Incubating quail eggs for the first time : )

[teradragon]

Yikes! Hahah.

 

[layinfram]

I bought a 5lb bag of Manna Pro Gamebird/Showbird 24% protein. Is this going to be enough for them?? I've read different things that say 24-28% protein but just want to make sure. I don't want my little babies dying bc of me giving them the wrong food. The bag says its a starter/grower feed for quail but so does the 20% protein dumor chick feed......

I feed mine the dumor chick starter from tractor supply cause its easier to get ahold of. I havnt had a problem with it. Ive looked for turkey or broiler feed and cant find it non medicated in my area. Congrats on your new babies!

 

[LindsayB]

Lost my first bird to a predator last night...sucks...I had my 4 week olds in the hutch on our patio for the first time yesterday and woke up to feathers and a body stuck the bars...I feel awful BC I should of put the hardware cloth up yesterday on the front bars. I was planning on it today.... err....we think its a tom cat. When we have our garage open there's always a big cat that sneaks in and watches our chicks in the brooder. We're constantly chasing him away. My husband is setting a trap tonight with the body inside to see who the culprit is.

The cage is right beside our back door...I thought they would fine for a night

And here's the bird. : ( sorry. He had his leg and wing ripped off....

 

[dc3085]

Lost my first bird to a predator last night...sucks...I had my 4 week olds in the hutch on our patio for the first time yesterday and woke up to feathers and a body stuck the bars...I feel awful BC I should of put the hardware cloth up yesterday on the front bars. I was planning on it today.... err....we think its a tom cat. When we have our garage open there's always a big cat that sneaks in and watches our chicks in the brooder. We're constantly chasing him away. My husband is setting a trap tonight with the body inside to see who the culprit is.


The cage is right beside our back door...I thought they would fine for a night

And here's the bird. : ( sorry. He had his leg and wing ripped off....

Racoons, owls, skunks, opossums, cats, and minks/weasels/marten are the most common killers. I'd say you are probably right about it being a cat. House cats usually don't finish what they kill and most wild predators would have just pulled it out of the cage through the wire and eaten all of it or carried it off.

 

[dc3085]

Lost my first bird to a predator last night...sucks...I had my 4 week olds in the hutch on our patio for the first time yesterday and woke up to feathers and a body stuck the bars...I feel awful BC I should of put the hardware cloth up yesterday on the front bars. I was planning on it today.... err....we think its a tom cat. When we have our garage open there's always a big cat that sneaks in and watches our chicks in the brooder. We're constantly chasing him away. My husband is setting a trap tonight with the body inside to see who the culprit is.


The cage is right beside our back door...I thought they would fine for a night

And here's the bird. : ( sorry. He had his leg and wing ripped off....

Looks like you aren't the only one who lost one last night.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/857629/predator

 

[LindsayB]

I have 3 of my 5 big ones crowing now. Its not as loud as a thought it would be. How do I pick the best male?

 

[teradragon]

I chose the biggest... wasn't hard because I only had 2. He's the smallest now out the the 4 I have kept.

 

[LindsayB]

I sat outside and watched them..I think I only have one female now. Lol oh boy....at least I have 8 more in the brooder, hopefully some if those are girls!! More for the freezer I guess.

 

[teradragon]

Well at one point I thought I had 5 boys out of 8 but I only had 2. I had to separate mine off from each other then use vent sexing at 7 weeks. You grab hold of one, look at their vent, if it is swollen and when you press around it white stuff comes out, you have yourself a boy.


Lady quail - normal vent... Boy quail - swollen vent (no white stuff left ;-) )

 

[LindsayB]

Thanks for the pics! That will help me a lot. Did your males attack only the other males or males and females? I have 3 confirmed Crowers and one of them is chasing everyone around in the cage. When they too close to him he pecks them on the head and chases them.....not cool.