Maybe I should try to communicate tha fact in some way.
I did get nervous watching thru the video, hoping his antlers wouldn’t get hooked in the hardware cloth. I imagine his panic at that happening could easily cause serious damage to the hardware cloth.
I'm actually starting with hatching quail for now. I mostly just wanted to check my options as regular chicken hatching eggs are sorta a no go, we arent allowed roosters here. I suppose I could process any males before they started crowing, but that seems like a waste for layer type breeds...
Man, my searching skills must be chicken poop poor. Cecal poop poor even.
Meyer is my usual go to hatchery since they are closest to me. Dunno how I missed that listing. 🤦♀️
The prices start to get closer as you order more of both chicks or eggs tho.
I can’t seem to find out why Cornish cross hatching eggs aren’t available for the back yard flock keeper to buy.
Is it just that the big hatcheries that keep the parent flocks don’t want to deal with small orders?
And last night everyone was up on the roost or at least poop board.
Maybe next weekend I’ll take the little brooder cage/feeding station out and just start mixing the chick crumbles with the adult pellets in the hanging feeders to use up the rest of the crumbles.
They are really starting to grow up. First night where some ventured on to the poop board/roost area instead of the cuddle puddle on top of their brooder.
A butterfly net is a good idea. I was thinking a fish net, but worried the gaps in the netting would be too big and a bird might get a head stuck and strangled or something.
I've just only read that they are or can be skittish as all get out, no one really talks about them being sorta tame or...
I've had about 30 chicks shipped over three orders. The first order was perfect, no issues at all.
Second seemed to be a case of rough handling in transit. Four chicks were doa, to the point of having blood on beak and faces of some of them when I first opened the box.
The four doa's were...
Eggs, incubator, starter food (non medicated), pen for brooding, etc ordered. I'm officially crazy.
Other random-ish questions:
Any tips for catching quail in a cage as big as this pen? In case of injured bird needing treatment or need to cull some boys or what ever reason.
Can quail be...
I use horse bedding pellets in my coop also........and my night time coop camera video looks exactly like the one @Echelontheory101 posted. I have 10 half grown pullets in there too tho so it totally could be chicken dander.
I use a sand sifter to get some of the bigger small chunks of poo. In the past the juvenile hens I was integrating spent a lot of time hanging out on the poop tray trampling and picking poop piles to bits.
I still mostly use the cat litter scoop but then the finer one gets used when the small...
I am NOT a fan of pickles. And I can my own jelly so no jelly jar lids.
But I do have a bunch of single piece mason jar storage lids that might do the trick.
Looked up that Bluebonnet feed, looks to be better numbers than the Kalambach I found, thanks!!
Not sure how I missed that article before. Or maybe I didn’t and am just giving myself an info overload…
But I can get Kalambach Pheasant starter off of Chewy and it comes close to your recommended numbers. Fat % is a little low.
But it’s medicated. Is that good/bad or personal choice like...
I’m looking at getting 30 feather sexable Coturnix eggs and 30 jumbo white Coturnix eggs from MyShire.
Found an incubator on Amazon that I think will work ok. I have hygrometer sensors already that I can toss one inside.
For brooding, I was going to get a pop up pen to be kept in my basement...
I have a Swedish flower hen currently growing up in my flock. She is sweet, spicy, bossy and daring. I think she’s going to end up the top of her age mate’s flock.
If mine didn’t already have a perfect name (Janeway after the Star Trek captain), I’d pick something like Saffron or Ginger.
That’s a pretty good idea. I actually might just stick a second feeder with the pelleted food in their brooder that’s been converted to a feeding station the adults can’t gain access to. I’d be curious to see how much of the adult pellets get eaten vs the chick crumbles.