GutiHomestead
Hatching
- May 26, 2020
- 1
- 11
- 3
Hi All,
We originally planned on chickens only, and using the local ordinance mapped out our backyard to find the acceptable location for our coop. But then we had trouble sourcing chickens so we settled on quail, and shortly thereafter had the incubator up and running, incubating 80 Coturnix eggs sourced from two farms. Just over half hatched, though we have almost 10 losses post-hatch from quail with messed up feet, backs, or despondent behavior, one drowned, and three from the last wave got picked on
That gave us 32 in our indoor brooder growing to maturity: 19 Italians, 11 Pharaohs, and 2 English Whites.
About a week later we got chickens after all -12 total day-old Buff Orpingtons and Orpington mixes with Welsumer and Americaunas, and set up a brooder in the workshop, and found that they were much easier to care for as they didn't mess up their water or scatter their food so often. They aren't sexed yet.
Once the quail turned 5 weeks we sexed them: Females: 8 Pharaoh, 9 Italians, and 1 English White; Males: 3 Pharaohs, 10 Italians, and 1 English White. We culled 11 males, leaving 3 males (2 Pharaohs/1 English White) and 18 females (all of them). Initially we made the mistake of letting one male hang out with all of the females as we decided on the other two and he became a punk, jabbing at anyone he didn't approve of. Then we pulled him out, rearranged the setting and changed the light, and that was a success, no more punking as far as we can tell
We do have one female quail - the English White - with a bad case of scissor beak, and a female Italian with a very strange behavior -- I will be writing about that and my Pharaoh male who makes a lot of circles in the pen.
Now we are busily working on the quail aviary as they will be ready first, then the coop is next. The chickens are beautiful, father is a prizewinner so they are all healthy and looking scraggly as their feathers grow out. They love the big plumeria branches we added as perches and appreciate our repurposed hummingbird feeders as waterers. They are very scared of me at the moment.
So we are happy to join the membership community!!
We originally planned on chickens only, and using the local ordinance mapped out our backyard to find the acceptable location for our coop. But then we had trouble sourcing chickens so we settled on quail, and shortly thereafter had the incubator up and running, incubating 80 Coturnix eggs sourced from two farms. Just over half hatched, though we have almost 10 losses post-hatch from quail with messed up feet, backs, or despondent behavior, one drowned, and three from the last wave got picked on
That gave us 32 in our indoor brooder growing to maturity: 19 Italians, 11 Pharaohs, and 2 English Whites.About a week later we got chickens after all -12 total day-old Buff Orpingtons and Orpington mixes with Welsumer and Americaunas, and set up a brooder in the workshop, and found that they were much easier to care for as they didn't mess up their water or scatter their food so often. They aren't sexed yet.
Once the quail turned 5 weeks we sexed them: Females: 8 Pharaoh, 9 Italians, and 1 English White; Males: 3 Pharaohs, 10 Italians, and 1 English White. We culled 11 males, leaving 3 males (2 Pharaohs/1 English White) and 18 females (all of them). Initially we made the mistake of letting one male hang out with all of the females as we decided on the other two and he became a punk, jabbing at anyone he didn't approve of. Then we pulled him out, rearranged the setting and changed the light, and that was a success, no more punking as far as we can tell
We do have one female quail - the English White - with a bad case of scissor beak, and a female Italian with a very strange behavior -- I will be writing about that and my Pharaoh male who makes a lot of circles in the pen.
Now we are busily working on the quail aviary as they will be ready first, then the coop is next. The chickens are beautiful, father is a prizewinner so they are all healthy and looking scraggly as their feathers grow out. They love the big plumeria branches we added as perches and appreciate our repurposed hummingbird feeders as waterers. They are very scared of me at the moment.
So we are happy to join the membership community!!
