Pharoah Coturnix Hutch qstns

[JaeG]

If rats might be a problem I'd have cages raised off the ground. When I had quail on the ground I had rats digging underneath and grabbing them through the wire, as well as chewing their way through very thick wood to gain access into the cage to eat my quail. They even chewed and broke some of the galvanised wire trying to get in. Rats are the only predator I have to worry about but I never had any trouble with them trying to get my birds in elevated cages with solid floors. If you have raccoons about might they try to pull the quail through the wire? I have no experience with raccoons but just putting it out there.

One thing with wire flooring is that if you don't keep it clean enough the poop can catch on the wire and form sharp bits that then cause bumblefoot.

My quail love being in my big aviary which has a thick, solid, elevated, wooden base so no rats can dig in. I have multiple boys living together no problem along with the hens but my birds have been selectively bred by me for quite a few generations to be very docile so it depends on your birds. Temperament is definitely hereditary.

Hens enjoy having a secluded spot to lay their eggs so if you provided them with a quiet, sheltered corner they would likely lay the majority of their eggs there. You could plant it up to provide them with lots of shade and if you enjoy interacting with your birds it is easier in a larger space. Ours are constantly picked up by our kids and they are very tolerant.

When you incubate make sure to keep an eye on your air cells. They are your best indicator as to whether you've got your humidity right. Use a chicken egg air cell chart (search google images) but the days you'd expect them to be at the 3 stages would be days 5, 10 and 15. I go against the grain and incubate with a very high humidity, but that's because in summer the humidity can be 80%+ where I am, so the eggs seem to be set up for that.

This is an excellent article about candling quail eggs:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coturnix-quail-egg-candling-guide.71783/

 

[mdees88]

If you have raccoons about might they try to pull the quail through the wire? I have no experience with raccoons but just putting it out there.

You're exactly right. Surprisingly a raccoon can get a quail through the 1/2"hardware cloth. His hand can fit through the gap and he'll pull the quail up against the wire, pull their legs and wings off (whatever he can get a hold of), then pull chucks of meat off. I lost 9 quail in two nights to a coon. I have an electric fence I'm setting up around the legs of all my cages but you might could wrap the cage legs in some sheet metal or something slick enough that they can't climb up.

When you incubate make sure to keep an eye on your air cells. They are your best indicator as to whether you've got your humidity right. Use a chicken egg air cell chart (search google images) but the days you'd expect them to be at the 3 stages would be days 5, 10 and 15. I go against the grain and incubate with a very high humidity, but that's because in summer the humidity can be 80%+ where I am, so the eggs seem to be set up for that.

Yeah, I never paid attention to the airsac before (even though that's the determining factor for humidity). I just used a recommended humidity. Well this time I ran 35-40% (closer to 40) and I paid attention to the air sacs. Even at 40% they seemed a little on the small side so next time I'm going to keep it on 35% and see how they do.

 

[Quailobsessed]

No offense at all

Okay, all good then

 

[Nabiki]

Love the look of your setup! I know this may sound like a silly question, but how do you move the cage without them escaping? I assume there is no bottom. (I'm a newbie at this.)

I was wondering how this might work if we have a 'natural' landscape which means there is no grass but plenty of hard dirt/sand/gravel. (By hard, I mean that if we want to plant a plant, we use a pick-ax to dig a hole.)

I put them into a temporary holding box/bin while I move the pens. They're pretty calm and don't mind me picking them up too much. If I get one that's particularly hard to catch, I have a butterfly net.

 

[Happy Novogens]

Glad I could help. I just hatched around 80 quail yesterday, haven't got a final tally yet. Here's half of them....

View attachment 2059628


So I used to run the humidity at 50% until lockdown then 65-70% during lockdown. I had very high hatch rates but I usually had a couple splay legs or curled toe birds hatch towards the very end. This time I kept the humidity between 35 and 40% and then kept it around 60% at lockdown and didn't have any splayed legs or curled toes.

I highly recommend buying a separate thermometer/hygrometer and checking it's accuracy. A lot of the ones on incubators are not very accurate.

Aaaw! What cuties! I've been seeing lots of varying recommendations on humidity levels. Seems like lower rates are having success. I'm leaning toward following rates as you describe. I had already ordered a therm/hygr and also a thermostat that will be wired with a computer fan (my son will do that). We're making our own incubator (I'll prob be posting separately on that). In fact, I should be focusing on the incubator first.

Wish I knew what to do about the hot water. Did you see my float valve in the 2 gallon bucket that drains to chicken nipples on my 2.0 cage? You might could do the same thing but skip the bucket and mount the valve inside a 12" long piece of 3 or 4in PVC pipe instead. You could then mount the nipples to the bottom side of the PVC. It would hold less water than the bucket and if you bury the water hose they might drink it fast enough so it doesn't get too hot. Maybe.... here's a pic of what I'm talking about....

View attachment 2059626

Surprisingly my water doesn't get too hot in the summer, The bucket only holds an inch or two of water in it and all of it is in the shade, plus with 20 nipples and 25 birds drinking off the same line, they keep the water moving a little bit. Burying the water hose feeding it or at least keeping it in the shade made a difference.

Good luck with your hatch. If you have any questions let me know...

That is an idea to consider. Thanks so much for drawing that out. Still worried about how hot it will get. We're on well water and in the summer, our home does not get any 'cold' water. [When we had an in-ground pool, by August, the water temp record high was 94F! (in a 10K gallon pool).]

I was trying to brainstorm on how to have a bubbler of sorts since that's the only way for the water to cool. A circulating fountain would be ideal but of course the obstacle is keeping 'debris' out of the water.

A fountain could be hooked up with a float valve since evaporation will be high. I need to figure a way to have the water trickle into something they can't mess up too badly and then have some filter before it re-circulates.