Quails, just out of the incubator

[bigbulls 26]

These are the first birds hatched out of our own stock, i put in 50 eggs and roughly 40 hatched. Only one bird had to be knocked due to splayed legs, the first two hatches i did using eggs from two different sources to get our mixed stock birds had a lot more with splayed legs, im still not sure why this occurs though??

[Groverdog 0]

They look great. 40 out of 50 is a really good hatch rate isnt it.

 

Hope i get some sucess from my lot in the incubator just now. Last lot i put in (24 eggs) all but 5 were fertile and then for some reason heat went up to 112f on day 10 ish and all but 3 dided. Then on hatch day nothing happened. Cracked the eggs on day 22 just to see and formed chicks but had died. Guessing i f**ked up big time. Am trying again and have got 12 eggs under bantam. Reckon she will do a far better job than me!

[Keeps 403]

Bumble bees on legs Thats quite a good hatch rate if theyve survived a few days .

[agrifabs 0]

we just had 23 ringnecks in the incubator, 13 hatched, 3 had splayed legs, i waited a day and then i tied the legs to the right gap, left the cotton on for 3 or 4 days then cut it off, legs sorted, however, one of the last chicks to hatch has broken its leg, so that away from the others now, dont really know what to do with it... will the leg get better?

[Malt 379]

Great pic! I haven't seen baby quails for years, not since my uncle had them when I was a lad.

[Gav 1,708]

used to breed quail myself years ago, think its the humidity that delays hatching then you get splayed legs.

 

Nice batch, makes me want to get some more now

[bigbulls 26]

Thanks all.

As far as cost-affectivness and shear ease of rearing goes, these birds do take some beating.

We get pleanty of lovely eggs and as well as meat for ourselves, we get good clean food for our hawks.

Might sell a few lots of fertile eggs soon, special THL prices to fellow members wishing to hatch a few of course.

[lukmoun4 0]

hi

how many birds do you breed at a time?

nice to see good hatch rates

cheers luke

Edited May 28, 2008 by lukmoun4

[kreet 0]

at what age do you cull them for the table then ? im considering getting an incubator but thought they were quite pricy any advice on where to get one at a decent price would be good. do you keep hens separate for the eating eggs so they are unfertile or do you keep them with a cock so as they are fertile ? im not too clued up on this sort of thing but im starting to get very intarested in self suficiancy and id like to have a go at this i used to have quail in the aviary floor but they would lay and the eggs would just be binned as the hens wouldnt sit on them .

[bigbulls 26]

hi

how many birds do you breed at a time?

nice to see good hatch rates

cheers luke

Generally start with 50ish eggs in the incubator, it takes four days to collect 50+ eggs from the 15 hens.

[bigbulls 26]

at what age do you cull them for the table then ? im considering getting an incubator but thought they were quite pricy any advice on where to get one at a decent price would be good. do you keep hens separate for the eating eggs so they are unfertile or do you keep them with a cock so as they are fertile ? im not too clued up on this sort of thing but im starting to get very intarested in self suficiancy and id like to have a go at this i used to have quail in the aviary floor but they would lay and the eggs would just be binned as the hens wouldnt sit on them .

The birds have reached full size and are mature at six weeks, this is when i cull the table birds.

My incubator is one of the cheapest ones i think, its a Corti 25. The basic incubator was around £ and the auto turner, wich i wouldnt be without, was around £20.

I run the cocks with the hens all the while. Though its not unheard of, its rare that these type of quail will sit their eggs im told.

[Gav 1,708]

at what age do you cull them for the table then ? im considering getting an incubator but thought they were quite pricy any advice on where to get one at a decent price would be good. do you keep hens separate for the eating eggs so they are unfertile or do you keep them with a cock so as they are fertile ? im not too clued up on this sort of thing but im starting to get very intarested in self suficiancy and id like to have a go at this i used to have quail in the aviary floor but they would lay and the eggs would just be binned as the hens wouldnt sit on them .

The birds have reached full size and are mature at six weeks, this is when i cull the table birds.

My incubator is one of the cheapest ones i think, its a Corti 25. The basic incubator was around £ and the auto turner, wich i wouldnt be without, was around £20.

I run the cocks with the hens all the while. Though its not unheard of, its rare that these type of quail will sit their eggs im told.

 

All the time I had quail I never saw any sit on their eggs, we all ways had to incubate them, I dont know what breed they were (over ten years ago) I used to get them incubated at a hatch rate at 50+. All though my birds had a vast amount of open space they never hatched their own and I have never heard of quails getting broody? Maybe its me

[Guest ROOSTER]

OK this will show how thick i am but what happens to the chicks when they hatch in an incubator as in do they just start feeding and drinking from the feeders or do you put them back with the hens where they see what to do and sort of join in.

[lukmoun4 0]

do you have any pictures of the rest of the set-up your using?

cheers luke

[bigbulls 26]

OK this will show how thick i am but what happens to the chicks when they hatch in an incubator as in do they just start feeding and drinking from the feeders or do you put them back with the hens where they see what to do and sort of join in.

They are left in the incubator for 12 hours or so to dry off and find their feet, after that they go in to the brooder box that has the floor covered in chick crumb. Their natural instinct seems to be to scratch and peck at the floor so they are straight on with feeding, the drinker has pebbels in it so they can drink but not drown themselves. I never put them with any adult birds, just leave the chicks to work it out for themselves and this seems to work just fine.