We have a male!

[Acameron]

Morning,
So one of my A&M are a male. Starting crowing two days ago and is chasing and doing mating behavior. We have decided we want more (only have 4) and bought an automatic turning incubator. Couple of questions:
1) suggestions on how to incubate?
2) Brooder suggestions?

Thanks!
Abby

 

[Hens Solo]

Morning,
So one of my A&M are a male. Starting crowing two days ago and is chasing and doing mating behavior. We have decided we want more (only have 4) and bought an automatic turning incubator. Couple of questions:
1) suggestions on how to incubate?
2) Brooder suggestions?

Thanks!
Abby

I just got started with quail so I don't know very much but this is what I learned. My 1st hatch got a 75% success rate. To me quail are easier to incubate than chickens. They hatch around day 18 instead of 21. I didn't worry too much about humidity until I turned it up to about 65% after day 14 or 15. I had no luck candling the dark eggs so I forgot about it. One interesting story. On day 21 I was cracking the "bummer " eggs and a quivering quail fell out on the ground. Just for the heck of it I put it in the brooder. Now it is one of my most active jumbo browns! As for brooding I used a tote with a 60 watt bulb and tried to keep temperature around 85-90 fr the 1st week. Didn't lose any of the tough little guys!

 

[Nabiki]

Incubating temperature should be 99.5-100 degrees. Until you know your incubator very well, I would use three calibrated thermometers (the ones on the incubators are rarely accurate). This will also help you find warmer or cooler places in your incubator.

The one thing I would disagree with @Hens Solo about is the humidity. My first two hatches I kept at the higher humidity rate and had about 50% hatch rate (with shipped eggs) and a lot of curled toes. Following some advice from more experienced quail people, I lowered my humidity to about 30% during hatch and let it rise to 42% or so during pipping. When the eggs start to zip, the humidity rises on its own. I've gotten much better hatch results with fewer deformities since then. My last hatch was 95% after pulling out infertile eggs.

 

[Hens Solo]

Incubating temperature should be 99.5-100 degrees. Until you know your incubator very well, I would use three calibrated thermometers (the ones on the incubators are rarely accurate). This will also help you find warmer or cooler places in your incubator.

The one thing I would disagree with @Hens Solo about is the humidity. My first two hatches I kept at the higher humidity rate and had about 50% hatch rate (with shipped eggs) and a lot of curled toes. Following some advice from more experienced quail people, I lowered my humidity to about 30% during hatch and let it rise to 42% or so during pipping. When the eggs start to zip, the humidity rises on its own. I've gotten much better hatch results with fewer deformities since then. My last hatch was 95% after pulling out infertile eggs.

Sounds logical. I just didn't worry about humidity too much. I had a water pan in the incubator and filled it when humidity got in the low 30's. You're right about the humidity spiking during hatch. I know I lost several chicken hatches and was about to give up before someone gave me some A&M eggs. The success really encouraged me!

 

[JaeG]

I incubate with a high humidity throughout incubation and I've just had 32 out of 35 eggs hatch out (and my birds aren't young). I live in a humid climate, so I figure my birds eggs are set up for those conditions. So it's important to keep an eye on your air cells to make sure they are growing properly and if they are a bit small reduce the humidity, if they are a bit big increase the humidity. What works for one person in their particular set-up won't work with another so humidity is a very individual thing and you have to work out what works for you.

Use a diagram like this but for quail it would be days 5, 10 and 15. Even if you can't see into the egg you will be able to see the air cell.

Make sure there is nowhere in your incubator that baby quail can fall through or get stuck. I hatch mine in a tray that they can't escape from because it's amazing where they can squeeze and end up getting into trouble. And make sure your air vents are fully open at hatch time - it's an easy thing to forget but fresh air is so important in those last stages. Shelf liner is good to have under quail initially as they need good footing to avoid leg problems. Paper towels are too slippery. Once they know where the food and water is (you'll need to teach them) you can use shavings. Do remove them from the incubator reasonably quickly. I've had babies still drying off that are already picking around on the ground for food. They are designed to hatch and go.

They are adorable babies so I'm sure this will be the first batch of many.