Recent content by jargon777

Breezy Bird farms will ship eggs, but she is Manitoba-based so the shipping can be pricy to ensure they arrive on time. I ordered a batch last year of some black-feathered celedon layers, but between my Amazon-bought incubator, and my selection of economy shipping I only managed to get one...

I have one of those cheap 100$ ones from Amazon. I did put a thermometer in it the first time to make sure it was sort of reliable. In general it worked fine. On the high end I have had hatch rates of 80-90%, but on the low end sometimes I've had bad hatches of 50% (usually when I mess up with...

I am in Southern Ontario too -- had mine for a couple winters outside now (tri-cities area). I have just covered up the pen just after the temps dip below freezing regularly. This year, yah, the winter was mild. Last year I gave them a bunch of fresh straw to burrow in but not sure if they...

I house varying amounts of 15-20 in a communal pen about 40 sqft (also about 3 roos at any time). I could go more dense, but my setup is a walk-in aviary style so I find it feels crowded to walk around when there's too many birds. Usually things work out fine once everyone settles in. I would...

Looks more like overcrowding to me than disease. Quail will often peck at each other's eyes (esp males when fighting) and looks like it's been going on for awhile. Could be it's developed into something worse, hard to tell from just pics. Looks like a couple have lost a lot feathers too?

Mine started laying too but we had a cold snap the past few days and I am too slow in getting the eggs before they freeze. I tossed 10 frozen eggs today 🥶

I have also heard this so I did add some for them when my hen went broody. I think they like to feel safe when hatching the eggs, so I think mostly they need some nooks or brush to hide in. I don't have live grass, just hay, cut branches and my coop/run is one integrated thing (4x10) (I guess...

I have had a coturnix hen go broody once last year, but mine are kept on dirt in a natural-ish environment. I hope to have it happen again this year as it's a lot easier than using a bator/light as the mama quail is doing the work for free. I agree with le_bwah, broodiness will only happen if...

I think they might be a bit too big and quail may be able to go in them and step on the food? I find waste is minimised the most when quail have to put their head in something to reach the food. The simplest is a container with some holes cut in it.

If you want to check, you could try feeling the eggs. If a hen has been sitting on them, they will feel noticeably warm to the touch. If they feel cold, or only one feels warm, they are just "laying" in that spot. My hens also like to lay in 2-3 specific spots in the coop, without necessarily...

If the males are over-breeding the hens you could look behind their heads to see if feathers are missing. 1:1 is too much IMO, your hens will end up bald eventually at those ratios. Even 2:3 is still too much. I have a group at 1:3 and even at that ratio I notice one of the hens is over-bred and...

These are coturnix quail? I live in Ontario (we get temps below 0F) and I only do the following put some plastic barriers around the sides of the coop. The coop ends up more-or-less covered. Wind is the biggest thing really, but where the coop is in my yard is quite sheltered anyway. provide...

This is what seemed to happen for me, but out of 8 hens in the enclosure only 1 went broody after having incubated chicks hatch nearby. Could be a coincidence though 🤷‍♂️ . There is some evidence though for chickens (eg this study)

Yah, I agree -- my statement wasn't that quail won't brood ("genetics don't favour brooding"), it was for OP to temper his expectations as, since quail also haven't been selectively bred for increased broodiness, it will require more effort to get them to get in that state. Even among older...

If you don't select for a trait, it may not get passed on. Incubation allows genes that would lead to no offspring to be passed on. So, it's not that quail won't be able to brood, genes for good parenting can still pass on, but just that others will too. It's like any other trait, temperment...