into for healthy fruitful gardens and a way to not fill your trash can)
Coming up, "7 weeks later and what do I do with my adult birds?"
What are all the uses for your quail and even by-products? Here on our little farm we try to live and grow everything as naturally as possible. In doing that there have been some creative ways in recycling and hope to have has little waste as possible. Some these techniques will work on your small farm or even in urban settings as well where cots are allowed.
Let's start with an egg, or a hundred, you put in the incubator and wait 17 days and all of a sudden you have popcorn! I mean little fuzzies running around everywhere.
What do you do with all the egg shells and dude eggs? Ours go into the compost.
Currently, I brood the first week in a back room in the house, then to the outside brooder. I do this for several reasons but mainly it's easier to watch for any heat fluctuations and general health of the chicks...I don't mess them...hands off approach, they are "babies" and over sensory to the chicks can cause undue stress and even death. But what kind of bedding? I use equine pine pellets for all my chicks for several reasons:
1) They do absorb more, both odor and moisture. A big cause of death is the bedding gets wet or saturated and that cause the chicks to get damp and they will get the chills...and die.
2) Quail Lady says they smell good too. When you raise cots for the first time you will soon discover they stink and you don't want that. Regardless is you have 3 or you have a 100 chicks...cleanliness is a must.
3) "Splay leg" is caused from having a surface too slick for the chicks to properly get a footing and they damage/hurt their hardening skeletal structure. With pellets, it gives them a firm, yet good footing under them. I can literally count on 4 fingers how many chicks I've had that had "splay leg", and it was due to a birth defect or how it was situated in the egg prior to hatch.
4) What do you do with the bedding after it is soiled? Pine pellets break down very easily and quickly, so right into the compost! Flakes take years to break down properly to create good usable dirt. Plus the absorbency level for quail poop is nil to none.
(I could do whole thing on compost alone, but since this is quail talk, something to look into for healthy fruitful gardens and a way to not fill your trash can)
Coming up, "7 weeks later and what do I do with my adult birds?"