ABOUT THE QUAIL | Hatching & Care of the Coturnix Quail

Helpful Tips!

We recommend using shelf liner in your incubator if the floors are slippery to help prevent splay legs.

 

 

When hatching day arrives it is very exciting but for the best results it’s best to not open the incubator until you have to in order to keep the humidity and temperature consistent. Having both temperature and humidity consistant throughout hatching is paramount. Humidity will determine how much moisture an egg loses over incubation. Opening frequently can cause the moisture to drop causing the internal membrane to become tight shrink wrapping the chick inside unable to move to hatch and eventually die. Too much moisture and the chick could drown from the excess liquid in the egg.

 

Have your brooder up and running and wait to move chicks around 48 hours to try to not compromise others from hatching. Quail do best at 95° F in the brooder after their hatch for the first week so they can learn to regulate their body temperature in a relatively safe environment. After one week, gradually lower the temperature 5° F per week until the birds are fully feathered at 3-4 weeks of age then remove heat.

What to Feed Coturnix Quail

Quail need a high-protein game bird feed. Quail should be fed a game bird/turkey starter feed with 28 – 30% protein and no more than 1.5% calcium until they are 7-8 weeks old or start laying. After beginning to lay the quail should be transitioned to a game bird or turkey layer/breeder/all-purpose feed with 17-22% protein and 2-3 % calcium. We supplement with Fertrell Poultry Show and Breeder Supplement as most feeds are severely lacking in methionine and fat.

 

Get yourself some Quail Scissors which are specialized scissors that are used to efficiently open quail eggs as they can be more difficult to crack than other eggs.

Hatching Tips and Recommendations for Hatching

Our eggs are shipped unwashed, so the bloom remains intact and protects the eggs from outside bacteria. Please do not wash the eggs before incubation.

 

Please let us know if you would like to have your package labeled to be held at the post office for your pickup, good idea in extreme temperatures.

 

Once eggs arrive please keep the pointy end down while resting and then set in the incubator after you receive the eggs within 12 to 24 hours of coming to room temperature and resting. Resting is really important as it helps the eggs recover from the movement and temperature changes they undergo during shipping.

 

After resting it is important to get your eggs into your incubator quickly as fertility is best in the first seven days and begins to rapidly decline after the 10 day mark.

 

We highly recommend a secondary hygrometer/thermometer in the incubator to make sure it is reading correctly. Have your incubator up and running with the humidity and temperature stabilized prior to setting your eggs.

 

Always make sure to wash your hands and sanitize your incubator and equipment so not to introduce unhealthy bacteria.

 

We use and recommend using the Hatching Time CT Setting and Hatching Incubators which recommends temperatures and humidity specific to their products. For general non commercial incubators these are our suggestions but please refer to your own incubator manual for their official guidelines as they all differ somewhat. Set temperature at 99.5 degrees F and humidity of 45% for days 1 – 14 and then raise to 60% to 65% at lockdown when you stop turning, then get ready for babies in about 3 days.

 

We do understand how exciting it is to see the development inside the egg, however we do not recommend candling with all that handling and with the constant fluctuations in humidity and temperature it can absolutely negatively affect hatch rate.

 

Coturnix normally hatch in 17 – 18 days, but a low temperature in the incubator or jostling during shipping may cause the hatch to be delayed by 2-3 days.

About Us

Learn more about us and the Katie The Quail Lady farm on our About Us page!