my thieving otter eggs are in the incubator- need photos of setups please

[lindy]

Still havent decided on a setup. My eggs are in the bator, hoping for a 50% hatch rate with 60ish eggs. I have them in two different incubators just in case. these are small jumbo.

I am willing to do aviary style, if i can find photos on a predator proof one (raccoons mostly and rats) but my cats have been doing well with the rats, so i guess cats are another predator. They dont bother the feathered chicks but younger then its fair game (like quail). But i am not a good builder.
I live where it rains alot !
I have a 10x20 shed(predator proof) that i can put stack cages as well. buy or build if i can find info on that. And what pricing is good for a 2x3 cage. or would larger be better?

looking for low maintenance as a work overtime for 6 months of the year and have 40 goats, 2 horses, chickens, LGD ect. to take care of.

I am going to use payback turkey 28 % starter it has 1.8 lysine/.6 me. for chicks

payback has 22% turkey grower 1.4/.5 possibly for adults? or use my current feed that i use for my chickens.

 

[Nabiki]

I keep my quail on raised garden beds inside a large greenhouse. The pens are quite sturdy, though.

As for feed, quail have different nutritional requirements than chickens do. Here is an article that will give you an idea of what to look for in their feed.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/what-to-feed-your-quail.79205/

 

[catesquire]

I'm just using a large dog kennel, kept on my porch, with a tarp on the bottom to keep woodchips from spilling out. I might buy a two-story rabbit hutch at a later point if I want to keep two flocks but the dog kennel works fine for my handful of hens.

 

[lindy]

so 3 didnt make it during shipping, we shall see if anymore were hairline cracked or bad air cells from shipping. I didnt try to candle any of the eggs. i know quail take less time to hatch, but waiting is super hard
The eggs i have in my bator, im worried the turning is too hard on them, even divided they kind of smush together. I have a r.com. i changed the turning to every 2 hours.

I cant put anything by my house. hubby already says i took over the property with animals. (40 goats, 2 horses, 2 LGD, 2 farm cats, a few dozen chickens, 5 indoor turtles and 3 outdoor russian tortoises and an ancient indoor cat). then chicks in the house when they are small. They only stay until they stink then go out to the pump house until big enough the cats dont think they are treats.

i use a plastic dog kennel for broodies inside my run, i think it would be too hard to clean with quail. I even thought of making a cage in my barn but it would have to be plywood i think to keep the cats out and then i dont know how to clean it easily. Cleaning is the thing i really am trying to make easier. Having goats in the barn during kidding and milking, it takes a day to clean the stalls out and its not easy. i thought of hanging cages in the barn but worried the cats might make them crazy.

 

[WildNectarine]

so 3 didnt make it during shipping, we shall see if anymore were hairline cracked or bad air cells from shipping. I didnt try to candle any of the eggs. i know quail take less time to hatch, but waiting is super hard
The eggs i have in my bator, im worried the turning is too hard on them, even divided they kind of smush together. I have a r.com. i changed the turning to every 2 hours.

I cant put anything by my house. hubby already says i took over the property with animals. (40 goats, 2 horses, 2 LGD, 2 farm cats, a few dozen chickens, 5 indoor turtles and 3 outdoor russian tortoises and an ancient indoor cat). then chicks in the house when they are small. They only stay until they stink then go out to the pump house until big enough the cats dont think they are treats.

i use a plastic dog kennel for broodies inside my run, i think it would be too hard to clean with quail. I even thought of making a cage in my barn but it would have to be plywood i think to keep the cats out and then i dont know how to clean it easily. Cleaning is the thing i really am trying to make easier. Having goats in the barn during kidding and milking, it takes a day to clean the stalls out and its not easy. i thought of hanging cages in the barn but worried the cats might make them crazy.

Not an outdoor or predator proof option, so I doubt you’ll go for it, but I’d like to mention it since you mentioned the shed, but, “pop-up” bed mosquito nets are what I use for my pet birds. They can’t hurt themselves when they flush, and they come in very large sizes, I use massage table paper weighed down with beanbags inside, and a layer of puzzle exercise mat beneath for foot support, and all I have to do is pull everything out, put the birds in a carrier, and put a few new sheets of paper in each day.

 

[lindy]

Not an outdoor or predator proof option, so I doubt you’ll go for it, but I’d like to mention it since you mentioned the shed, but, “pop-up” bed mosquito nets are what I use for my pet birds. They can’t hurt themselves when they flush, and they come in very large sizes, I use massage table paper weighed down with beanbags inside, and a layer of puzzle exercise mat beneath for foot support, and all I have to do is pull everything out, put the birds in a carrier, and put a few new sheets of paper in each day.

thanks but i dont think i would have time for that every day i work 13-14 hour days so just feeding, watering, milking everyone takes forever when your tired
sounds good for limited amount of birds or chicks though?

 

[lindy]

well, im hoping i will have quail. lost 5 chicks the last two days, down to 10 i think. I put a heat lamp on one side, removed one heat plate. put food in a dish and also spread out. The water is cleaned out twice a day and i put vit b in it 1x a day. put in a different room just in case something was in that room. Very discouraged

 

[catesquire]

Any idea what's killing them?

 

[Susan Skylark]

Sorry to hear about your baby issues, if you do have survivors (and if you don’t, don’t give up!) I personally use the pop up mosquito netting and love it, but I use deep litter method for bedding management, very low maintenance and the birds love it. I use no waste feeders and nipple bucket waterers and only need to mess with stuff twice a week, I’ll stir up the bedding, top off feed and water and get eggs, 20 minutes and I’m done. You will need external weather and predator protection though. If your chicks are just dead and within a few days of hatching if it isn’t overheating it may be something like a clostridium or e. Coli, a rapidly growing bacteria that releases toxins that kills the bird before you know it is sick. Predisposing factors include young, fast growing animals (quail!), high quality diet (extra nutrients for bacterial growth), and possibly perinatal stress upsetting the immune system or gut flora (this can include shipping stress!). I saw something similar in my first two batches of shipped quail (20% brooder death rate on day 3), chicks just didn’t grow, might show signs of colick and then were dead. Bleaching your incubator and brooder can help kill spores, removing fecal matter from eggs preincubation can reduce exposure, minimizing trauma to pre and early incubation eggs, and feeding a nutritionally complete but less ‘rich’ diet can help reduce vulnerability. While clostridium is sensitive to penicillin etc it kills so fast treatment usually isn’t effective. It could be something else as well but it can often be hard to tell. I also shipped eggs from TOF this spring, ended up with 25% hatch rate due to shipping stress (saddled air cells), of the resulting birds I ended up only keeping 1 male (my $60 quail!), the rest either had attitude issues or weren’t a color I wanted. They have nice birds but shipping can be hard on eggs!

 

[lindy]

i was afraid to check under the heat plate to see if more died this morning. The slightly older ones are doing well, getting feathers in already. I dont really like the 24/7 heat light though. but maybe the brooder plate wasnt good enough for quail>?chicken chicks seem to do very well with plates but they seem to stand under them and the quail chicks seem to just lay under them.
Anyone use a heating element, seems a bit safer then a light bulb? I am just worried about fire.