Raising quail part 2: Things you might not realize you need, like a coffee grinder

In this series, I share the week-by-week processes of raising quail. Depending on the time of year, you could go from hatch day to your first egg day in under 8 weeks.

In part 1 I shared all the great reasons why quail are so valuable to have around.

If you’re thinking of hatching your own quail, you’ll need a few basic supplies (and you probably won’t find any surprises here) and then I’ll dive into some surprises:

• Fertilized quail eggs

• Incubator

• Brooder

• Brooder bedding (not cedar shavings)

• Heat source

• Feed

• Feed container

• Water container

We ordered our first quail hatching eggs from Alchemist Farm in California almost 3 years ago. This year we’re introducing new genetics. We reserved quail hatching eggs from Sadie Girl Farm in Western North Carolina.

Fairly straightforward, right? You don’t need a coop yet! My only suggestions with these foundational supplies relate to the eggs, heat source, and feed. Consider sourcing your quail hatching eggs from an NPIP certified breeder. NPIP is the National Poultry Improvement Plan, which is a voluntary testing and certification. However, if you’re ordering eggs through the mail, NPIP certification is required. NPIP has rigorous biosecurity standards. This can help prevent introducing disease to your homestead, which is important whether you’re just starting out or you have other livestock already. For your heat source, I highly encourage you to avoid heat lamps at all costs. Heat lamps are a tremendous fire hazard. There’s too much risk that a bulb will burst over the brooder while you’re sleeping or not at home, and the brooder bedding (whether straw or pine shavings) will only kindle a fire. When it comes to choosing the feed for your quail chicks, source the feed with the highest percent of protein. For example, turkey starter feed is only available seasonally where I live. Although it’s formulated for turkeys, I use it for both my chick and mature quail because it’s 28 percent protein. When the turkey starter is out of stock and it’s still hatch season for me, I’ll switch to a broiler chicken feed, which usually has a percent in the low 20s. (Outside of my hatch season, I keep the quail on the same 16 percent layer feed that my chickens are on year-round.) Some mills also create a game bird feed, so you might have an even higher protein percentage available.

Research high-protein starter feeds for your quail chicks.

With all of those elementary items out of the way, here are a few things you probably didn’t think you’d need for hatching and raising quail. Some of these things are not true necessities, but I promise that they’ll improve your hatching and brooding experience:

1. Electric coffee grinder. Do you think you’ll need to stay extra caffeinated to take care of all your quail chicks? Nah. Your quail need the grinder though. Most starter feeds aren’t small enough for newly hatched quail to eat. We have a separate coffee grinder with our brooder supplies that we use exclusively for chick feed. We grind as we go, not only because nutrients quickly breakdown when you increase the surface area of the feed, but because chicks are messy. Give your chicks free choice to the feed. We let them finish it before giving them more. This helps keep the feed tray and their feed clean.

   

   Our current incubator does all the turning for us.

2. Non-slip cabinet liners. Maybe you’ll turn a kitchen cabinet into a brooder? Probably not. Most incubators are designed for chicken and other similar-sized fowl. The slatted trays in incubators are often too big for quail chicks’ tiny feet and legs. Non-slip cabinet liners (no affiliation with the link) are easy to cut to the exact size of your incubator. Paper towels also work well too, but they can absorb a lot of moisture and don’t allow as much air circulation. We currently use the Harris Farms Nurture Right Incubator (also no affiliation with that link). For each hatch, I cut the cabinet liner to fit and lay it underneath the egg turning wheel and the eggs. Once the hatch is done and it’s time to clean and store the incubator, I roll up the liner and discard it.

   

   This is a picture of our very first hatch. This is an old, still-air incubator and we used paper towels to help give the quail safe footing. We also had to manually turn the eggs 4 times per day for 2 weeks.

3. Extra brooder. Quail chicks are smaller than chicken chicks, which means their digestive systems are that much smaller, which means food passes through that much faster, which further means that they make a mess faster. Having a second brooder on hand makes life easier. You can set up their fresh bedding, feed, and water, then gently move each chick to their new space. They’re already comfortable in their fresh brooder while you clean out their messy one and get it ready to start the cycle all over again.

One of our brooders full of quail chicks.

If you’re already hatching quail, which supplies do you like?