What do I do if too many chicks hatch

[Civetta]

As they say, past performance is no guarantee of future results and now I'm bracing myself for the consequences. Up to this point I've had pretty abysmal luck hatching coturnix quail, which I'm actually fine with since my aim's always been to have 5-10 birds at most.

Batch #1: Only 3 out of 20 eggs hatched, with 2 chicks surviving. One had to be dispatched for being male, so I ordered more eggs from the hatchery to raise some buddies for my lone female.

Batch #2: Another super low hatch rate with 2 out of 20 hatching, putting me at 3 birds total now. Knowing there was a 25% chance both chicks could turn out to be male, I immediately got started on a third batch just in case.

Batch #3: In my naivety - despite ordering from a different hatchery and recalibrating the incubator temperature - I assumed I'd get similar results, especially since the mailman left the box outside for who knows how many hours in <30 degree weather before I realized they'd been delivered. But of course, while prepping the incubator for lockdown today I candled the eggs and panicked to find there's a decent chance I'm going to end up with 10-13 chicks in 3 days.

I have no idea if I'm prepared to support that many babies. My brooder is 20"x14"x12" and claims to comfortably house 10-15 chicken chicks, but I'm really worried they're going to be packed in like sardines before they're feathered enough to move to the 9sqft rabbit hutch. I also don't have anywhere to put a second brooder that's easily accessible to me, but not my 4 cats.

Of course, for all I know none of the eggs could hatch, but in the event that many do and survive my main questions are:

• Is my brooder actually big enough to handle up to 15 chicks until they're fully feathered like it claims?
• Any tips for the literal shitstorm that many chicks are going to create? Even with just 2 it was poop...poop everywhere...poop for days, so the thought of 10-15 in there makes me wonder if I should invest in a hazmat suit.
• Is something like putting half in the brooder, and half in the rabbit hutch with a heating plate a valid option?
• Absolute worst case, is this a situation where I should emotionally prepare myself to cull newborn chicks?

Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[Nabiki]

If you get too many chicks, you can probably advertise them on craiglist and sell the extras. 15 chicks don't take up much space, but you will need a lot more space in a week or two. You should be able to have found homes for/sold the extras by then.

 

[Civetta]

I can definitely try that! Never crossed my mind since dealing with Craigslist randos always makes me super anxious, but I'd rather attempt that over culling if there aren't any other options. I'll still keep an eye on this thread for other suggestions in case I'm not able to find anyone to take extra chicks.

 

[Nabiki]

Check with your local feed stores too. They often have bulletin boards where you can post something like extra quail chicks.

 

[NatJ]

my aim's always been to have 5-10 birds at most.

Batch #1: Only 3 out of 20 eggs hatched, with 2 chicks surviving. One had to be dispatched for being male

while prepping the incubator for lockdown today I candled the eggs and panicked to find there's a decent chance I'm going to end up with 10-13 chicks in 3 days.

If "too many" chicks hatch, it might be worth arranging a big enough brooder to raise them all to the point where you can tell which are males and which are females. If 13 chicks hatch, and you currently have 3 older ones, that makes 16. You will probably want to remove at least some of the males, which will probably leave you nicely within your target range of 5-10 total.

My brooder is 20"x14"x12" and claims to comfortably house 10-15 chicken chicks

• Is my brooder actually big enough to handle up to 15 chicks until they're fully feathered like it claims?
• Absolute worst case, is this a situation where I should emotionally prepare myself to cull newborn chicks?

Any advice is much appreciated!

If the brooder says it will handle 10-15 chicken chicks, it should handle at least that many newly-hatched quail. So I would start by raising all the quail chicks that hatch, for at least the first few days. Be prepared to remove chicks if they do get too big to fit under the brooder while they still need the heat, but you should have at least a little while before that happens.

I would keep an eye out for any that may be less healthy than the rest, because if you do need to cull a few, they are the obvious ones to remove. ("Less healthy" could mean slower to eat & drink, pasty butt, curled toes, spraddled legs, extra-small, picked on by the others, etc.) I would also watch for any that cause social issues (like frequently picking at their hatchmates), and consider them as possible-culls also.

And if they are able to use the brooder plate long enough that you can tell males from females, you can reduce the numbers in a way that leaves whatever ratio you want of females to males.

 

[Civetta]

If "too many" chicks hatch, it might be worth arranging a big enough brooder to raise them all to the point where you can tell which are males and which are females. If 13 chicks hatch, and you currently have 3 older ones, that makes 16. You will probably want to remove at least some of the males, which will probably leave you nicely within your target range of 5-10 total.



If the brooder says it will handle 10-15 chicken chicks, it should handle at least that many newly-hatched quail. So I would start by raising all the quail chicks that hatch, for at least the first few days. Be prepared to remove chicks if they do get too big to fit under the brooder while they still need the heat, but you should have at least a little while before thta happens.

I would keep an eye out for any that may be less healthy than the rest, because if you do need to cull a few, they are the obvious ones to remove. ("Less healthy" could mean slower to eat & drink, pasty butt, curled toes, spraddled legs, extra-small, picked on by the others, etc.) I would also watch for any that cause social issues (like frequently picking at their hatchmates), and consider them as possible-culls also.

And if they are able to use the brooder plate long enough that you can tell males from females, you can reduce the numbers in a way that leaves whatever ratio you want of females to males.

Thank you so much for this very sensible advice! Great timing too since 9 chicks decided to hatch yesterday (Day 16). As of this morning they're all doing really well - and are by far the most sociable and cuddly chicks I've hatched - but I'll keep an eye out for any that start fading. The one I'm most concerned about hatched half-bald, but its feathers are slowly filling in and is otherwise acting fine.

I'm planning to cull the males once they're fully grown, so unless I won the hen lottery my hope is to come out in the end with a manageable number of birds. Going to do my best to make sure they all have enough space and warmth in the meantime, whether that's with me or someone else.

Obligatory family photo!