Quail do not tend to sit on there own eggs, unless there in the wild, so it is very rare for a hen to go broody. If your hen does try to sit on her eggs, you might want to have an incubator close by, as she may not follow through with it, and the eggs will get cold and die.
Like most pet Quail, if they don't sit on there eggs, you can just buy/build a Quail incubator. It's not to hard, and i would suggest building one instead of buying one. It costs less, and tends to work better. If you do want to buy an incubator though, theres tons of links for them on the home page of this blog. The cheapest incubators are around $145.00.
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| My Quail Hatcher |
The picture to the left, is a pic of my quail
What you need to build this
1. Wooden boards, ply wood. (found at lows or work shops)
2. Aluminum foil or covering/insulators. (found also at work shops)
3. Brooder heat lamp, or light bulb.
4. Thermometer, temp and humidity. (best ones with both and that turn off temperature when it get to hot!, automatic)
5. Bowl or cup of water.
6. A place for the
7. A fan or drill holes for ventilation.
What to do: First make a medium size box out of wood.
Glue the aluminum all around it.
Cut a small hole in the side of the box, so you can feed a wire into it. Attach the light bulb. Make sure the light won't touch anything on the incubator. Get a dimmer if possible to help adjust the temp of the light. If you want, get a glass picture frame and glue it on top of the incubator so you can have a window to look in on your eggs. Set the water in there near the light, and put the chicks somewhere safe. Put the thermometer near the chicks. Put a small fan to or drill holes in the sides of the hatcher for ventilation. You need it to be safe for them so take out some harmful objects. Place food and water in there and you're all set. MY REAL incubator is here:
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| Little Giant Incubator |
Don't forget to turn the eggs at least 3 times a day so the embryo's don't stick to the sides of the shell, causing broken blood vessels killing the baby.
It takes about 15-21 days for the eggs to hatch depending on the breed of Quail. During the last few days of incubation, before hatching, stop turning the eggs. When the chicks hatch, keep them in the incubator and let them dry. Everyday turn the heat (temp)down a little, until the chicks are ready to be moved out of the incubator. DO NOT PUT CHICKS IN WITH MALE! The male quails will kill the chicks! Also be careful when you put them into the same place as there mother! There mother may also attack them. It's best to keep them in a separate cage, until there pretty much grown up.
If you want to learn how to make cheaper incubators (out of plastic and styrofoam) and want some other info on incubation eggs look on the home page for Incubation chicks. There should be some sights on how to incubate and raise eggs and chicks.
Inside the Egg: Before you make the incubators, you want to have fertile eggs. A good way to know of your eggs are fertile, os to crack them open. If they are fertile, they will show a small bullseye in the yolk. If they are not, the bullseye will just be a little white dot.
Put the quail eggs in the incubator for 3 days. Then take them out and candle them. If the egg has a big dark spot or mass it is fertile. If it is clear it is infertile. The big dark mass really isn;t that dark though. It is about the same color as the yolk, but more pinkish. You will be able to tell though once you've candled it. If you are sure its fertile, place it back int he incubator. If it's not, you can eat it, or feed it back to your quails. They can eat there own eggs.
How to Candle?
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| This is a quail chick embryo about 7-8 say into incubation. |
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| Candling |
