Yesterday was rather excitng....

[WolfCub]

Had an eventful day yesterday.

First, we've had a mallard sitting some eggs in tall grass at the edge of our garden for some time now...
... yesterday the kids were up at crack of sparrows and very excited to wake me up and say the mother duck and 8 ducklings were sat at edge of our little pond !

... at 6:30 A.M. I then went off to work. To get a text at 7:30... we put 24 quail eggs in a very basic incubator we bought, despite convincing myself we'd cooked rather than incubated them they hatched yesterday. By the time I got home from work we had 10 out

... also during the day a friend phoned to say he had a 'nucleus'(?) ready for my wife to start her first bee hive off with

Some of the quail in there temporary home and the girls knocking up frames for the bee hive.(the old table and frame isn't part of the hive ! was just a handy 'bashing surface' for the hammering)

Hoping my next thread is in the "Lovely Grub" section !

 

[Robbi]

LOL ! day and a half that one ! good result.

 

[santaman2000]

Looks great. What species/breed of quail are those? I'm used to Bob White, Gambrels and Mearns quail but those are totally unfamiliar to me.

 

[WolfCub]

They are sold as "Jumbo Japanese Quail", basicly a slightly larger strain of coturnix. They don't lay quite as prolificaly as the smaller breeds, still OK though, but do provide a slightly plumper mouthful as a 'tabel bird'.

Once we've settled into a routine with these we may put some more in the incubator. Our eldest son, 13 y.o. , is keen on them so if he keeps up looking after them we may help him (off set costs) in setting up a hobby/buisness for eggs and 'dressed' birds for the table.

Where we bought the eggs from do bobwhites aswell, they might be our next batch. I know they are a 'game bird' your way Santaman, so guesing they are a decent breed to go with ?
We have school education visits to the farm aswell so variety always helps to catch kids attention.

.. In amongst those that hached we had 3 'blondes'. Visibly smaller and weaker than the 'bumble bee' ones. these puzzle me, maybe fertilsed by a cock of another strain ? The one lying sprawled in the pic was sadly a 'no-hoper' so was dispatched, the other 2 are just about holding their own though.

 

[santaman2000]

Bob Whites are the most commonly raised domestic breed here. TBH My knowledge of farming quail is fairly limited but as you suggest I would assume they are a fairly good choice judging from their popularity.

I spent many pleasant hours hunting them as a teenager They had a rather long hunting season in Mississippi (from early Nov. until late Feb.) and they are quite delicious. In recent decades their wild population has been seriously declining for a number of reasons. Firstly the change in southeastern farming practices has vastly altered their cover (fewer edges and fence-rows due to larger fields) Expanding coyote populations have contributed as has banning DDT. Ironically while DDT was/is detrimental to larger bird species (weakening the egg shells) it was helpful to ground nesting species by keeping invasives (fire ants) under control.

The Gambrels and Mearns out west are good hunting also. I actually got to hunt Gambrels in the desert around Las Vegas while stationed there.

 

[santaman2000]

They are sold as "Jumbo Japanese Quail", basicly a slightly larger strain of coturnix. They don't lay quite as prolificaly as the smaller breeds, still OK though, but do provide a slightly plumper mouthful as a 'tabel bird'.

Once we've settled into a routine with these we may put some more in the incubator. Our eldest son, 13 y.o. , is keen on them so if he keeps up looking after them we may help him (off set costs) in setting up a hobby/buisness for eggs and 'dressed' birds for the table.

Where we bought the eggs from do bobwhites aswell, they might be our next batch. I know they are a 'game bird' your way Santaman, so guesing they are a decent breed to go with ?
We have school education visits to the farm aswell so variety always helps to catch kids attention.

.. In amongst those that hached we had 3 'blondes'. Visibly smaller and weaker than the 'bumble bee' ones. these puzzle me, maybe fertilsed by a cock of another strain ? The one lying sprawled in the pic was sadly a 'no-hoper' so was dispatched, the other 2 are just about holding their own though.

You mentioned the 3 blondes. Is it possible the coloration difference is gender related?

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Y'all aint gonna be eat'n 'em now, is ya ?