Small flock hatching schedule?

[Susan Skylark]

At top capacity we can run 15 hens and three roosters in 3 pens. I live in a very temperate climate (-30-100F) and will keep them in an unheated garage with extra light over the winter (8 hour days, ugh!) so hopefully will continue to have regular and fertile egg production. Just curious what everyone else does for incubation and hatching schedule on a small scale? We’ll be raising all replacements as nobody raises quail within a hundred miles. My current flock will be a year old come May. I was thinking hatch 6-12 eggs a month (have room inside to brood and finish out to 6 weeks) and if we need (or get a really nice bird) we can add it to the flock or just eat the extras. If I hatch in the spring and replace everybody at once I spend all summer reestablishing my flock when they should be most productive (temp and natural light). If I replace one or two every so often that won’t be an issue. My main concern is convincing my 12 year old to replace favorite birds (like the dud male!) and introducing new birds into established pens. What strategy do you use in your flock?

 

[Kiki]

I choose not to ever integrate cages/birds. I replace a whole cage when I hatch new ones. I usually hatch about 25 or so and keep only one breeding (5-6) group from it and grow out the rest to butcher.

 

[Susan Skylark]

That would be ideal, and while that is how I got my little flock, it was also a stretch on our set up to raise 24 birds at once (didn’t think we’d get such a good hatch rate!). I also occasionally need a replacement bird (injury, infertile male) and don’t have a ready source of live birds.