California Valley Quail - Humidity, feed & enclosure to hatch & raise

[quail power]

We would like to learn about incubating & raising quail. My 9 year old daughter is currently incubating 9 eggs from wild California (Valley) Quail from our backyard. The momma quail was killed by a roaming cat. So we are scrambling to learn how to hatch & care for them until they are old enough to release. We've been doing some research, but have 3 issues that we have not yet resolved:
1) humidity in the incubator,
2) what starter feed to use once they hatch,
3) how to build an enclosure inside our house until they can be released.

1) Websites vary on suggested humidity setting. Some websites say 50% until day 19/20 then 60-65%, others say to start at 60-65% then 80-85% during last 2 to 3 days before hatch. Why such variation in suggested humidities? Are there different methods of measuring humidity? We’re using a Little Giant incubator w/ circulating air fan & built in temperature & humidity monitor. Any humidity over 60% starts to steam up the windows.

2) Should we use chicken starter which seems to contain mostly corn & soybean, or use custom recipe to simulate feed in the wild? Maybe soak & grind wild bird seed mix? Or grind seed from the grocery store such as sunflower seed, flax seed, wheat?

3) Since there are only 9 eggs, I figure we’ll use a plastic tub for the first week and then move them into a larger enclosure in the playroom inside our house. How to build such an enclosure? Maybe stitch together cardboard boxes? Will probably need to be sturdy enough to support a wired top once they start flying? Or can we release them as soon as they start flying?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Darkestcon]

Ok. first there are lots of answers due to location. dry environment vs humid etc. 55% humidity is just fine. You can leave humidity during hatch or raise to 60% When they start hatching leave em be. dont open the incubator till hatch is done or you risk drying out the eggs. for last 3 days of hatch u raise the humidity. and stop turning the eggs.

during incubation you need to rotate the eggs. throughout the day etc. or get an egg turner.

If they hatch get some purina game bird chow its 30% protien. grind it up in a blender for smaller size.

as for a pen. ill let someone else answer that as mine are not inside birds per say.

 

[Ntsees]

2) The higher the protein the better. Unfortunately, 30% protein game bird chow seems to be the highest protein content and so if you can get that, it would be good. I also recommend you, along with the 30% protein game bird chow, get dried whole meal worms: grind them into smaller size. That's what I do to increase the protein content. For your fyi, the diet of valley quail chicks in the wild will consist mostly of insects (90% +). As they get older, they incorporate more and more vegetation into their diet. When adults, they become vegetarians (90% +) (except for laying females that need protein for egg development).

3) As for their enclosure, the larger the better. Something you might not be aware is that these birds are extremely skittish. For example, if you believe you can put a helpless day-old chick outside and easily recatch it, you are mistakened. They are fast and cunning from day one. If you plan to release them, it's best to do so in the winter when there's plenty of water. The key is water source; they are vegetarians as adults and so they'll do find eating grass. Plus, winter is the time when valley quail group up (covey) and so yours may join those of the wild if there are any nearby. And another thing, if they hatch and you provide them the high protein content they need as chicks, they'll be able to somewhat fly within a week of hatching. In 2 weeks, they can fly.

 

[quail power]

Thank you so much Ntsees and Darkestcon!!!

We live next to open space within a planned community, with water, creek, and lots of quail in the neighborhood, and there is no hunting. They usually nest in our yard every year, with coveys frequent in winter, and tolerant of human presence. If released soon after they can fly, would they be attacked by other quail? Or do you think they should be housed for longer than 2 weeks? We saw a homesteader on youtube use a large watermelon box with 1/2 inch screen on top for enclosing young chickens before she moved them to a coop outside.

 

[Ntsees]

Thank you so much Ntsees and Darkestcon!!!

If released soon after they can fly, would they be attacked by other quail? Or do you think they should be housed for longer than 2 weeks? We saw a homesteader on youtube use a large watermelon box with 1/2 inch screen on top for enclosing young chickens before she moved them to a coop outside.

I recommend you raise them until they are adults - which will take a few months. In 2 weeks, they may be able to fly, but they are still babies and there is no adult to guide them to food, water, and safety if you release them. It's a good idea to raise them inside with a heater until they are fully feathered (I forget how long that takes), and then their feathers will be able to keep them warm when you put them outside.

 

[QRandle]

This post is very interesting to us because we are in a similar situation.

We discovered a nest after the mother quail was scalped and her leg broken from a weed whacker line under our gas meter. The leg was splinted and she lived three days. Meanwhile, we bought an incubator (Little Giant Still Air 41-egg), auto turner and quail insert. We placed the eggs point down. The humidity was kept about 55% and the temp was 99.5º. Friday, my father came over and candled 3 eggs and advised they were on day 15 instead of our guess of 5. Monday, Memorial Day, we discovered the the turner hadn't been turning. So we thought we had really blown it. We didn't know what to do. About 3 p.m. We heard loud peeping and the first chick hatched in the turner! We quickly removed it and put the rest of the eggs on the floor of the incubator. It had dried a bit, but was never fluffy. We returned the chick to the incubator. It flailed around the incubator and peeped constantly. We increased the humidity to 65% by adding warm water to the troughs.

Two more chicks hatched about an hour later. Same behavior. The first chick died at 10 pm the next two died at 2 a.m.

The next afternoon (Tuesday) the next set began to pip and the first hatched about 2 pm. Same behavior. After 30 minutes my husband removed him from the incubator and put him int he brood box. Same with the next chick. They fluffed up and ran around the box. The third was born two hours later I waited 5 minutes and added him to the other two. Two hours later we had two more and by midnight we had two more. Total of 7.

Stupidly, we went to bed at 12:30 a.m. and at 5 a.m. discovered a chick in the incubator dying. The next chick hatched Friday morning at 5 a.m. It was in the corner of the incubator wearing a shell hat. It was quickly added to the brood box group and warmed up and fluffy in minutes.

8 total lived. Two are being treated for splay leg with band-aides and the last has curled feet, so far untreated.

We lost one of the splay leg chicks suddenly at 2 p.m. today (Saturday).

We are at a total loss as to why the chicks did not survive in the incubator.

They are eating 30% protein Game bird food which was put in a blender. We fed the momma the crumbles. They have also been giving a minced boiled egg. They are pooping, drinking and pecking, beginning to scratch.

 

[Darkestcon]

QRandle

Some chicks just arent going to make it. Just not meant to. Many things can play roles. Not a bad hatch in my opinion as im not a fan of those incubators. I find temps to be off, humidity off, and the lengths you have to go to up humidity and get it stable etc.

I hatched 100+ birds this last week, lost 1 in the brooder due to a magically broken leg, 3 more were lost in the full brood system we have as they got lethargic and just gave up on life for whatever reason. and i have 1 runt who is still not fluffy 1 week later and does not appear to be growing. I am most likely going to cull him. All those and i have a 1000 dollar incubator/hatcher and a 300 dollar dedicated brooder. Loss of birds does happen. Id be happy that you had such a good turnout all things considered.

as for those curled feet id jump on that ASAP the longer you wait the harder it becomes to fix if not impossible.

 

[quail power]

QRandle & Darkestcon. Thank you for sharing this very helpful information & congratulations on your new chicks! We also have the Little Giant but with a forced air fan. The humidity drop from opening your incubator apparently didn’t dry out the shells enough to prevent hatches. Was your climate dry or humid during hatches? We live in Idaho with usually dry climate, and having heard that egg shells can harden if the incubator is opened during hatch, we were planning to leave the first hatches in for a day before opening the incubator to remove, but after hearing your story, now I’m not sure. Darkestcon, maybe we should *quickly* remove chicks as soon as they hatch? The humidity may drop 20% but would quickly build back up. So now I’m wondering if the egg shells will harden and prevent hatches if the humidity only drops for a short duration.

We also plan to feed 30% Purina Game Bird Chow along with grinding up dried mealworms, and thank you for the minced boiled egg suggestion! Please keep us posted and let us know how it goes We're especially interested in what kind of enclosure you use after they outgrow the brooder. We’re thinking we’ll build a portable run that can be placed indoors or outside, until they’re ready for release - something that can be easily broken down, and moved to a new location for easy setup.

Thank you both and good luck with your new chicks!

 

[QRandle]

I would watch them after hatching. If they don't dry off, as ours didn't, and flail around, then I would. Our brood box was at 90º. We had a heating pad under it and a desk lamp for a couple days. Now we have a proper red warming light on a photo stand from a lighting kit. The pole is adjustable. The box is at 90º now and next week we will lower it to 85º. We are in Utah County so it's dry here also. We have a coop from our chicken days in the backyard. It has a fenced enclosure so in a month or so it will work well. Since the [rabbit] wire is about 1/2", it wouldn't do any good now. We bought our chickens as adolescents, so this is new territory. My father always owned birds, so I ask him for advice and have googled questions, in which the answer is usually from this board so we joined.

Good luck with yours!

 

[QRandle]

QRandle

as for those curled feet id jump on that ASAP the longer you wait the harder it becomes to fix if not impossible.

Thank you! I hope this works. She's walking around.