![]() Solid Footingįlooring and substrate choices depend on the type of brooder you use. As with water, make sure they don’t run out of food, especially since this can encourage aggressive pecking and bullying behaviors. ![]() After three weeks, I add a small jar of food to the base. I fit a spare lid over the central opening of the feeder base, where the jar would go, to keep the chicks from getting inside and soiling the food, or becoming trapped. I also provide their food in a jar lid for the first week, and then start using the base of a standard poultry feeder. Chicks only need ground food for the first two weeks or so. I often use the same game bird feed that I give my adult quail, only I grind it up before feeding it to the chicks. Starter crumble is often made primarily for chickens, and the crumble size is too large for quail chicks, so use a food processor and grind it to a sand-like consistency. If you go this route, make sure the surface you clamp the light onto is stable and that the light isn’t too close to the chicks or anything flammable.įor food, unmedicated starter crumble works fine, although the protein content needs to be around 24 percent. I prefer to use a metal clamp light, because the reflector hood helps direct heat and light into the brooder, and the clamp is strong and secure. Also, consider using an infrared bulb instead of a bright-white bulb, as it can reduce aggression when the chicks reach 4 to 5 weeks of age. Most brooding bulbs are 250 watts, but depending on how much you can safely draw from your circuit, a 125-watt bulb can also work - just run a temperature check and make sure the brooder can stay warm enough. If they avoid the light completely and stay only along the edges, it’s too warm. If they’re all huddled together underneath the light, the temperature is too cool. If your brooder achieves temperature via a central heating lamp, keep an eye on the chicks’ behavior for the first 15 minutes after you put them in. Aim to accustom the quail to outdoor temperatures a week or so before you move them to their outside location at 6 weeks or older. Depending on your brooder, you can achieve this by opening vents in the lid and/or increasing the distance of the heat lamp from the brooder. Over the following weeks, decrease the temperature by 5 degrees every week. This way, you’ll avoid temperature shock when moving the chicks from incubator to brooder. Have the brooder light or heating element going for a few hours before transferring the chicks from the incubator, and take temperature readings to ensure accuracy and consistency. Since quail require a relatively high incubating temperature of about 99 degrees Fahrenheit, the brooder needs to be comparatively warm at 95 degrees for the first week. Temperature is the first variable to consider. And don’t let those minor brooding differences deter you they’re all things that can easily be worked into an existing brooder setup, or you can build an inexpensive brooder for small flocks. They’re smaller at hatching size than most fowl, so they do require minor brooding accommodations, but otherwise need few basic amenities. Even after hatching and brooding several generations of quail, I’m always surprised at how rapidly they grow and adapt to their environment. Japanese quail (also known as coturnix quail) are remarkably low-maintenance birds.
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