Category Archives: Quail – Other

INCUBATION AND HATCHING RATES with Coturnix coturnix Eggs

I hatch between 30 and 40 eggs every week and keep meticulous records (ex scientist) and hatching percentage at present is about 78% (chicks alive at 3 days of age of eggs placed). This is for all eggs placed over at least a 12 month period. It also includes some batches from much older birds as well as batches of very young birds, as I may sometimes collect eggs from these before they are either sold or slaughtered. Very young and very old birds obviously have lower egg viability and hence affect the records. It is not uncommon to get 90%+ hatchings from the commercial flocks. My records also include hatchings from Male lines and Female lines, Breeding Parent Stock, where I have lower Male to Female ratios and different ages in the same cages, where hatching percentages are not always that good

I must emphasise that these results are obtained by using very good commercial incubators and hatchers (FIEM) and it is not possible to achieve these results over an extended period with most of the cheap equipment on offer nowadays. Even with my equipment, the monitors in the incubators and hatchers are not always 100 % accurate and I have seperate calibrated thermometers and wet bulb thermometers to compare all the time, making sure settings are actually achieved inside the machines.

Quail Eggs are much more sensitive / difficult to hatch compared to chicken, or most other specie, eggs

The ideal settings for my conditions for Coturnix coturnix are :

Day 1 to day 14 – RH (%) – 60

Day 1 to day 14 – Temperature (C) – 37.7

Day 15 to hatch – RH (%) – 80

Day 15 to hatch – Temperature (C) – 37.5

The following hatching conditions I have found over the years are giving the best hatching and survival rates for Coturnix coturnix quails

I collect eggs for up to 3 days, depending on how many I want to incubate, then class them for hatching.

1. Do not clean or wash the eggs at all

2. Remove any odd colours and shapes of eggs

3. Candle all eggs for fine cracks and discard cracked eggs

4. Weigh the eggs and only incubate eggs that are between 12 and 15 grams. Smaller eggs result in weaker chicks, while larger eggs (15 g plus) is not preferred since it becomes too large for the hens. The incidence of double yolks are not always detectable and is more frequent in larger eggs. I select hens for about 280 – 300 g body mass and do not breed from larger birds. This is the most economical bird and eggs size.

5. Incubators are set at 37.7 Celsius and 60% (RH) Humidity. Hatchers are set at 37.5 C and 80 % (RH) Humidity. I monitor and adjust incubators and hatchers for both these two parameters with independent monitors as incubator measuring and displays are not always that accurate, even with my FIEM commercial, sophisticated and well proven machines. I use calibrated thermometers and wet bulb thermometers. Preheat incubators and hatchers for a couple of hours before setting.

I am always trying to simulate nature during incubation and hatching and therefore keep the inside of the machines dark, as if under a hen. Furthermore there are some research published lately suggesting to have better hatching results if the incubators and hatchers are switched off for about 30 minutes every day, again simulating the hen getting up to eat. I have not tried it, but will experiment with this soon.

Keep hatchers and incubators in an environment as close as possible to the setting parameters. Also avoid fluctuations in conditions and make sure there are no drafts, but it should be very well ventilated.

6. Coturnix coturnix eggs are incubated for 14 days (37.7 Celsius and 60 % (RH) Humidity) while automatically turned every 2 hours. Then they go into the hatcher (37.5 C and 80 % (RH) Humidity) until hatching at about 17 days. I leave the chicks undisturbed for 24 – 36 hours after the first chick hatched and then move all the hatched chicks to the brooders and stop hatching. I do not assist any chicks that struggle to hatch, or still in the eggs.

HATCHING TIMES

I use the same incubation and hatching parameters for many other species as well. All are moved to the hatchers 3 days prior to hatching and are just left in the incubators until 3 days before hatching, whatever time that may be.

Pheasants 24 Days (21 + 3)

Partridge 23 Days (20 + 3)

Bob White Quail 23 Days (20 + 3)

Californian Quail 22 Days (19 + 3)

Coturnix coturnix 17 Days (14 + 3)

HATCHING COTURNIX COTURNIX QUAILS

The following hatching conditions I have found over the years are giving the best hatching and survival rates for Coturnix coturnix quails

I collect eggs for up to 3 days, depending on how many I want to incubate, then class them for hatching.

1. Do not clean or wash the eggs at all

2. Remove any odd colours and shapes of eggs

3. Candle all eggs for fine cracks and discard cracked eggs

4. Weigh the eggs and only incubate eggs that are between 12 and 15 grams. Smaller eggs result in weaker chicks, while larger eggs (15 g plus) is not preferred since it becomes too large for the hens. The incidence of double yolks are not always detectable and is more frequent in larger eggs. I select hens for about 280 – 300 g body mass and do not breed from larger birds. This is the most economical bird and eggs size.

5. Incubators are set at 37.7 Celsius and 45 degrees Humidity. Hatchers are set at 37.5 C and 80 % Humidity. I monitor and adjust incubators and hatchers for both these two parameters with independent monitors as incubator measuring and displays are not always that accurate, even with my commercial, sophisticated and well proven machines. Notice the independent thermometers and wet bulb thermometers through the front windows of the machines. Preheat incubators and hatchers for a couple of hours before setting.

I am always trying to simulate nature during incubation and hatching and therefore keep the inside of the machines dark, as if under a hen. Furthermore there are some research published lately suggesting to have better hatching results if the incubators and hatchers are switched off for about 30 minutes every day, again simulating the hen getting up to eat. I have not tried it, but will experiment with this soon.

Keep hatchers and incubators in an environment as close as possible to the setting parameters. Also avoid fluctuations in conditions and make sure there are no drafts, but it should be very well ventilated.

6. Coturnix coturnix eggs are incubated for 14 days (37.7 Celsius and 45 degrees Humidity) while automatically turned every 2 hours. Then they go into the hatcher (37.5 C and 80 % Humidity) until hatching at about 17 days. I leave the chicks undisturbed for 24 – 36 hours after the first chick hatched and then move all the hatched chicks to the brooders and stop hatching. I do not assist any chicks that struggle to hatch, or still in the eggs.

HATCHING TIMES

I use the same incubation and hatching parameters for many other species as well. All are moved to the hatchers 3 days prior to hatching and are just left in the incubators until 3 days before hatching, whatever time that may be.

Pheasants 24 Days (21 + 3)

Partridge 23 Days (20 + 3)

Bob White Quail 23 Days (20 + 3)

Californian Quail 22 Days (19 + 3)

Coturnix coturnix 17 Days (14 + 3)

HOW DO I SEX MY COTURNIX QUAILS

A question that I often get is “How do I sex my quails?”

The easiest is that the male quails crow and the females do not. Should your quails be well housed and fed, the males will start crowing at about 3 weeks of age. I catch the crowing males and place them in a different brooder and come the time that they can go out to the breeding cages, or be sold, at 6 – 7 weeks of age, they are all sexed. Mature male quails only crow when sexually active during the breeding season and not so much when molting and not producing. Secondly the Pharoah colour and Italian colour can be feather sexed in that the males have brown feathers on the chest where the females have black spotted chests. The problem comes with the Tibetan colour and White colour where you cannot feather sex them as males and females look alike. All birds can be vent sexed though. The cloaca opening in the female is larger and more plump. In the males the cloaca opening is more tight and they also have a red swollen gland on the top end of the cloaca opening and when pressed a white substance appears, which is lubricant and not semen. The females do not have this gland. This gland in the males is also very depressed when not in the breeding cycle and it is more difficult to distinguish then.

Italian Coturnix coturnix Male with brown feathers on the chest

Italian Coturnix coturnix Female with black spotted chest feathers

Pharoah Coturnix coturnix Male with brown chest feathers

Pharoah Coturnix coturnix Female with black spotted chest feathers

Tibetan Coturnix coturnix – Males and Females look alike

White Coturnix coturnix – Males and Females look alike

221 / 221 Egg Production

 

My Coturnix coturnix breeding program provides me with lots of joy, satisfaction and brain food in my immediate and small environment where myself and Mrs BYF have an almost self sustainable lifestyle.

The scientist in me dictates to measure, interpret and use the facts to improve my own efforts.

I take many measurements from the quails as they proceed through their life cycle and use these to breed a better bird. Some of the measurements I take are :

  • 3 Week body mass
  • 5 Week body mass
  • 7 week body mass (When I select Breeding Stock)
  • 100 day body mass (Used as mature body weight in my index calculations)
  • Daily egg production
  • Daily egg mass
  • Body conformation
  • Temperament
  • Feather quality
  • Feet quality
  • Beak quality
  • Age
  • Longevity
  • Weight all birds at least once a month, irrespective of age
  • Any possible hereditary defect is an immediate disqualification

I use all these to calculate a weighted index at seven weeks and again revise the index at 100 days

In the past I did these for 4 different breeds i.e. Golden Italian, Pharaoh, Tibetan and Texan White. This was becoming overly complex and limited numbers caused progress to plateau. With limited or no genetic stock of similar quality available in New Zealand, I decided to amalgamate all breeds into a new breed – The Back Yard Farmer Quail (If Coturnix japonica is accepted as a breed, maybe I can apply for Coturnix backyardia  ). I now have four times as many animals to select from with one less selection parameter – colour. The interesting thing is that all Whites have disappeared and very few Tibetans are left as the Italians and Pharaohs take over on merit only. There is a new colour developing, being a dark cross between all the breeds.

I have several spreadsheets that automatically update as I collect data including dates and ages of all birds. The result is that I can provide all parameters and indices for any bird, updated, at any time. I also calculate averages over all parameters.

Some of the results of 5 years of selective breeding are :

  • Increased body mass of about 80 g per bird
  • Increased egg production of about 30 %
  • Calm and contented birds compared to nervous non adaptable birds
  • Drop of hereditary defects from about 20 % of the population to less than 1 % of all birds
  • Increased fecundity
  • Improved feather quality and body confirmation
  • A very contented Back Yard Farmer!

Egg production is monitored on a daily basis and fluctuates from day to day as well as being influenced by the average age of the population. Normally egg productions hovered around 90 – 95 % over the past few months. I have increased breeding numbers to compensate for increased demand and when Corona hit, demand dropped off, resulting in me having MORE replacement females and a younger average female stock.  The average age for all females dropped from the standard 160 – 190 days to about 140 – 150 days, but the most important is that egg production has increased as well, because of the younger stock and fewer low productive females. For the first time ever I have recorded 100 % PRODUCTION for 3 days in a row!!!!!

221 / 221.

I AM HAPPY !!!!

 

 

 

 

 

How Heavy should my Quails be?

2015-01-02 - Coturnix coturnix 1 Day old
I post this question, of which I receive similar questions very often, as well as my answer.
“Do you weigh your quail, and if you do, what weights do you expect them to reach on a weekly basis?
The reason I ask, is that my last lot have a really large range.
The smallest is almost 30g below the weight of the biggest. Granted these were eggs hatched from two different places, which could well explain it (bred for size vs improvement of the breed), but I’m curious what those who’ve been doing this a while expect.
They’re 2 weeks old now, and they range from 32-59g.
Funnily enough, the only two white ones are both the heaviest and lightest!”
Thank you very much for the question. Yes, being the Mad Scientist, I am a strong believer in MMM (Man Must Measure) to know where you are and where you are going to. if anywhere. I weigh all my quails at 3, 5 and 8 weeks of age and then also weigh all my mature quails at least every two months. These weights give you a lot of information to work with on individual animals, as well as your project as a whole.
The average figures I achieve at present are about the following:
5 Weeks old (all sexes – all birds) – 200 g
8 Week old Males (all birds) – 210 g
8 Weeks old Females (all birds) – 240 g
All mature Males in my Breeding Groups – 240g
All mature Females in my Breeding Groups – 280 g
There are obviously wide variations between animals as result of the limited genetic pool and small numbers of animals we have, as well as the quality and level of inbreeding in the New Zealand Coturnix coturniox we have to work with. Males are always much lighter than females at all ages.
I have some groups where all the females are all over 300 g – work in progress!!
Obviously the optimum results can only be achieved with good husbandry, feeding and housing.