OK, I have a little business with quail and other game birds. I have been hatching small batches of Coturnix quail for awhile now, with about a 50-60% hatch rate in a little Hova Bator. Recently I swallowed hard and spent the $650.00 on a digital GQF SPortsman 1502. On the last batches of 9 eggs my hatch rate leaped to 100%. The Sportsman is fantastic. The issue is that the chicks are not healthy. Out of the last 9, it soon became apparent that they were sickly, with curled toes, splayed legs, and they began dying at the rate of one per day. Stretched out on the brooder floor, dead. Two of the chicks from Friday have flourished, gaining weight and acting like the other 1000 chicks I have hatched over the years, and I cull any deformed chicks quickly, so it is not a change in my brood stock. These are my eggs. Another batch 4 of the 9 died within days after hatching. I was wondering if anyone had a similar issue when they stepped up to a Sportsman? It also may be too cold for the chicks in the barn, its been down in the mid 30s here and we had frost one night. I used to brood them in my garage, but moved everything to the little barn out back. Same feed, same layers, same everything except the incubator. Getting frustrated, and I about to unpack the Hova Bator and try a hatch to see if it is the Sportsman.
