That Quail Place Forum
Raising Gamebirds => Brooding and Raising => Topic started by: WHITNEYPLU on July 20, 2007, 02:53:01 AM
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I always see people asking alot of the same questions here and maybe this will help out a little. The questions you have are most likely covered here in the archives but when in doubt always ask, after all this is what it the forum is for. When Steve or Reeves post pay alot of attention to it. When asking a question put in as much details as you can no matter how small you might think it is, the little things claim more birds than the bigger things.
This is how I start all my game birds, it works the best for me, everyone does it a little different. First get the freshest eggs you can and never keep a egg more than 7 days before incubation. Make sure to store your eggs little point down, I store mine in my incubation trays, and put them into the incubator every Friday. Keep the incubator at 99.5 degrees and the humidity around 50%. Three days before they are to hatch put them in a hatcher( if hand turning stop turning them). I will not help them out of the shell as this is a sign of a weak chick and almost always they will have health problems that could be past to the other birds. Also the other birds will know he is weak and this could cause them to start pecking, let nature take its course and if they do not hatch then its meant to be. Most the time this is due to the temp in the incubator being to low or the humidity level being to low in the incubator. When brooding them if you think its to small than it is, bigger is better. Never use cedar shavings, try to use straw. I have professional stack brooders and use them mainly but sometimes I have more than they can hold. When this happens I always brood mine in a 10'x 10' box with untreated plywood sides 24" tall and I use 1/4" hardware cloth on the bottom about 3" up from the ground to let the droppings pass thru and still be sheltered from drafts. I use a propane brooder heater but have used hanging lights with 250 watt red heat bulbs in them suspended to keep the heat at 95 degrees the first week. Then decrease this by 5 degrees until feathered or 80 degrees. When putting them into grow out pens I personally like my birds to be on wire to help reduce disease, on flight pens this is hard to do. When on the ground never let water stand make sure you have plenty of drainage. I will worm my birds at six weeks old no matter if its a chicken or a quail and again at 6 months intervals. I do this right before the breeding season as to not interfer with fertility. During the breeding season I will mix kelp into their feed to help fertility and hatchability. Always provide grit free choice to all birds and they love treats. This can be greens, watermelon, peas, black oil sunflower seeds, etc. just make sure they have grit available. Also anytime I get a new birds I always give them Terramycin at 1 tsp per gallon of water for the first 5 days to help them out, and when they come from my incubator I start them out with vitamin and electrolyte additives to their water to "jump start" them.
Be sure to collect eggs at least twice a day to get the cleanest eggs possible,the dirty ones can be cleaned with fine sandpaper. Only use normal sized eggs, ones that are small or overly large do no hatch that well. NEVER let anyone into your pens that raises birds, I don't let anyone period unless its my npip inspector, even then he wears bioclothing. If your buying birds and they unusually cheap then stay clear this usually spells trouble. Try to buy from a certified flock as this will save you trouble in the long run, even if you are just a hobbyist. Alway keep different ages of birds together by species and do not mix the age groups. Quail do not need to be mixed in with pheasant etc.. this will most likely lead to pecking. This will get you started but remember the best thing is to start small and have a big pen/ cage the more room the better, read up on the birds and know what you are getting into first, then add the birds. Never think you know it all as the birds will teach you better. Good luck ,
Dusty