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I get asked often what is included in my Hatch@Home Utah kits or where my customers can buy certain items they loved from our rental kits. So, I thought I would compile a list of my favorite must-haves for raising coturnix quail chicks.
To find out more about our Hatch@Home Utah program check out our website.
Or if a Hatching Program is something you would love to do in your area you can take the course I took here. They teach you everything you need to know to set-up and run a successful hatching program. I can't recommend this course enough! 2 weeks after taking this course I was booked out for 3 months renting 2-3 kits per month!
If you're not ready to start running your own hatching program but still want to learn all about these amazing little quail birds go check out Quail University! It covers everything from history of quail to basic care and so much more...like did you know that the Russians took coturnix quail to outer space to hatch them?!? Crazy random fact for the day and you can totally YouTube that video because it's very entertaining and who doesn't want to see quail floating around in a spaceship? Haha
Without further chatty-ness here is what we use in our Hatching Rental Kits:
10X10 heat plate This can hold a medium amount of quail chicks due to their small size-I would say 20 chicks and upwards to 30.
*If you plan on hatching more frequently and/or larger numbers you might want to invest in more than one heat plate or opt for the large one and we fit over 100 chicks under these with no problems. https://amzn.to/3pgZkfc
Brooder Box This is the plastic tote the chicks live in and where we store our equipment when we aren't using it. It can easily have breathing holes drilled in the tops and sides.
Incubrite Candler This is used to candle the eggs so you can see how they're developing throughout the hatching process. Incubrite is by far my favorite candler. It takes 3 AAA's and doesn't overheat like some of the ones you plug into the wall and if you're candling multiple eggs it heats up fast!
Brinsea Mini II Advance Incubator We have LOVED this company! They are based in the U.K. *I believe* and they have a 3 year warranty on their incubators with fantastic customer support! I even called them once because an incubator that was full of eggs and being rented out was overheating and they solved the problem on the 3-way call with my customer! Seriously, they saved us big time that day and I'm happy to give them my business! Also, important tip to mention incubators typically go on huge sales during winter months when no one is hatching. If you save these to your amazon cart you'll see what I'm talking about but I've gotten this incubator at around $100 when it was on sale! I'll do incubator review in another post to mention other favorites.
Quail specific waterer or chicken waterer You can go either way with the waterers but it is important to mention quail chicks are suicidal and drown or kill themselves easily. If you have a larger base chicken waterer add rocks, dice, marbles etc in the bottom so that the quail can only dip their beak in and get wet to drink. Otherwise they'll freeze or drown. It's a hot mess I don't like risking, so I just opt for quail specific waterers because it's much easier than cleaning the rocks every day and making sure the rocks are strategically placed...trust me on this. That being said, do what you can with what you have. I made do with chicken waterers for like a year and it was fine. Just less work on me to get the quail ones.
Quail Feed - this is going to vary based on where you live but what we order is 28-30% gamebird starter OR 28-30% turkey starter which can be found at local feed stores. The % is the amount of protein and it's crucial you DO NOT USE chicken feed or low protein feed. Quail need the high protein to get going and develop as fast as they do. Without the high protein they will likely not survive. I also recommend mash for chicks. They cover the dos and do nots very well on quail chick care in Quail University and it's the best $49 I've spent so I highly recommend joining that so you can be the absolute best at raising your cute little quailies!
For another great resource you can also look into the YouTube channel of one of the creators of Quail U, Zack from Myshire Farm. He's always such a great resource and a good friend of mine.
Of course, we can't close the post without mentioning that every Quail Momma and Quail Daddy need to represent their critters. To see this design and more head on over to our shop https://www.featheredknechtions.com/shop
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