What color/type are these quail?

[Lesalynn]

Thank ya'll so much for all the great info. I was confused about the 'lethal' gene, yes. I thought maybe it could cause fertility issues. Thank you for clearing that part up for me, Buttercup.

Now I know why I had some not making it all the way, even tho fertile. Also, I've had a few born 'weak' here and there that would not thrive.

The longest I've ever held my eggs was 7 days...maybe a bit too long, I guess.

I'm thinking, tho, that maybe it's an issue of age?? I bought the original 12 birds last summer. I have lost three of them--one hen got eggbound really bad, the other two just got weak, and died a few months apart. I put 3 of my younger hens in each of the breeding cages after that. That brought my total hens up to 12.

I'm going to put together a third breeding pen, and just keep 4 hens and 1 roo in each. That leaves 1 roo out, tho. Sigh....I guess make that 4 breeding cages....and I'll keep him 4 young hens from my 3-week old ones when they're ready. Then, if I still have a major fertility issue, I can narrow it down some....just mark eggs from individual cages...ok, I think I can do this, lol. Kinda like a science project.

Oh, and btw Buttercup, the one with the really dark head is my favorite. He's bigger bodied than the rusty-headed ones. And not mean like them, either. I had hoped some of the young would get that dark head, but no such luck. Every male I've hatched out has the rust head. I'd like to add some new blood to mine, but it seems no one around here has them anymore. Maybe come spring I can have some shipped to me.

I hadn't thought about the daylight factor, JJMR. I'll make sure to rig them up some 'mood lighting', lol. Thanks.

 

[Stellar]

Still they all are Manchurian

One of my favorite colors other than the wild coloring and the reds.

Edited to add: Buttercup does explain the lethality great. Increase that lighting and you shall be set to go! Make those boys work for you!

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

Lesalynn, hope you don't mind. But I want to learn some more here and keep going with this.
I don't think holding eggs 7 days is all that long. Not to have such a high rate of infertility.
We know that JJMR has birds even older that lay fertile eggs, so your birds aren't that old.

Probably the light. But also, did you have the cold snap just before you were setting your eggs. I set mine before we had the cold spell. It went from 90's in the day to 40's at night, overnight. I am wondering if the sharp change in temperatures affected fertility this year, cause you are not the only one having trouble with fertility. Now things seem to be returning to normal.

Do the birds need a time to adjust when there is a major change in the weather?
Should we wait to set eggs when this happens?
Is it like a cold shower?
Just turns off the fertility until they have time to make the adjustment to the weather?

And JJMR just how do you keep older birds laying fertile eggs? I would like to keep some of my birds longer but my breeders have to give me fertile eggs. Are you changing out older males for younger males? We want to know your secrets.

 

[Lesalynn]

Of course I don't mind! I'd like to learn as much as I can, too.
Now that you mention it, I WAS collecting eggs during that cold snap. I can't believe I didn't take that into consideration. I had a few silkie eggs shipped to me, and I wanted the bator to be full, feeling that would help keep my temp and humidity more stable....so I began collecting eggs for hatching 3 days prior to me putting the silkie eggs in the bator. I figured I'd collect for 7 days, keeping in mind the 4 day diference in incubation between the chicken eggs and quail eggs, giving me better odds they'd all hatch about the same time.

I have been feeding them game bird feed at 28% protein. Is that ok? Too much? Too little? I hear so many conflicting opinions concerning feed. I also give them oyster shell that is ground up good. I think they waste most of it, tho. The dust in it, lol. I have been using the chick feeders for them, because they waste so much feed. Do you think I could just add a bit of oyster shell in with the feed, so they don't waste so much? Or is it better to give them free access to it? It seems no matter what I do, they still waste feed. I shovel it up with the droppings, and put in compost pile, so at least it doesn't go completely to waste, I guess.

My fiance' makes these really nice hanging cages for me. I guess he better get the tools back out, cuz he's gonna have to build 2 more. I am definitely going to just split them up with only 1 roo with the 4 hens. I'm betting that'll help a lot. But I also think it'll help me to figure out what may be going on within each different group, too.

Please, anyone reading this thread, if you have ANY ideas concerning quail, plz lay it on us. I really want to learn. So many threads I go to are just into cute pics, and ooohhhsss and aaaahhhhssss (which is ok), but I am ready to learn all I can, to make MY experience with quail even more fulfilling. And I'll bet there are lots more out there that want to learn the good stuff.

Oh, and quailladyoffortmyers----you'll be hearing from me in the spring......I want eggs. Just gotta figure out which ones. Am thinking maybe the Jumbo Browns...but we'll see.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

It just occus to me that more than a few were having fertility problems, (there was a cold snap), then problems started disappearing .

Your feed protein sounds good. Personally, as soon as these are out, I'd set more eggs just to see what you get.
I use a seive and sieve the oyster shell dust, small particles into their play sand dust bath along with crushed egg shell.

I know DH has gone from once a week to 2X wanting quail on the menu. I don't think you can hatch to many under those quide lines. And you have M. Golds, gives you an additional excuse to hatch more often.

 

[Stellar]

I would collect again, and then try again

The Manchurians can be boogers at times, it takes trial and error at times with them. I have mine separate in their own pens and have hatches going on weekly. The Manchurians have the 75% hatch (the rest dead in egg as the lethality continues). For the cold weather, I suggest a heat lamp in your pens. That way the birds can forget the fluffing up and staying warm and get busy

I have my birds indoors in pens according to their colors. I started having heat lamps for the night (as I am in Florida). It gets chilly here too. Last winter I had a bunch of lamps in the rooms.

 

[Lesalynn]

Ok, ya'll here's an update on those 36 remaining eggs.....

They started hatching Saturday night.
I had a total of 7 eggs that didn't hatch. Out of those 7 I had marked 4 as 'questionable'. I opened all 7 and only 3 had chicks in them, fully formed, just dead. Two of those 3 had their head down at the small end of the egg. All three had pipped the inner membrane, just never pipped the shell. That leaves me with 29 living chicks. Two of them look weak, and I'm figuring they probably won't make it. But for now, I have 29 alive.

I think I'll wait until hunting season is over before I try again. I'm never home weekends this time of year, (on a deer stand), and I don't feel comfortable leaving young chicks with the flip-flopping weather changes we have this time of year.

 

[shelleyd2008]

The more I look at this one, the more I think it is a bobwhite cross? Doesn't the beak look a bit too curved for a coturnix?

 

[Stellar]

Quote:
The more I look at this one, the more I think it is a bobwhite cross? Doesn't the beak look a bit too curved for a coturnix?

The beak is very black and curved. I do have some suspicion that may be why your eggs are not as fertile...

It is a pretty boy though.

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
The more I look at this one, the more I think it is a bobwhite cross? Doesn't the beak look a bit too curved for a coturnix?

SUSPICIOUS....


AS FAR AS HOLDING EGGS 7 DAYS IS FINE. THEY ACTUALLY DO BETTER IF HELD AT LEAST 48 HRS PRIOR TO SETTING AND FERTILITY SHOULD REMAIN CONSTANT UNTIL ABOUT DAY 10, THEN AFTER THAT IT DROPS FAST. THE 2 FORMED "BREECH" CHICKS LIKELY DROWNED WHEN THE PIPPED THE INNER MEMBRANES. AS ONCE THEY PIP THE INNER MEMBRANE THEY ARE ON A SHORT TIME TABLE TO BEING ABLE TO BREAT AIR OR SUFFOCATING, AND BY PIPPING THE WRONG END OF THE EGG THEY END UP NOT EVEN BEING ABLE TO STEAL AIR FROM THE AIR SACK, UNLESS THEY ARE IN A POSSITION TO PIP THRU THE SHELL AND ALL AMNIOTIC FLUID TO ESCAPE THE EGG QUICKLY THEY ARE EFFECTIVELY IN A HURT LOCKER--- THINGS GO BAD REAL FAST FROM HERE. IF THEY CAN PIP ALL THE WAY THRU THE SHELL AND THE FLUID DRAINS QUICKLY THEN THEY HAVE AN UN-OBSTRUCTED AIR HOLE AND CAN WORK ON ZIPPING THE REST OF THE WAY OUT. EVEN THEN ITS VERY DIFFICULT FOR BREECH HATCH AS THEY OFTEN TIMES DO NOT HAVE THE ROOM TO MANUEVER AROUND INSIDE IN THAT POSSITION ENOUGH TO SUCESSFULLY ZIP AND HATCH.

THIS IS 1 OF THE BEST REASONS TO HATCH UPRIGHT, IF THEY ARE SET UPRIGHT AT LOCKDOWN IT GIVES JR AOUT 48-72 HRS TO GET HIS LIL BUTT RIGHTSIDE UP, SQUARED AWAY PROPER, AND READY TO GET TO WORK ALSO MOST BREECH PRESENTATIONS FROM THIS STYLE OF HATCHING IS MORE LIKE A MIDDLE (UP AND DOWN) PIP INSTEADY OF SMALL END PIP AND GIVES THEM A MUCH BETTER SUCCESS RATE DISPITE THE ROUGH START.

OFTEN TIMES YOU WILL DO NECROPSIES ON NON HATCHING EGGS TO FIND A FULLY FORMED CHICK IN THE PROPER POSSITION, WITH INNER MEMBRANES RUPTURED BUT NO OUTER PIP--- THESE TOO DROWN AS THE BREECH DO... IF UPRIGHT GRAVITY PULLS THE AMNIOTIC FLUIDS TO THE LOWEST POINT OF THE CONTAINER (THE BOTTOM OF THE EGG) AND HELPS PREVENT HATCH DROWNINGS THAT WOULD OCCUR IF THE EGGS WERE LAYING ON THEIR SIDES.