Monday, May 7, 2012

The Official Count IS.....

19!
When I took them out this morning I counted them and there are 19! Yeah! They were good for me this time and none of them jumped out of the incubator when I opened it as they tend to do when there is that many. I was quite pleased since I am still having trouble getting the humidity up at hatch time now that the incubator is in the spare room instead of my closet, but I did manage to get it up to 48%. Apparently that was enough.
Of course, after I started taking picture they all wanted to move. 
Here they are close up. Nothing like a bright blinding flash for your first day in the brooder.
I'll give the other eggs another day, then I may wait for the duck eggs to hatch before putting in another batch of quail. Out of the 5 duck eggs it looks like only 3 may have survived which bothers me since I was especially attentive this time and made sure they were turned and moistened each day. But that is just the way hatching goes sometimes.

16 comments:

  1. Very, very cute. You're a good mama :)

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  2. They are only cute when they are this small. Once they start to grow, they just look like...dinner.

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    1. That's hilarious!! I just about spit water all over my monitor. I can honestly say I've never eaten quail but I assume much like chicken?

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    2. Think a very tender chicken with tiny bones (the bones are a bit of an aggravation but the tender meat is wonderful).

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  3. Wow! So many chicks! It can provide your with a meal of quail throughout the year.

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    1. 19 quail will provide about 3 meals for the three of us. You have to, at least, make 2 quail each, 3 is better but Michelle will only eat one anyway if she eats any at all.

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  4. Yay and they are very cute. Congratulations. Now for the fattening up I presume.

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    1. About 10 weeks is what I like to fatten mine up for. They are mature by 6-8 weeks but they fill out more for a couple weeks after that.

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  5. They are so pretty!
    Now you got me interested in raising some ;)
    What type of quail are they?
    Carolyn

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    1. These are corturnix or Japanese pharaoh quail. You can also get the English white corturnix or the Texas A&M (just keep in mind that the Texas A&M aren't really that anymore, too many people have bred them who don't know what they are doing) but I think the brown ones are better. Keep the biggest as breeders and cull the little ones and extras.

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  6. They sure are cute, being single, it would be tuff for me to keep a lot of animals out in the bush. I would have a full time job keeping the predators away.

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    1. You'd just need a good barn or a heated basement or maybe a spare room like where I keep my chicks, lol.

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  7. Wow, so many! You're going to be busy!

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