Set up a home quail system - PEA BB animal.sand.quail

So, I chose to raise my quail from the egg. So I hope the fact that my brooder/cage was initially missing the nest box is not a problem...

I brought 15 from ebay, and they came with 3 extras. I started incubating them March 29th and the first peeps hatched April 14th. The incubator was just awful, the temps kept jumping and I ended up sticking in a bluetooth thermometer and manually adjusting the temps as I needed.

Of the 18 eggs, I had 7 hatch, 3 still-born and 8 infertile. Within the first few days, 1 of the 7 just up and died, another was really weak and passed a day later, and two developed wry neck and one later died of it. The other wry neck one is still around, and kicking, but I think they're neck may always be like that. I was a little upset, but wasn't surprised by the hatch rate and the subsequent passings- that's just how it is sometimes...

As I was hatching them, I didn't put food in until after they'd hatched, and I later decided to grind up all their pellets so they could eat them for the first week. I also didn't put in a nest box until they were bigger. They kept pooping in their little cap water pool, so once they were "safe" from the drowning risk, I got them a more conventional waterer.

They get vitamin water and 30% game starter pellets still, and I'll probably keep them in the house(concerns about bird flu). I am going to cut a hole in the side of their container so I can put some netting- or I may just build a whole new one.