"Quail Thread-Hatching, Mutations, and everything quail related!!!"

[Bukrub66]

I used the dry incubation methods. I added no water to the incubator until lockdown. All I added was a wet paper towel to the corner and that kept the humidity around 45 to 50%. I ran the temp between 99.5 and 100. 10 of my 14 fertile eggs hatched.

 

[WaterfowlWierdo]

if you aren't using the dry method, have your humidity between 65 and 75%

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

I'm just going to randomly jump in this thread. My dad and I plan on hatching some quail, but have no experience in hatching or raising them. I have had a lot of experience hatching birds such as ducks, geese and chickens, but never quail. What should I know about quail before attempting this?

 

[Bukrub66]

Same as chickens except they hatch sooner and grow quicker.

 

[Debs55]

Hi yall. I tried to create a thread to ask questions and instead just got a rude response so I will ask them here if you dont mind. I want to keep quail for eggs and meat. In theory, we would hatch eggs from our stock, grow them out and butcher some of the older ones, the replace the old layers with new layers. For those of yall who keep quail for meat do yall have a system? Do you keep a certain percentage or something?

 

[dc3085]

Hi yall. I tried to create a thread to ask questions and instead just got a rude response so I will ask them here if you dont mind. I want to keep quail for eggs and meat. In theory, we would hatch eggs from our stock, grow them out and butcher some of the older ones, the replace the old layers with new layers. For those of yall who keep quail for meat do yall have a system? Do you keep a certain percentage or something?

I keep grow out pens and hatch what I want meat wise which is usually 60-80 and I do that when I get down below 10-12 in the freezer. They molt for winter here around september so I plan around that and either grow my new breeders before or after the current ones molt for the season but if you don't have a lot of experience you should do it in the summer so you don't have to put lights on the new breeders to make them lay (if you don know what youre doing it can cause a lot of problems) Basically i eat way more than a few so I hatch them year around I just half the last batch sometimes because I process all my breeeders right around when they a year old. If you tell anyone you know that you raise meat quail you might want double what you plan to grow for meat because friends and family will bleed you dry for it.

 

[Debs55]

I keep grow out pens and hatch what I want meat wise which is usually 60-80 and I do that when I get down below 10-12 in the freezer. They molt for winter here around september so I plan around that and either grow my new breeders before or after the current ones molt for the season but if you don't have a lot of experience you should do it in the summer so you don't have to put lights on the new breeders to make them lay (if you don know what youre doing it can cause a lot of problems) Basically i eat way more than a few so I hatch them year around I just half the last batch sometimes because I process all my breeeders right around when they a year old. If you tell anyone you know that you raise meat quail you might want double what you plan to grow for meat because friends and family will bleed you dry for it.

thank you yes that makes sense. We also butcher our chickens to eat so I kind of know what I am doing on that front (as in prepared for the time it takes etc.) but wasnt sure about how many I would need for breeders. Looks like I will plan to have a permenant grow out pen

 

[hosspak]

I keep grow out pens and hatch what I want meat wise which is usually 60-80 and I do that when I get down below 10-12 in the freezer. They molt for winter here around september so I plan around that and either grow my new breeders before or after the current ones molt for the season but if you don't have a lot of experience you should do it in the summer so you don't have to put lights on the new breeders to make them lay (if you don know what youre doing it can cause a lot of problems) Basically i eat way more than a few so I hatch them year around I just half the last batch sometimes because I process all my breeeders right around when they a year old. If you tell anyone you know that you raise meat quail you might want double what you plan to grow for meat because friends and family will bleed you dry for it.

It sounds like you have great experience with raising and dealing with quail. How do you sex your quail and at what age? What % of accuracy do you get? What % of hatch rate do you get? Thanks for your help. I'm on day 16 with my first ever hatch... of anything!

 

[dc3085]

It sounds like you have great experience with raising and dealing with quail. How do you sex your quail and at what age? What % of accuracy do you get? What % of hatch rate do you get? Thanks for your help. I'm on day 16 with my first ever hatch... of anything!

Depends on what species. All new world quail (bobwhites etc.) autosex by feathers and you just have to wait. Some coturnix color mutations auto sex the rest can be vent sexed but vent sexing of these birds cannot be done in one try with 100% success. By the time you are able to vent sex coturnix you do so by squeezing the vent gently to produce foam. The problem with that is that once bred a hen's vent will also contain foam for up to 24 hours and this can result in large numbers of false positives. I only ever keep small groups of non autosexing birds mostly because many of those colors interest me less but also because sexing large runs of them difficult.

Non autosexing birds end up getting sexed by using a hodge podge of methods. Vent sex as thoroughly as you can. Then look for roosters crowing or mounting hens. Another way is to remove the birds one by one to a small cage away from all the others with no food or water and listen for vocalizations. Coturnix usually only make noise for a reason, moving them stresses they get mad and yell at you. Hens and roosters cannot produce the same vocalizations. Hens sound like a high pitched chirping cricket, and roosters can only crow or make a muted chirp.

 

[hosspak]

From the Crazy H-Bar Ranch and Hatching Hut;
We were blessed last night with our first ever hatching. So excited!