Last summer (June 2020, a little over a year now), we got a good deal on an incubator from the Coastal store in town while they were having a sale, bought some quail eggs from Alchemist Farm, and hatched out quail chicks for the first time. That was such a fun experience. Our friend decided to purchase quail eggs with us, so we could save on shipping costs. We ordered some Pharaoh Coturnix Quail Eggs and some Alchemist Blue Quail Eggs. As we gently cleared away all the wood shavings, the beautiful eggs in the cardboard containers were revealed. We could not get over how tiny and perfect they were. And we marveled at how incredibly beautiful all the colors and markings and patterns were. Just seeing the eggs, we were already in love.

I was careful to follow the instructions that came with our eggs, for having the best success with hatching them out. It helped that our incubator was located on a counter as you walked into the kitchen so I could check on the humidity levels every time I went by. In my excitement, I checked way more often than was necessary. I had never hatched out eggs in an incubator before, and it was the first time for B too. Jeff had hatched out eggs in an incubator many times throughout his life, but since I had been with him we had always purchased chicks when we were raising chickens.

The whole experience was pure magic for B, and for me, seeing it through his eyes was such a joy. We both checked the eggs constantly and as soon as he saw the first cracks, B was glued to the spot, completely mesmerized as he watched bird after bird emerge from the tiny eggs. It’s really such an amazing thing to see. And I was already glad we had decided to raise quail- simply for seeing the absolute delight that hatching out the eggs brought to our son.

Our hatch rate was pretty good. I wrote down: “June 11, 2020: Quail eggs arrived in mail! Day One of eggs in incubator. Day 17 of eggs in incubator: first holes in eggs in AM, eggs started hatching in evening. 5 eggs hatched! Day 18: 19 eggs hatched!” We purchased 36 eggs, and had 24 chicks hatch out. We were really pleased!

Even though I knew the quail chicks would be small, I was still blown away by how tiny they actually were. So incredibly cute! When the hatching process was over, we carefully moved each little chick to the brooder we had set up for them. (The majority hatched out on Day 18, we moved them over on Day 19.) I was reminded how much work chicks are- keeping them fed and watered, and their brooder clean. Perhaps it was because it had been awhile since we had raised chicks, but I swear that quail chicks poop a lot more. (I still think they do.)

The quail chicks were so tiny that I actually had to take the chick feed I bought and blend it up in our blender into a fine mash. That’s another thing I should mention- organic quail feed was much harder to source than we imagined. It was very important to us to feed our quail organic, non-GMO feed, but it seemed nonexistent. (Well we did find a single source far away, but the shipping costs were off the charts, and though they said it was organic, were not willing to disclose the list of ingredients which seemed rather odd.)

Quail need more protein than chickens do, so it doesn’t work to feed them solely chicken feed. In the end, we decided to go with an organic chick feed (the chicken feed we found with the highest protein content)- Scratch and Peck Chick Starter, and supplement with their Cluckin’ Good Grubs. When we raised chickens, we bought feed for them from Scratch and Peck- they are a great company we love to support. I wrote Scratch and Peck about the quail and they recommended the starter and grub combination. I really hope Scratch and Peck makes a quail feed someday, but in the meantime our current method seems to be working well. Jeff and I have also been looking into raising crickets for a protein source. (As you know, we’ve always got a long list of projects around here.) 🙂

When the quail were a few weeks old, B and I brought them in the yard for a supervised photo shoot in the grass before putting them back in their brooder. We put one or two chicks out on the grass at a time while I took pictures. (As you can see in the photos above.) I wanted to show the variety of all the colors. And they were so adorable, I just wanted to take lots of pictures of them.

They grow so quickly that is wasn’t long before the quail chicks were able to fly out of their brooder. It was quite the surprise considering how small they still were and the height of the brooder. We discovered the fact that they could escape when we came inside and heard a peeping sound coming from our bedroom. There we found the tiniest quail chick looking up at us, wondering where all it’s friends were. We returned it to it’s home (thankful that our dog hadn’t paid it any attention), and after that kept a screen over the top of the brooder, until moving the quail to their pen outside.

We got our very first quail egg on August 6th. We all marveled at it, and it felt like the most miraculous thing in the world. So tiny! So perfect! I had written in my calendar that the quail were about 6 weeks old on August 9th. By August 14th, we were getting 6 eggs per day, and not long after that we were enjoying an abundance of quail eggs. Getting eggs at one and a half months is pretty amazing, wouldn’t you say? We thought so!

We enjoyed hatching out the eggs so much that we ordered more, and hatched out another batch of quail in October. I wrote: “October 13th: quail eggs arrived. Day One of eggs in Incubator. Day 17: Eggs started hatching at night. Day 18: Lots of eggs hatching. Day 19: Put 33 quail chicks in brooder.” That time we had ordered 48 eggs, and we had 33 eggs hatch out. Again, we were pleased with our hatch rate. (When hatching out eggs, it’s always good to order more than the number of chicks you are wanting because they won’t all hatch out. You can expect about a 50 percent hatch rate.)

Again, the eggs came like clockwork. I wrote down that the quail were about 6 weeks old on December 11th, and on December 13th we got our first egg! This year, 2021, we’ve been busy building enclosures for the quail, setting up automatic waterers, finishing up roofs, etc. We look forward to hatching out more quail, but will need to build another quail house before we do.

We’ve learned a lot about raising quail over the last year and I look forward to sharing more with you in future posts. I plan to share the pros and cons of raising quail and why they may or may not be a good fit for you. I also plan to share about the enclosures we’ve built. If you have any questions you’d like me answer in those posts, please let me know in the comments. Have you hatched out eggs before? Have you ever raised quail? I’d love to hear about your experiences!