January 1, 2011 Quail Hatch Along

[Madcap621]

Quote:
NoNoNoNo.....JJ!!!! QUAIL!!

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
NoNoNoNo.....JJ!!!! QUAIL!!

LOL

LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN... EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT SPOILED BIRDS, YOU HAVENT SEEN SPOILED TIL YA GO TO PEEWEE'S HOUSE. I HAVE SOME OF HER GOLDEN PHEASANT JUVI'S AND NOT ONLY CAN YOU WALK RIGHT OVER TO THEM AND PICK 'EM UP, BUT THEY WILL COME TO YOU AND HOP IN YOUR LAP--- PHEASANTS.... NOW THATS SPOILED!

 

[JJMR794]

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THEM NEW MATCHING WHITES WILL BE LAYING BY THEN.... YOU'LL CAVE IN LIKE A CHEAP TENT IN A WIND STORM

THE POSSIBILITIES WILL EAT YOU ALIVE

AND YOU'LL HAVE TO SET SOME EGGS JUST TO SEE...

 

[peewee]

JJ, you really did not need to tell me that.

I have been having visions of grandeur ever since you dropped off those babies. I am trying to convince myself that I actually like living in the house when it is cold outside and that I really do not want to have to live outside with the birds.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

That's it JJMR keep em thinking. First thing you know the southerners will hatch just to show the northerners what they are missing. Have to make sure they don't forget what baby fuzzy's look like over the winter. Need to remind them what they are plotting and planning for (Shelleyd).

Besides, everyone knows well and good once you get the bators temperature's set and everything is all calibrated and everything works smoothly, well you have to keep them that way by hatching.
If you put them up for the winter you have to start all over again. It took awhile but I finally learned that lesson.
Think of the possiblities that could hatch in the normal off season. I have 2 week olds out there and I feel quilty cause I have a bator waiting on eggs.

 

[Madcap621]

Mine are over a week old and don' stink! WHAT am doing wrong!! Don't get me wrong! They ARE stinkers. They dumped a quart of feed into the litter! I gave them 4" of aspen shavings and they seem intent on digging to China! Are coturnix quail miners? Excavators?

WHEN do I graduate them to un-ground grower crumble? A 1/2" wire brooder instead of an aquarium/storage bin brooder to an outside pen?

I am on A quest to find the BEST layer/breeder feed I can find..................[recommendations please]. NOT going to show. raising for eggs and meat for my family.

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
THEM NEW MATCHING WHITES WILL BE LAYING BY THEN.... YOU'LL CAVE IN LIKE A CHEAP TENT IN A WIND STORM

THE POSSIBILITIES WILL EAT YOU ALIVE

AND YOU'LL HAVE TO SET SOME EGGS JUST TO SEE...

ROFL At least I'm safe from this temptation! My new babies won't be laying in time for me to match any of them up to breed for this experiment.

However, I'll have to beware. otherwise, I'll end up ordering 6 whites to hatch. I'd have ordered them this time, but knew I wouldn't have even more incubator space!

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

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How many you hatch is going to raise the level of the stink. And just how you brood them. I like the shavings but can't deal with the dust. So I have learned to put the rubber liners over it to keep the level of dust and smell down. And change the liners often. Makes a big difference. Big time.

I have a grain grinder so I just adjust the size of the grind up a notch every few days to ease them into larger size. At about a week mine are on regular size feed. Depends on how much I am paying attention to the changing of the size. Most people say 1 week, so give them the reg with a little ground on top to let them adjust to the regular size.

I only keep them in the house 5-10 days, (though this small hatch will stay for 2 weeks). Depends on how you are set up. I have 2.5 week olds in an outside brooder on 1/4 " wire. That should go to 1/2" wire now. (eating more - poo getting bigger). But they have 2 100W lights for heat.
If they have enough heat they can go out now. If not, then you have to wait until they are feathered out at about week 4. Its also going to depend on your weather there. It's in the 40's at night here and my brooder goes down to 76 at night, and they are fine with that. But that won't work for 1 - 2 week olds. Coarse you could put their brooder in the garage if you have one. Need to waite until they are completely feathered for open pens.

Edited guess I should clarify. down to 76 at night - actually drops down for minutes early morning then starts rising. It doesn't stay there all night, my babies wouldnt be able to handle that at their age.

 

[Madcap621]

Quote:

GREAT info -- thanks for the reply. This means I can mix what I have ground w/'straight from the bag' next feeder fill. They will be 2 weeks old then. AND will put a 1/4" wire floor in the guinea pig cage and get them used to that. Will just put a layer of shavings and DE in the tray for droppings.

When I speak of 'going outside', I mean to a glassed-in porch. It CAN get cold out there but I put infra-red heat lamps plugged into a thermacube [so that they come on at 36* and stay on until 40*] over each brooder/grow-out pen. Chicks under 6 weeks also get a light bulb for heat. They won't go to the GREAT OUT-DOORS until spring.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

Madcap it sounds good. Just watch their temp don't drop it to fast. Let them adjust. My babies inside I am constantly dropping the temp, they are down to close to 80* by the time they go outside. (I brood at much lower temp than most people do. I am tallking now in cool weather). Then they still get heat adjusted so it doesn't drop much farther at night. As they cool they feather faster. So start cooling them down.

There is an interesting thread on the chicken section I think it is Mrs AK Bird... from Alaska on not having to insulate chicken coop and she talked about doing a test with the Coturnix quail. She found the same thing I do with chicken chicks. They feather faster with a little cooler temp. But you have to be careful.

Once they are feathered, don't worry about them. Mine are in open cages behind the garage, but I am in Southern Texas. Then it is just a matter of keeping the wind and rain and snow off them. They handle the cold better than the heat and humidity. Summer time is my big worry.