Journey into quail

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Yes, that's what we've found - the quail most often raised for meat and eggs, coturnix (coturnix is Latin for quail, so I don't call them coturnix quail :ROFLMAO: ) do not go broody, even when given nest boxes, brush and grass to hide in, etc. However...many years ago we had a few coturnix escape into the swamp on the edge of our property, and for years and years we continued to hear the distinctive crowing of the male coturnix out there. Either they were longest-living coturnix in history, or they found a way to reproduce on their own. My kids are fond of quoting Jurassic Park, "Life...finds a way." ;) But we never discovered any way to encourage them to do so in captivity.

Although we originally kept the quail on wire, we quit doing that when we discovered that keeping them on solid bedding greatly extended their lifespan (from 2 to 5-6 years), kept them much healthier (their feet weren't destroyed by scratching on the wire while they ate), and allowed them to maintain their feathers beautifully, which they couldn't do on wire even when we provided sand boxes.

Regarding hatch success, barring some exceptions due to power outages, we've always had between 80%-100% hatch rates with the coturnix, much more consistent than our chicken hatches. For good hatches we take the following precautions:
Reject eggs that are (or might be) cracked, or are very dirty.
As @TamiPac points out, you have to be very careful about cracks in the eggs - cracks are hard to spot because of the coloration on the eggs, and because the membrane is so sturdy that a crack in the shell is not always easily noticed. We had a lot more trouble with cracks when we kept the quail on wire; now that we keep them on the ground in the grass in a tractor, we have very little trouble. We also find that it's another reason to keep the number of males to a minimum (1-2 cocks per 4-8 hens), which keeps the chasing and flailing around to a minimum as well.
Collect eggs multiple times a day.
This keeps the eggs clean, and out of harm's way from quail that are scratching, mating or bickering.
Let the eggs rest (but do turn them) before incubating, up to 10 days after they were laid.
Keep collected eggs at room temperature and turn them a minimum of 3-4 times a day.

We keep the eggs in egg cartons on a table in the living room where we will see them and remember to turn them, with one end of the carton propped up on a book; we rotate the carton in the morning, at bedtime, and at least 1 or 2 more times during the day. Even easier is to keep the eggs in an automatic turner, which fits in the old-style foam incubators but can also be used by itself on a table:
View attachment 42778
Jumbo coturnix eggs are plenty big enough to fit in the rails designed for chicken eggs; in fact many of them are too big to fit in the rails designed for quail. Anyway, with the auto turner you don't have to remember to keep turning the eggs yourself. We've never done anything in terms of regulating humidity or temperature; we just keep everything on the table.
Give the eggs an extra day in the incubator, at least, after the first ones start hatching.
Maybe it's because of thousands of years of domestication, but quail eggs don't seem to have nearly the hatching synchronization that chickens do. We frequently have eggs still pipping and successfully hatching 48 hours after the first chicks come out. We had a funny/sad episode when, after 36 hours of hatching, I dumped the remaining unhatched eggs over our 6' fence into the compost pile (which is warm, but we're in Alaska, so it's never that warm). A few hours later we heard peeping that was undeniably quail-like. No less than five more eggs had hatched after being tossed, and several more were pipped but didn't make it (probably from being thrown out of the incubator!). Collecting those "composted" chicks put that hatch at over 90%. 😁
Thanks! Never knew I needed to rotate before going in incubator. Will keep trying.on 3rd incubator now. This has a built in water tank and beeps when empty. Don't know if I could do a dry hatch... Nice to hear yours are doing so well
 
If you have quail that actually go broody and raise their own chicks you have a very rare bunch of quail there. I'd see about selling some for people who'd want that trait for self sufficiency and such.
Quail have been bred to not go broody and just lay eggs for centuries.
That's good to know. I didn't know that. Guess I have to learn how to incubate finally. Or teach my chicken hens to raise them. Wouldn't that be a sight 😂
 
I agree with eating it all! I cook the entire bird and we gnaw away.

I maybe have just been lucky with hatching...i have a nurture rite 360. I so far have put in as many as 16 eggs...first batch every single one made it to hatch and two died in hatching. This last hatch out of 16 eggs i hatched 12 birds...2 were infertile and 2 died sometime early in week two. 1 bird did not clear the shell immediately..i had to remove what i guess was the umbilical. It was just a smaller chick and made it 48 hours then died.

I have the incubator in a dark quiet room...i find that helps with this incubators temp fluctuations. I lost almost an entire hatch of broilers not realizing it was getting some sun in thr afternoon that was really messing with the temp.
That is the incubator I've been looking at. I have been seeing not so great reviews lately so I haven't bought one yet.
 
I don't mist eggs, in fact I go to some lengths to make sure eggs never get wet. During storage or incubation, moisture on the shell can cause bacteria to move into the egg. During pipping or hatching, believe it or not, chicks can actually drown from a poorly-placed water droplet. o_O

I use the old-style foam box incubator with an automatic turner for all hatches, removing the eggs from the turner a few days before the hatch is due to happen. I frequently leave hatched chicks in the incubator far longer than 24 hours to avoid disturbing the ones still hatching, and have not had issues with that in terms of chick health. I've left chicken chicks in there up to 40 hours. In my experience, there is a bigger risk to chicks still in the process of hatching (i.e. becoming stuck to the membrane when the humidity drops as a result of opening the incubator), than there is to leaving already hatched chicks in there longer than recommended.

When and if I do eventually open the incubator to pull chicks out before the hatch is finished, I add very warm water to the reservoir in the bottom of the incubator and let evaporation increase the humidity, rather than spraying water over the eggs. I've also learned to watch out for excessive condensation on the lid of the incubator, which can allow water to drip onto the eggs, which, again, I have found causes problem.
I have an old one that I have never used in the barn still in the box. Got on clearance when a local feed store closed. I haven't tried it although I have wanted to with chicken eggs due to not being confident in the humidity etc. It has the auto egg turner and everything. I should try it out I guess. Good tips!
 
I have an old one that I have never used in the barn still in the box. Got on clearance when a local feed store closed. I haven't tried it although I have wanted to with chicken eggs due to not being confident in the humidity etc. It has the auto egg turner and everything. I should try it out I guess. Good tips!
Get that little piece of gold out of the barn!!!!
 
I'll do that. Maybe grab some trial eggs from the coop just to see if I can get anything to hatch. It doesn't have instructions so it's been sitting. Can't even find good directions online.
What model is it? I do dry hatches and don't add water until lockdown. Then I fill up all the water and let it go. I had to put a thermometer in there to double check if the temp was right. Mine runs 1 degree behind what it reads so I just upped the temp and it's been going for 2 years now.
 
What model is it? I do dry hatches and don't add water until lockdown. Then I fill up all the water and let it go. I had to put a thermometer in there to double check if the temp was right. Mine runs 1 degree behind what it reads so I just upped the temp and it's been going for 2 years now.
I will go dig it out and get back to you. That's great to know!
 
What model is it? I do dry hatches and don't add water until lockdown. Then I fill up all the water and let it go. I had to put a thermometer in there to double check if the temp was right. Mine runs 1 degree behind what it reads so I just upped the temp and it's been going for 2 years now.
Farm innovators model 4200 is what I have.
 
Well in the first ever batch that I am working on hatching I candled at lock down and I have 5 viable eggs and 4 that never developed anything so believe them to never have been fertilized anyway. I also got my Jumbo White Wing eggs yesterday and another incubator was loaned to me to see if it works better this time. 32 eggs where shipped and 6 where broken. I feel it was more of my mail carrier who brought them to my little town that mishandled the parcel as she doesn't like me and has had no problems letting all our coworkers know about it since she first met me 2 years ago. I am putting the other 26 Jumbo eggs into the incubator this morning on automatic turners this time so I don't have to go in and constantly mess with them this time around. Shall see how this one goes! Will upload pictures of quail area when we finish getting the new cages built this weekend.

Oh also, quick question. These guys are 5 weeks old now and I think I have guessed correctly but would like confirmation from those with more experience.

Roo
IMG_0401.JPG
Hen
IMG_0402.JPG
 
Well in the first ever batch that I am working on hatching I candled at lock down and I have 5 viable eggs and 4 that never developed anything so believe them to never have been fertilized anyway. I also got my Jumbo White Wing eggs yesterday and another incubator was loaned to me to see if it works better this time. 32 eggs where shipped and 6 where broken. I feel it was more of my mail carrier who brought them to my little town that mishandled the parcel as she doesn't like me and has had no problems letting all our coworkers know about it since she first met me 2 years ago. I am putting the other 26 Jumbo eggs into the incubator this morning on automatic turners this time so I don't have to go in and constantly mess with them this time around. Shall see how this one goes! Will upload pictures of quail area when we finish getting the new cages built this weekend.

Oh also, quick question. These guys are 5 weeks old now and I think I have guessed correctly but would like confirmation from those with more experience.

Roo
View attachment 42903
Hen
View attachment 42904
That looks correct to me - red=breasted male on top, speckled breast female on bottom.
 
Well in the first ever batch that I am working on hatching I candled at lock down and I have 5 viable eggs and 4 that never developed anything so believe them to never have been fertilized anyway. I also got my Jumbo White Wing eggs yesterday and another incubator was loaned to me to see if it works better this time. 32 eggs where shipped and 6 where broken. I feel it was more of my mail carrier who brought them to my little town that mishandled the parcel as she doesn't like me and has had no problems letting all our coworkers know about it since she first met me 2 years ago. I am putting the other 26 Jumbo eggs into the incubator this morning on automatic turners this time so I don't have to go in and constantly mess with them this time around. Shall see how this one goes! Will upload pictures of quail area when we finish getting the new cages built this weekend.

Oh also, quick question. These guys are 5 weeks old now and I think I have guessed correctly but would like confirmation from those with more experience.

Roo
View attachment 42903
Hen
View attachment 42904
In my covey I'd call them 2 hens. My roos have rusty breast all the way upIMG_20240901_140739552.jpg
 
Okay so still has more mature feathering then the ones I have. I have separated the ones with less speckles verses the ones that look identical to the second one that I have pictured above.
Yes and there is variety among Coturnix. These are jumbo Pharoh. And I have been saving the "pretty boys" as breeders for several years. When they start crowing you will know.
 
Okay so still has more mature feathering then the ones I have. I have separated the ones with less speckles verses the ones that look identical to the second one that I have pictured above.
There are also cues on the face in many varieties of coturnix (the cues are not there in varieties like Rosettas, Tibetans, Texas A&Ms, or Tuxedos with white faces). Eventually Pharaoh and Jumbo males develop red cheek patches and throat, with fancy outlines. Even though the red has only just started to develop, you can see the difference not only in the pattern on neck feathers but also on the faces and throats (male first, female second):
coturnix male face.jpg coturnix female face.jpg
 
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