It's my first proper hatch of the year and I'm pleased to say - I have baby quail!

You can watch the video below to see the quail chicks, my brooder and a few tips on how I raise them OR keep on scrolling for more info.

The First Proper Hatch

I say the first 'proper' hatch in inverted commas because my first hatch of 2018 was actually a rushed hatch to try and save my rare breed Ixworth line after the adults were all taken out by a fox. My quail hatch is, therefore, the first set of eggs to be set and incubated in 2018.

I wanted to check the fertility of the eggs before starting to send out hatching eggs and I also wanted a few chicks to sell as people have already started to show interest for the coming year.

A Low Hatch Rate

You can be pretty certain of fairly low hatches during the winter. I set 27 eggs and of those, eight successfully hatched. One got stuck in the shell and died, and there were two DIS (dead-in-shell). Four had begun to grow but the embryo's had died early on, and the rest were clear. Coturnix quail eggs can be hard to candle due to the markings so it's often pot-luck whether anything hatches at all!

Eight Babies

I LOVE quail chicks. They're like little bumble bees...bustling around, their bodies almost too big for their little legs so they look as if they'll totter over. They'll be fed on chick crumb for the first month and I'll keep the area around them quiet - they're delicate things. In fact, I once had a book fall off the edge of the sofa and the sound of it killed a quail baby of fright! They also like to drown themselves, so the drinker has gravel in the bottom to reduce chances of accidental death.

I'll have more updates on them in the normal Smallholding Diaries.

Thanks for reading!

Geoff