I am gathering up what will probably be my last bunch of quail eggs for the year. After rearranging some cages, I had production stop and figured that we were done with laying season. However, some of my Jumbo Bobs have started again. So as I have begin collecting them I am thinking back over this summers hatches.
Most were typical with a good hatch rate and about usual number of loss. However, I did loose two entire batches to heat this year. Mind you we have been over 100 for most of the last couple of months.
That brings me to two of my last hatches that I really did everything wrong on. It has made me really question how much trouble we go through to hatch our quail. You see, I have been traveling every weekend hauling my two daughters as they compete for Championships in the cutting world. So needless to say life has been nuts. Well, one hatch we put in and I just brain farted and forgot to mark the date as to when to stop turning and up the humidity. Well, they didn't seem to mind and we hatched out 45 of 50 with 25% humidity and the turner still going. Yup, poor babies had an obsticle course going by the time I heard their peeps and turned off the turner. However, none were hurt and all full of it when it came time to remove them from the incubator. Gosh those things are quick! Well, then the hatch after that I put in and watched more closely the calendar. Well, come time to up the humidity and I realized that the turner was never plugged in. So the entire time was sitting in one spot. I was headed out for a 3 day weekend show and upped the humidity before leaving and stuck them all in a carton. When we returned we had about another 90% hatch rate and the humidity had bottomed out.
So that makes me wonder, at least for quail, how accurate do you have to really be? It seems that these buggers are going to hatch more so from temp than from the perfect or ideal conditions. Maybe that is natures way of making this species survive? Mind you all of these are Bobwhite quail.
Just some interesting hatches to ponder from someone who really needs a break from hauling kids and horses.
Most were typical with a good hatch rate and about usual number of loss. However, I did loose two entire batches to heat this year. Mind you we have been over 100 for most of the last couple of months.
That brings me to two of my last hatches that I really did everything wrong on. It has made me really question how much trouble we go through to hatch our quail. You see, I have been traveling every weekend hauling my two daughters as they compete for Championships in the cutting world. So needless to say life has been nuts. Well, one hatch we put in and I just brain farted and forgot to mark the date as to when to stop turning and up the humidity. Well, they didn't seem to mind and we hatched out 45 of 50 with 25% humidity and the turner still going. Yup, poor babies had an obsticle course going by the time I heard their peeps and turned off the turner. However, none were hurt and all full of it when it came time to remove them from the incubator. Gosh those things are quick! Well, then the hatch after that I put in and watched more closely the calendar. Well, come time to up the humidity and I realized that the turner was never plugged in. So the entire time was sitting in one spot. I was headed out for a 3 day weekend show and upped the humidity before leaving and stuck them all in a carton. When we returned we had about another 90% hatch rate and the humidity had bottomed out.
So that makes me wonder, at least for quail, how accurate do you have to really be? It seems that these buggers are going to hatch more so from temp than from the perfect or ideal conditions. Maybe that is natures way of making this species survive? Mind you all of these are Bobwhite quail.
Just some interesting hatches to ponder from someone who really needs a break from hauling kids and horses.
