I've been asked a few times about breeding jap quail (because i like to spout off about it) so I thought I'd do a basic "how to" article. This is not meant to be a complete guide and please, don't pm me for fine details, google is your friend and there are many quail dedicated sites out there.
Firstly, you will need an incubator! Or Two!! They must be bird incubators, reptile incubators are not the same thing. It will need to have airflow, keep a very constant temp : 37.7C usually and maintain the correct humidity. The exact details should come with your particular incubator. An auto turner is well worth the investment or you need to turn the eggs 2-3 times a day for 14 days. Then leave them alone for the final 3 days with hatching occuring on day 17. I have one incubator with a turner and another without, after 14 days they get transfered - using propogation trays - to the other incubator.
Then you will need a brooder. Again, google it - it's a cage that has a heat source essentially and you could spend $1000 on one or build one out of a cardboard box. Mine is actually my old ackie cage with a heat cord, light globe and thermostat. A cardboard box keeps the heat in for me.
Caging for the adults / grow outs is the next step. I prefer wire based caging, some people hate it but it sure makes cleaning easier. There are minimum standards for the size of caging, but as it's something like 10cmx10cm per quail you should not even approach breaking them IMO.
They need food and water and it's best to locate these outside the cage for ease of refilling and minimum wastage. Quail will dustbathe in their food if they can. Roll out cages are best - the eggs roll out of the front of the cage as they are laid, minimising breakage and making collecting eggs a whole lot easier. If set up properly you bascially never need to handle the quail at all. Quail need 14-16 hours of light per day for egg production, a simple flouro on a timer does the trick for me.
I feed mine turkey grower crumble for the growers and fine layer mash for the adults. If you can source quail feed, do so! Quail will be sexually mature at around 6 weeks, 5 weeks 3 days is my record for a female to start laying and within a week they will be laying one a day. Males will mature earlier, as early as 4 weeks and will need to be seperated or culled at this point.
I recomend getting golden manchurian or Italian quail as they are very good producers of eggs and the easiest to sex. Simply - the male has a brown head, the female doesn't.
If you get a diferent morph, they can be sexed by turning a mature adult upside down and pressing in front of the vent, the males will exude a foamy substance. You will see this in the litter tray once the males are mature. You can run up to 4 females per male. Eggs should be collected daily, stored in a cool area and turned daily until ready to be used. For best results, use eggs less than a week old. I try and set eggs every week, this will not be possible if you only have one incubator.
Male Italian quail
Female with a white behind her
Day old quail are good sized for hatchy carpets, waters etc, 2 weeks old are good for adult stimmies and 5 week olds are good for large morelia. liasis etc. They will end up around 200-300g as adults.
Baby quail
Firstly, you will need an incubator! Or Two!! They must be bird incubators, reptile incubators are not the same thing. It will need to have airflow, keep a very constant temp : 37.7C usually and maintain the correct humidity. The exact details should come with your particular incubator. An auto turner is well worth the investment or you need to turn the eggs 2-3 times a day for 14 days. Then leave them alone for the final 3 days with hatching occuring on day 17. I have one incubator with a turner and another without, after 14 days they get transfered - using propogation trays - to the other incubator.
Then you will need a brooder. Again, google it - it's a cage that has a heat source essentially and you could spend $1000 on one or build one out of a cardboard box. Mine is actually my old ackie cage with a heat cord, light globe and thermostat. A cardboard box keeps the heat in for me.
Caging for the adults / grow outs is the next step. I prefer wire based caging, some people hate it but it sure makes cleaning easier. There are minimum standards for the size of caging, but as it's something like 10cmx10cm per quail you should not even approach breaking them IMO.
They need food and water and it's best to locate these outside the cage for ease of refilling and minimum wastage. Quail will dustbathe in their food if they can. Roll out cages are best - the eggs roll out of the front of the cage as they are laid, minimising breakage and making collecting eggs a whole lot easier. If set up properly you bascially never need to handle the quail at all. Quail need 14-16 hours of light per day for egg production, a simple flouro on a timer does the trick for me.
I feed mine turkey grower crumble for the growers and fine layer mash for the adults. If you can source quail feed, do so! Quail will be sexually mature at around 6 weeks, 5 weeks 3 days is my record for a female to start laying and within a week they will be laying one a day. Males will mature earlier, as early as 4 weeks and will need to be seperated or culled at this point.
I recomend getting golden manchurian or Italian quail as they are very good producers of eggs and the easiest to sex. Simply - the male has a brown head, the female doesn't.
If you get a diferent morph, they can be sexed by turning a mature adult upside down and pressing in front of the vent, the males will exude a foamy substance. You will see this in the litter tray once the males are mature. You can run up to 4 females per male. Eggs should be collected daily, stored in a cool area and turned daily until ready to be used. For best results, use eggs less than a week old. I try and set eggs every week, this will not be possible if you only have one incubator.
Male Italian quail
Female with a white behind her
Day old quail are good sized for hatchy carpets, waters etc, 2 weeks old are good for adult stimmies and 5 week olds are good for large morelia. liasis etc. They will end up around 200-300g as adults.
Baby quail
