Second generation hatchng today!

[sajimnkim]

Got my first batch of 30 eggs from Myshire. This quail are about 18 weeks now (I forgot to count once they were laying). Today first hatchling os out of first batch of 45 eggs incubated. I see several other eggs moving and can hear them chirping, which is really cool I might add.

So here is the question about animal husbandry: if I hatch more from the original parents, who can then breed among the off spring? Or do I just get a bunch from the first gen and hatch them out through those lines? Not sure when I can mix them together again....

 

[Kusanar]

Got my first batch of 30 eggs from Myshire. This quail are about 18 weeks now (I forgot to count once they were laying). Today first hatchling os out of first batch of 45 eggs incubated. I see several other eggs moving and can hear them chirping, which is really cool I might add.

So here is the question about animal husbandry: if I hatch more from the original parents, who can then breed among the off spring? Or do I just get a bunch from the first gen and hatch them out through those lines? Not sure when I can mix them together again....

My understanding is that mother to son and father to daughter breeding is ok (to an extent) but you want to limit brother to sister.

Think about it this way, male is A, female is B, babies from them will be AB. If you breed A to AB you get AAB which is still genetically diverse, if you breed B to AB you get ABB which is still genetically diverse, but if you breed AB to AB you just get AB and get issues.

Check out the attachment, it has a good breeding plan for multiple generations while minimizing inbreeding in a closed flock.

 

[Ted_Harrell]

I am on my third generation of quail from the same original eggs. I just ordered some more this week from a different farm because of my worries about this. I felt like I needed a different bloodline infused ever so often to keep the genetics fresh. Good luck with your quail and I am sure the others will be along shortly to give you some more experienced advice than mine...

 

[Quailobsessed]

I try to limit any inbreeding (including parent to child) because I personally don't like it. I don't raise my quail for a specific purpose (besides being pets), so I don't have large breeding programs.

 

[sajimnkim]

I'm in this for food: meat and eggs, so I have t watch out some, and I don't want to have issues with my food supply.

Hatched out 35 of 45. 1 is still in the egg that it pipped 2 days ago, so if history is proof, it will die in the egg sometime soon, although it did chirp rather loudly about an hour ago, which surprised me. 1 from the brooder is having issues, so brouht it back into the incubator where it is a bit warmer and more controlled. Seems to have splayed legs and is very lethargic. Not sure if it will make it.

77% hatch rate, and 75% survival rate if the one dies. Not bad for my second hatch ever, including a 3 hour power loss that took the temp in the incubator down to 70° a few days before lock down!

 

[Ted_Harrell]

Congrats on the 75% hatch rate, trust me when I say it doesn't get old seeing our feathered friends greet the world for the first time.

 

[sajimnkim]

I ended up with 36 hatching. The last one pipped out the first day with all the others and then took 3 days to actually hatch. It is very shaky now, and is not really as big as the others. I left it in the incubator for the recommended 24 hours, then took it out to the brooder this morning.

It is quiet a bit smaller compared to the rest. It is still unsure of footing, and it sorta flops around instead of walking, and shakes like it is cold. The others started to attack it. I took it out and all the attacking stopped. This tells me something is wrong with this bird. Should I just cull it now? I'm not in this for the pets. But something is just not right about this last one.

Something to note was it did pip out and hatch from the pointy end of the egg, backwards from normal. What does this mean? It does appear to be the runt of the litter, but it's not a dog......

 

[FloorCandy]

I ended up with 36 hatching. The last one pipped out the first day with all the others and then took 3 days to actually hatch. It is very shaky now, and is not really as big as the others. I left it in the incubator for the recommended 24 hours, then took it out to the brooder this morning.

It is quiet a bit smaller compared to the rest. It is still unsure of footing, and it sorta flops around instead of walking, and shakes like it is cold. The others started to attack it. I took it out and all the attacking stopped. This tells me something is wrong with this bird. Should I just cull it now? I'm not in this for the pets. But something is just not right about this last one.

Something to note was it did pip out and hatch from the pointy end of the egg, backwards from normal. What does this mean? It does appear to be the runt of the litter, but it's not a dog......

Was it especially sticky and goopy when it hatched? You could put it alone in the incubator with food and water and let it get stronger before you put it back. Sometimes the weak hatchers take a day or 2 to get going. I suspect the really goopy late hatchers have broken their yolk sack and so they have less gas in the tank to start with.

I have one who I helped hatch after it stopped trying and was the last one, it lay weakly in the incubator on its side for 2 full days, I gave it water and food with a Capri sun straw every few hours. Eventually it got stronger and now she reliably lays a great big egg every day without fail, and she is one of the largest hens. But it could easily go the other way, and you made the effort for no reason.

 

[sajimnkim]

It was actually almost dry, I believe, but I was not around when it actually got out. From what I could see it was dry before hatching all the way. After trying to see if it would drink or eat (nope), I had to go do some yard work. Came back in a couple hours later and it was not moving much, but was still alive. I picked it up and checked it for life, and it was almost non-responsive. It was only about half as big as the next smallest one by now day 3 after hatch. Ended up culling it to stop the misery. It just wasn't coming back around, no matter what I did. I figured a bigger farm where this was just one of hundreds, it would never have made it this far.

I also cracked open the remaining eggs that did not hatch and only one died in the egg, not quite all the way formed. All the others looked like they were not fertile. So pretty good rate I think.