Interactive lesson

Hatching quail, step by step

Interactive lesson: choose the parents and eggs, prepare the incubator, follow the eggs day by day, see the hatch through and rear the chicks in the brooder until they go to the aviary.

Free sample Chapters 1 and 2 (8 steps) are free. The full lesson comes with the Incubation and rearing module. Already bought? Unlock

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The whole lesson as text

1. The parent flock and hatching eggs

A good hatch starts six weeks before the incubator, in the parents' aviary.

Young parents — Females and males from 10 weeks to roughly 10 months. Breeder feed with 20–22 % protein and 14–16 hours of light.
1 male to 3–5 females — The male must be in the group at least 5–7 days before you start collecting eggs. Inbreeding gives weaker chicks and crooked legs.
Choosing eggs — Medium size, roughly 10–14 g, a regular shape and a clean shell. Don't wash them: clean slightly dirty eggs with a dry cloth and throw out cracked ones.
Storing up to 7 days — At 12–16 °C (54–61 °F), pointed end down, in a carton, not in the fridge. Write the date on each egg in soft graphite pencil.

Why: The Japanese quail almost never sits on eggs, so for chicks you need an incubator. But an incubator doesn't fix bad eggs: old, dirty eggs or eggs from related parents give fewer chicks.

Do your first hatch with bought eggs from a reliable breeder, and the second with your own.
Every year buy or swap males with another breeder and note where each one came from.

2. Preparing the incubator

For beginners the best choice is a small incubator with a fan, automatic turning and a quail egg tray.

Wash and disinfect — Wash the incubator, trays and water trays, disinfect them and let them dry well.
A room with a steady temperature — Put it in a room with a steady 18–24 °C (64–75 °F). By a window or stove the temperature swings between day and night.
Check the thermometer — Compare it with a second, proven thermometer. The hygrometer in a small incubator can be 5–10 % out.
Empty for 24 hours — Run it empty for 24 hours while you set the temperature. Then set the eggs and write down the date: the hatch is due in 17–18 days.

Why: Trays for hen's eggs are too big: a quail egg tips over and doesn't turn properly. Above 39 °C (102 °F) embryos die within a few hours, so you prepare the incubator before the eggs.

If the power goes off for up to 2 hours, don't open the incubator, cover it with a blanket and note the time.
After a power cut the hatch may be a day or two late, so don't throw the eggs out before day 20.