Quail brooder set up questions

[Happy Novogens]

I am working on getting a brooder setup prepared for when (if) I have success with incubation in April. From perusing through the threads, it sounds like it would be good to have both a regular bulb and a no-light heat emitter so they can stay warm 24/7 and can have light on a cycle?

The following pic is what I used over 10 years ago when my pair of button quail actually successfully hatched a dozen chicks. The quail were indoors in a community flight cage so I had to take the babies out. This is how I set things up not knowing any better. (They all survived!)

Will something like this work with coturnix if I had a heat lamp to go on alternating with the regular bulb every 12 hours? Am I missing something? I keep a spare 150w black heat emitter as backup for my hedgehog. Was thinking I could use that. I also have a 20 gallon tank as opposed to the 10 shown below.



After 2 weeks (16 days actually) I switched them into these - 4 to a box.


Any and all suggestions/ corrections welcome!

 

[mdees88]

How many quail are planning on hatching at once?

 

[Happy Novogens]

Oh yes. I should have included that. I have just a dozen eggs coming.

 

[mdees88]

I thought about trying the heat emitter bulb but decided against it. I use two regular clear incandescent 150w bulbs on a dimmer switch.

I prefer to have light 24/7. That way if there's light, they have heat. If the ceramic bulb fails you have no visual way to know if the heats on.

Also I use two 150w bulbs instead of a single 250-300w because if one bulb fails at least they will still have some heat to get them through the night, hopefully.

Honestly your setup with the 10gal tank looked fine. Out of 12 eggs you'll probably end up with 6-9 chicks. The 10gal should work for that but I would opt for the 20gal since you have one, the more room the better. Plus and you can go a little longer between changing the bedding out. I use pine shavings and do a deep litter method. I add a handful of shavings everyday to cover their poop and keep the smell down.

The most important thing is having enough room in the brooder to have two different temp zones. You want a hot side and a warm side. You can even keep the hot side a tad hotter than they need. Then the quail will move away from the heat until they're comfortable. I just watch them everyday and I turn the dimmer switch down each day until they are very close to being directly under the heat source....

Here's a link to the brooders I'm using. I haven't had any issues with them so far and have "brooded" hundreds of quail and pheasants in them. You won't need one this big for 7 or 8 quail though.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/diy-storage-tote-quail-chick-brooder.1247747/

 

[Happy Novogens]

Thank you again! Most helpful!!

In the link, there looks to be a paper towel on top of the pine shavings. Is that their crushed feed on top of the paper towel?

 

[mdees88]

Yes it is. I used to grind their feed up but I don't anymore. You certainly can if you want, but mine have handled the crumbles well and part of the crumbles is powder consistency anyway so they start with that. I use paper towels for about 2-3 days until they all hatch out then I transition to the tractor supply chick feeder.