She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[WVduckchick]

Are you aware that you can effectively "free range" Bobwhites?
I raised pointing dogs for 40 years, and trained them on pen-raised bobwhite quail because the no-till farming practices ( and fox ) had decimated the native quail & pheasant populations. I kept a dozen birds or so in a "recall cage", which is nothing more than a wire mesh cage with a cone-shaped chute built in to the side. The idea is to leave one male in the cage while releasing the rest, which spend their time grazing on seeds, insects, etc. in a natural setting, eventually working their way back to the cage where the male left inside has been calling to regroup the rest of his "buddies". The returning birds re-enter the cage through the recall chute (made from 1/2" hardware cloth), which is at ground level on the outside wall & high enough off the floor on the inside that they can't/won't try to go back out.

If you have the room, you can build a permanent coop for them with the same sort of chute; just have to build a flap over the outside of the chute to keep out predators.

The other thing, besides predator protection, is to keep them dry. Wild birds, because they have access to seeds, have an oil in their feathers to help them stay dry. Pen-reared birds, fed primarily on commercial feed, lack that oil; getting chilled when they're wet can kill them.

Last time I checked, places like Dunn's Supply Store sold the portable recall pens. Also, you can probably build one easy enough from DIY video's on Youtube using the same clamps & pliers used for making rabbit cages.

Good luck!

If I remember correctly, bobwhites are the one kind of quail that we (in WV) have to get a permit to keep.

 

[meganhundley]

Hey y'all, I've stayed away too long, y'all can all smack me if you want, lol. So I couldn't stand it any longer and I candled today, it's day 4, and I saw my 1st heartbeat ever today!! And the veining is insane on some of these eggs already. All but 5 are showing signs of development and those 5 I think are just slow starters, the shells are kind of hard to see through on some of them but I think some of those 5 I could see veining but it was very very faintly so I'm calling them questionable for right now. So as of now I have 24 of 29 developing very nicely so far.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

If I remember correctly, bobwhites are the one kind of quail that we (in WV) have to get a permit to keep.

Really? I wonder why.

Hey y'all, I've stayed away too long, y'all can all smack me if you want, lol. So I couldn't stand it any longer and I candled today, it's day 4, and I saw my 1st heartbeat ever today!! And the veining is insane on some of these eggs already. All but 5 are showing signs of development and those 5 I think are just slow starters, the shells are kind of hard to see through on some of them but I think some of those 5 I could see veining but it was very very faintly so I'm calling them questionable for right now. So as of now I have 24 of 29 developing very nicely so far.

That's awesome. I hope this hatch goes well for you!

 

[meganhundley]

Really? I wonder why.

That's awesome. I hope this hatch goes well for you!

I'm really hoping so too I'm really worried about them though cause alot of them were heavily soiled and I made the mistake of trying to wash it all off so now the bloom is gone and I'm worried that some of that nastiness will seep through the shells and they'll quit early on me.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm really hoping so too

I'm really worried about them though cause alot of them were heavily soiled and I made the mistake of trying to wash it all off so now the bloom is gone and I'm worried that some of that nastiness will seep through the shells and they'll quit early on me.

Heavily soiled eggs are a catch 22. If you incubate them that dirty, you risk growing a bacteria plantation in your bator, if you wash them you lower the eggs natural resistance to bacteria supposedly, so you're at a disadvantage with them to begin with. I don't have much respect for a seller that will send someone heavily soiled eggs.

 

[meganhundley]

I've got a lovely hurricane headed my direction... I'm going to build something to house my birds in the garage for this weekend. :-( we just bought this house. Send prayers please. It seems like I've got everything I ever dreamed of as a kid, the loving husband, healthy kids, a safe place to call home, and chickens. I'm hoping that we make it safely through this.

You too? I'm in VA pretty close to the coast, I'm hoping it'll veer away and head north but only time will tell. We live in a double wide so if it hits us hard some stuffs going to get messed up around here. My poor chickens are getting soaked so I'm trying to do the same thing your doing and get them all inside the garage for the weekend and hope they don't kill each other. I guess I'd rather them peck at each other a bit instead of dieing in a hurricane. And I have 29 eggs set and I'm scared to death the power is going to get knocked out and they'll all quit on me. We're trying to find a generator before Sunday incase it does go out but everybody has bought them all up from Walmart and most of the local stores so we've been looking on Craigslist for 1 close by. It hard to find 1 cheap enough that we can afford and that hasn't been bought already.

 

[kwhites634]

If I remember correctly, bobwhites are the one kind of quail that we (in WV) have to get a permit to keep.

Technically, I should've had a permit here, too; they're considered wild.
Also should've gotten a permit to build my barn, and the deck off the d.r.

Zoned agricultural here, 600+' off the road, surrounded by fields; non-locals don't even know we're here.

 

[WVduckchick]

Really? I wonder why.

That's awesome. I hope this hatch goes well for you!

I think it may be because there is an actual hunting season for them here. Still researching...

Hey y'all, I've stayed away too long, y'all can all smack me if you want, lol. So I couldn't stand it any longer and I candled today, it's day 4, and I saw my 1st heartbeat ever today!! And the veining is insane on some of these eggs already. All but 5 are showing signs of development and those 5 I think are just slow starters, the shells are kind of hard to see through on some of them but I think some of those 5 I could see veining but it was very very faintly so I'm calling them questionable for right now. So as of now I have 24 of 29 developing very nicely so far.

Hi ya! And that's awesome on those eggs.... and its still early!

You too? I'm in VA pretty close to the coast, I'm hoping it'll veer away and head north but only time will tell. We live in a double wide so if it hits us hard some stuffs going to get messed up around here. My poor chickens are getting soaked so I'm trying to do the same thing your doing and get them all inside the garage for the weekend and hope they don't kill each other. I guess I'd rather them peck at each other a bit instead of dieing in a hurricane. And I have 29 eggs set and I'm scared to death the power is going to get knocked out and they'll all quit on me. We're trying to find a generator before Sunday incase it does go out but everybody has bought them all up from Walmart and most of the local stores so we've been looking on Craigslist for 1 close by. It hard to find 1 cheap enough that we can afford and that hasn't been bought already.

Good luck! Hope everyone stays safe in this storm.

 

[meganhundley]

Heavily soiled eggs are a catch 22. If you incubate them that dirty, you risk growing a bacteria plantation in your bator, if you wash them you lower the eggs natural resistance to bacteria supposedly, so you're at a disadvantage with them to begin with. I don't have much respect for a seller that will send someone heavily soiled eggs.

Oh it was terrible, you should have seen it, there were big chunks of dried dirt and poop stuck on 1 of them. I wish I had taken pics. We picked them up, I looked at them while I was there but we had driven 3 hours to get them and she didn't have anymore to give me. But she did say she would send replacement eggs if they don't do well. I got alot of it off but they are really stained and I'm just terrified they aren't going to make. I did notice that the 1 REALLY heavily soiled 1 with the chunks stuck to it isn't developing which I kind of expected.

 

[firedragon1982]

Oh it was terrible, you should have seen it, there were big chunks of dried dirt and poop stuck on 1 of them. I wish I had taken pics. We picked them up, I looked at them while I was there but we had driven 3 hours to get them and she didn't have anymore to give me. But she did say she would send replacement eggs if they don't do well. I got alot of it off but they are really stained and I'm just terrified they aren't going to make. I did notice that the 1 REALLY heavily soiled 1 with the chunks stuck to it isn't developing which I kind of expected.

I had a BCM egg off ebay that was really heavily soiled. That is the one that went bad by day 4. A good half dozen others are developing and the others... not too sure about. Keeping them in there until day 14 just to be sure.