My first time ever incubating Quail eggs.

[Breezy Optimist]

@MyBabyDuck oh dear, i hope you haven't over candled them. I've done mine once and that's it it until lock down. I have to admit i would love to pick it up every day and see what's going on in there, but i have to resist that temptation haha!

@Bradley2990 Hi, welcome to my thread And i honestly have no idea why your Quail isn't laying eggs. I'm totally new to Quails and their eggs. I'm actually hatching ones from the supermarket, so again, sorry, no idea? Maybe there's others on here who can help?

 

[Bradley2990]

What is the best type of quail food?

 

[paneubert]

What is the best type of quail food?

Not trying to be rude, but you should start your own "thread" instead of asking questions in someone else's thread. You will get a lot more response that way as well!. What you are doing here is called "hijacking".

Also, read this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/102281/coturnix-quail-basics-information-and-pictures-galore

 

[Athaid]

Wow this is so interesting! I never knew you could hatch a chick from a shop bought egg.
I'm getting quail in the next few months, I live in the UK also. We're getting ours from a place called moonridge farm. They have a website if you're interested

 

[Breezy Optimist]

@Lsky Hi!

I bought mine from Morrisons lol!

It's the Clarence Court eggs. Not many genuine free range egg brands here in the UK, as you probably already know. The Happy Egg company were exposed on watchdog a while back, yet they are still labelling all their stuff as free range Awful.

But yeah, i know someone who managed to hatch an egg, so i thought i'd give it a go. This is my second box of 12 eggs, and i was soooooooo lucky to find one egg in the box that is actually fertile!

I'm so excited!

I candled the egg again today, and i can see the head and a foot in there, it's growing so fast!! I was going to wait until lock down day (next Tuesday/Wednesday) to do another candle of the egg, but i couldn't stop myself, so did a quick one today, and i was so happy

Fingers crossed this little guy hatches! I'm trying not to get my hopes up, as this is my very first time incubating any egg, so lots of room for things to go wrong because i'm so inexperienced. But it seems that so far i'm doing everything right, as i have a near enough fully developed chick in there, and he's alive and kicking haha!

Wish i had snapped a photo now, but i just wanted to get a quick look then put him straight back into the warm lol.

I've not heard of Moonridge farm before. Are you getting the eggs, or actual live Quails? Are you experienced with Quails at all? If so i'd love to get some pointers from you This will be my very first Quail (if it hatches and survives), so any info would be most welcome

I do have a brooder on standby lol, i'm pretty much set up for the first few "baby" weeks, then after that i'll be researching like crazy haha.

 

[Athaid]

http://moonridgefarm.co.uk/ We're getting three dozen quail eggs from them in August. It'll be the first time we've ever kept quail so I don't have many pointers unfortunately But I have been doing a lot of research on them.
Most of the people I see keeping quail keep them in small cages with wire floors, but I think that's cruel. We're building a large outdoor run for them, about 15 x 25 feet, and about 7 - 8 feet high. Maybe that's a little excessive, but you can't let them out to free range because they'll fly away, so I think it's only fair to give them a decent enclosure. But if you don't have a garden and/or you only have a couple of birds then I'm sure you could keep them inside, or in a much smaller run.

Also they only lay when they're getting 14 plus hours of daylight, and the only months in the UK with 14 plus hours of daylight are April, May, June and July. But if you live in the south then they may continue to lay for a couple more months. You could use an artificial light to keep them laying but it's pretty unnatural and I think it's kinder to let them rest during this time.

Apparently you can keep them outside in sub zero temperatures, provided they have shelter from the wind/rain. Which works out well for me living on the west coast lol.

It's amazing that you may actually hatch a quail from an egg bought from Morrisons lol. That must mean they keep the males and females together, or perhaps a male managed to sneak in lol, having the time of his life I bet xD

 

[Athaid]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX1ZrB4FT0mPuxcttCM6ljQ
I wanna raise my poultry like this

 

[Breezy Optimist]

Wow, that's such a great way to raise Quails. The best way i think As free as possible.

It will be interesting to see how many of your eggs hatch. I've heard you never get 100% hatch rate, but a few people have been lucky and got close? You will have to keep me updated on your eggs. Would love to see the pics, and of course the little babies that hatch

I actually have a garden, but it's not safe at all. There are about 13 cats on my last count from all the neighbours, and quite a few foxes, and they all love to take shortcuts through my garden.

So for this little single Quails safety (if he hatches and survives) i'll be keeping him a large cage indoors, and of course, he will be free to roam the house with me supervising for most of the day, as i run my own small business and work from home, so i have the time to keep watch lol.

But yeah, the daylight thing isn't much of an issue for me, as i don't want to breed them. I'm in the south of England, Hampshire. I just wanted to succeed at hatching a store bought egg, simply because it's pretty hard to do. And pretty rare apparently to find a fertile egg in a pack on the shelf of a supermarket! I like the challenge

But i guess it just goes to show that Clarence Court really is truly free range And yes, a male must have snuck in there

I did read that some free range farmers like to keep the odd male or two in with a large flock, just to keep the females exhibiting natural behaviours. So maybe they do that?

But i'm really excited. This time next week (give or take a few days) i could have a baby Quail that could have quite easily ended up on someone's dinner plate.

It really will be my little Miracle.

 

[Athaid]

Well good luck hatching the little guy, hopefully nothing goes wrong. Have you got a brooder ready?
I heard having males around keeps the females calmer and helps to prevent fighting, that's why I want to keep a mix of males and females, though we don't really plan on breeding them, but who knows :]
The hatch rate is about 75% but it differs from person to person, it just depends. But if we get three dozen then even with a 50% hatch rate we'd get 18 quails. If I remember to take pics I will, but I'm more interested in seeing your miracle morrisons quail
We have cats where we're moving too, Infact there's three stray cats living on our land, so once we move we're going to have to get them fixed and pay for their food and medical care. But cats kill wildlife :/ so I'm not really happy about them living on our land, but what can ya do.

 

[Breezy Optimist]

18 Quails? wow, that would be fantastic.

It's a shame about the cats you have there, i assume you will be super secure when building your Quails' home.

I actually have a cat myself, but he's kind of an oddball lol. He never attacks another animal.
He spends a lot of time relaxing and napping with my guinea pig, he loves my leopard gecko too. And he gets on great with my hamster haha! I think it's because when i got him at 12 weeks old, i already had a pet rat, and they grew up together and were the best of friends. And every other pet i've had along the way, he has been introduced to each one, and they seem to get on fine after that.

But yeah, i'll keep updating on this little Morrisons Quail egg, fingers crossed, and everything else crossed too! I'm so nervous, i really want this little guy to make it.

I do have a brooder, yes. I'll set it all up properly the second this guy hatches. At the moment all the bits are in the cupboard, out of the way until i need it.

I read that it's best to leave the chick in the incubator for about 24hrs after they hatch just to help them stay super warm and dry their feathers. So i'll do that.

And you've just reminded me that i need to order some Chick Starter food. That's the last thing i was meant to get, and i forgot it :O My local pet shops don't seem to do it here, so i need to order online :\

Right, i'm off to get some work done, and yeah, tomorrow evening/night is lockdown time, so, i'll candle the egg again, and i'm going to take a quick pic this time, and i'll put it up on here for you and anyone else who might be following this thread to take a peek at