Noise is driving me crazy! Ready to butcher

[lomine]

I prefer the kitchen sheer method. A pair of sharp kitchen sheers placed at the back of the neck. One quick cut and it's all over. There is some muscle movement but they feel no pain. I learned everything from this site and some YouTube videos. It's not a fun process but you do feel a certain sense of pride in having raised and butchered this food for yourself.

 

[eHuman]

I use kitchen shears also. Surprisingly, dispatching them the first time wasn't what got me. It was how hot the flesh was when skinning. I was prepared for the former but not the latter.

 

[lomine]

I use kitchen shears also. Surprisingly, dispatching them the first time wasn't what got me. It was how hot the flesh was when skinning. I was prepared for the former but not the latter.

I know exactly what you mean. I actually created a post about all the things I hadn't learned about before hand that would have been nice to know.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1114671/things-i-wish-i-knew-before-my-first-butchering

 

[lomine]

I weighed my quail after butchering to see if it was worth it it take future batches to 8 weeks. Thought I'd share in case others were interested. I used grams since it's more accurate.

At 6 weeks and 4 days my first batch ranged from 84 to 106. Average weight was 95.8. At 8 weeks they ranged from 84 to 110. Average was 99.75. So it comes down to a 3.95 gram difference (that's 0.14 oz). I don't really see the point in taking them to 8 weeks for such a small difference considering the food consumption and the noise.

I do believe my females are larger just based on handling. I'll be butchering a few soon and will be interested to see how they compare.

 

[MessyLove]

I believe the size difference is because the females are the egg layers and have some type of pouch. Im having probems, my timing may be off. But every egg ive been pulling seems to not be fertilized after 5 days in the incubator i see no red dot. The day after pulling the efg i still dont see it. A few days after different eggs still no red dots or sign of fertilization. My male at first was cooing three times now he will do it 5 or 6 and is pretty quite during the rest of the day. I checked to see if he has foam and he does. What am i doing wrong.

 

[MessyLove]

All blue looking inside

 

[lomine]

I believe the size difference is because the females are the egg layers and have some type of pouch. Im having probems, my timing may be off. But every egg ive been pulling seems to not be fertilized after 5 days in the incubator i see no red dot. The day after pulling the efg i still dont see it. A few days after different eggs still no red dots or sign of fertilization. My male at first was cooing three times now he will do it 5 or 6 and is pretty quite during the rest of the day. I checked to see if he has foam and he does. What am i doing wrong.

You may be right about the organs adding more weight. I'll be sure to share their weight in case anyone is interested.

How old are your quail? It will take younger males a little time to get the hang of mating. They'll go through the motions but won't actually fertilize the females. I'm not sure what you are seeing in your eggs but here are some pictures from my eggs. I think these were day five or six.

This is a fertile egg. You can see it has a bit of a pink color to it and has a blood vein. And you can see the narrow end is darker.

Here is an infertile egg. It has a yellow glow to it and the entire egg is clear.

 

[MessyLove]

i have non fertile eggs they looj clear blue. How long do u leave them in the pin if your going to incubate them? Thanks for the pics too that really helps the waiting process

 

[pkhunter]

i have non fertile eggs they looj clear blue. How long do u leave them in the pin if your going to incubate them? Thanks for the pics too that really helps the waiting process

You should collect your eggs daily. I store mine in a small wine cooler set at 60 degrees. You can store them up to 10 days but I get a better hatch rate if I keep them no more than 7 days. I never open my incubator till the end of day 14 then I candle them and take out the non fertile ones and the rest go onto my hatcher.

 

[MessyLove]

Whats the hatcher the composed