I set my first set of quail eggs on wednesday.

[conny63malies]

I set 37 or so XLD1 eggs on wedsday. I treat them so far just like chicken eggs incubating wise. I will turning at end of day 14, is that all right?
I was hoping to raise them for eggs and meat in addition to the chickens.What sex ratio should i use? And whats cage size. can i use big enough rabbit cages, like i would buy at petsmart.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quail eggs like a little higher humidity than chickens... ~ 60% for the first 14 days, then bump it into the low 80% for the last two days.

One bit of advice, take it or leave it, but I made the mistake of thinking a couple of my quail were stuck and helped them out... they need the exercise of pushing out of the egg to get their legs moving properly. The feet of the ones that I helped never fully uncurled, and one of the quail actually died. Just let them do their thing, and try to keep the incubator closed as much as possible when they're hatching.

If you're going to raise more, I've read that one male to every 3 females is a good ratio for fertility, though some people like to do 1:1 or 1:2 - depends on how many you get. I had a hatch of 35 chicks, and they were fine in a small aquarium for the first week. Then they moved to a 1x3' cage... at week 3 I had to split them between 2 cages. I sold 26 of them, and I now have 7 in one cage and 6 in another, each with a couple of males.

Good luck with your hatch... I will tell you that this breed has won my heart... they are the sweetest chicks, and are very personable. Don't go naming them, or you won't be able to eat them!!

 

[conny63malies]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Good luck with your hatch... I will tell you that this breed has won my heart... they are the sweetest chicks, and are very personable. Don't go naming them, or you won't be able to eat them!!

Never had problems with that naming thingy. I grew up on a ranch in germany. Slaughtering was a part of life for me. the cute little pigs that i used to pet got big and were turned into food. And breeding my own snake food did the same thing.​