Incubators Anonymous

[ozexpat]

Looks like for the coturnix on ebay eggs seem to be going for about 60 for $40 (with shipping) does that sounds about right???
That's the only I see besides some rarer more ornamental looking ones...


Actually just saw one person selling 120 for $40 with shipping... Says it's the same... jumbo brown coturnix.
I don't know that that many would fit in my incubator.... I don't have one of those huge fridge looking ones like you guys!!!

B&D Farm sells 50 XLD1 Jumbo for $30 including shipping and 75 for $42

http://bdfarm.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_7&products_id=67

Thats a good start. The XLD1 is a very decent size bird.

 

[chiqita]

I was going to go down that path but getting egg color set to breed true is way too involved. I gave that idea up. I doubt they would ever be a BREED really but I guess there could be with lots and lots of work. Everyone wants a different look in their olive eggers.....me I would just want nice olive eggs like yours!

I'm waiting for the gene test for hero blue egg genes. Should be soonish . At that point it will be much easier to pick birds that will breed true.

Black Copper Marans was the roo and I believe that several different color Ameraucana hens were used. I was not so specifically talking of using this guy if I decide to participate in forming a breed. The idea that I like best involves using the Maran/Am cross and breeding to  Cream Legbars to get the autosexing. Breed for the autosexing, large eggs of deep color, and decent table quality. Challenging to have 3 goals? Yes. To much for most single breeders (we can't all be R.C. Punnett ). But as a group who support each others efforts and can pick up the torch from someone else should they quit breeding for some reason or another, yes, it is doable.   It might take five years or ten. But I am looking at this as a production bird more than a show bird. The only reason to add the color requirement is that it can be made autosexing. Some favor just using the Rhodebar instead of the Maran to cross with the AM, but that won't give you that deep olive shade. It will be a nice green to a light olive. Of course you want to hang on to the winter laying qualities and the blue gene to keep the olive color. It might even be beneficial to use an occasional Rhodebar but I think the Cream Legbar brings more to the table.

Cl/Penscadaras (sp) are auto seeing olive eggers. They were autosexing ft have a friend that breeds them. We call them Amelia after the first pullet.

Looks like for the coturnix on ebay eggs seem to be going for about 60 for $40 (with shipping) does that sounds about right???
That's the only I see besides some rarer more ornamental looking ones...


Actually just saw one person selling 120 for $40 with shipping...  Says it's the same... jumbo brown coturnix.
I don't know that that many would fit in my incubator.... I don't have one of those huge fridge looking ones like you guys!!!

If you are thinking about it get James Marie quail. They are fantastic and he will do smaller numbers if you want less. Great guy and the eggs are HUGE. I've gotten double youlkers 25 from a quail egg!

 

[Penny Hen]

I am seriously considering ordering some quail now!!!

I was vegetarian for years and years but once I had kids I had to get meat for them and started eating it again as well.
We've done our own meat chickens once so far. I understand why it's so important and I would much rather do it that way than through these disgusting factory farm chemical coated meats the grocery stores are selling.
BUT I can't kill anything!
I have to close all the windows, send my husband to do it alone, and once they're gutted and skinned (he doesn't want to pluck so since he does all the work, I let him skin them!) then I will wash them, break them down into pieces or debone and vacuum seal and freeze.
He unexpectedly deployed with the Army so we have 5 broad breasted white turkeys out there way over due for freezer camp! Eating $25/week in food and pooping everywhere! As soon as he gets home they are the first to go, but since they are so huge I know I will have to help with this one!

So quail are ready to eat around the same time frame as broilers (with obviously less meat)?
What is the age of laying?
Can I incubate them just like chicken eggs?

Sorry to sound so ignorant on all of this, most of it is new to me

Well it is possible that you might be able to find someone local who can butcher them in exchange for one of the turkeys. Craig's List in the Farm and Garden section is a good place to place a notice that you are looking for a trade like that. If you don't have killing cones they could make the task so much easier. They greatly reduce the stress on the birds.

As for the emotional part of killing them you need to watch the movie "Cold Mountain". It is a Civil War/Oddessy story. The part where the old woman kills the young goat to feed the injured soldier (played by Jude Law) is probably the most perfect example of how to approach killing your own animals that you need to eat.

 

[chiqita]

Quail are very easy to skin and gut. I can do the whole thing from bird to done in about 5 min each. All I use is a pair of scissors.

 

[Penny Hen]

I'm waiting for the gene test for hero blue egg genes. Should be soonish . At that point it will be much easier to pick birds that will breed true.
Cl/Penscadaras (sp) are auto seeing olive eggers. They were autosexing ft have a friend that breeds them. We call them Amelia after the first pullet.
If you are thinking about it get James Marie quail. They are fantastic and he will do smaller numbers if you want less. Great guy and the eggs are HUGE. I've gotten double youlkers 25 from a quail egg!

What is the Hero Blue Egg gene?

How do the Cl/Pens lay? size and frequency? I know the Cream Legbars tend to lay a smaller egg than the Ameraucana. What size do the Penscadars lay?

 

[chiqita]

What is the Hero Blue Egg gene?

How do the Cl/Pens lay? size and frequency? I know the Cream Legbars tend to lay a smaller egg than the Ameraucana. What size do the Penscadars lay?

Penny I meant to say 2 Blue Genes Instead of just the presence of a blue gene at all. My s4 is an incorrect auto correcting fiend.

Ask ron on the hatch a long to show you his Amelia eggs vs his fcbm/ee olive Egger eggs. He has a few Amelia and can give you an idea. His fcbm based girls are from me and his Amelia are from juststruttin.

 

[Penny Hen]

Penny I meant to say 2 Blue Genes Instead of just the presence of a blue gene at all. My s4 is an incorrect auto correcting fiend.

Ask ron on the hatch a long to show you his Amelia eggs vs his fcbm/ee olive Egger eggs. He has a few Amelia and can give you an idea. His fcbm based girls are from me and his Amelia are from juststruttin.

Thanks!

 

[DMRippy]

How do the Cl/Pens lay? size and frequency? I know the Cream Legbars tend to lay a smaller egg than the Ameraucana. What size do the Penscadars lay?

My CCL pullets lay big eggs. One girl lays jumbos and has from the start. They lay better and bigger than Ameraucanas for sure! EE might be a little different. They lay better than Ams and bigger than ams.... I dont think they lay bigger than my CCLs.

 

[Tammy N]

i set 140 quail and 180 chicken eggs 8 days ago.

the goal is 36 duck and 75 chicken christmas day.

hatchalong timings never work for me

OK so what ones are hatching the Ducks ? the Quail or the chicken eggs ? Winks

 

[Penny Hen]

My CCL pullets lay big eggs. One girl lays jumbos and has from the start. They lay better and bigger than Ameraucanas for sure! EE might be a little different. They lay better than Ams and bigger than ams.... I dont think they lay bigger than my CCLs.

Well good I guess that it was just an individual's birds that were laying smaller. Maybe they were pullets being compared to hens. A lot matters where you are wanting to raise your chickens. I was reading one person about 2 days ago a man on here who favors the Ameraucana blood because he is in the high desert of Colorado at 7,000 feet. He has developed his own olive egger out of about 4 breeds that give him a chicken that can live in that marginal place.

He did comment that eggs won't hatch at 7,000 feet. That was something I didn't know.