Incubating the eggs:
Unless you have a broody bantam hen at hand, a suitable incubator is needed. I made mine quite simply! You can easily find instructions online.
These tiny brown speckled eggs must be incubated at a steady temperature. 99-101 is best, though i have heard they can withstand 96-102, just with a much lower hatch rate. The perfect temperature is 99.5. You need to make sure your thermometer is accurate! This is very important.
You will also need a Hygrometer to measure the humidity. The best humidity for quail is 40-50% for the first 14 days and 60% for the last couple days. Humidity isn't as important as the temp, but still it will affect your hatch a lot.
And finally, you need to turn the eggs 3+ times a day. You might be able to get away with turning them 2 times a day, but more is much better. Turning the eggs is to ensure that the developing chick doesn't stick to the shell.
After 14 days, STOP TURNING! If you continue to turn the eggs, you could kill the baby chick inside. Instead, just up the humidity and leave it alone.
The quail will hatch between the 14th day and the 19th day, usually on the 17th. But if your chicks don't hatch then don't worry! Incubator conditions determine these factors. These little birds are among the easiest poultry to hatch. And they hatch very quickly as well! Instead of the 8 hours baby chickens take to hatch, they take more like 20-30 minutes! They also syncronize their hatches by peeping through their shells.
Leave them in the incubator for a few hours, then move them to the brooder!
( This is all by research. I may update it once i get my little quail eggs. )
A newborn quail with a newborn chicken.
~Clover
