FAQ: How to order

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We have put together a detailed How-To Hatch page just for you to help answer this question. We want you to be successful in your hatching journey, however, many factors go into a successful hatch. We offer chicks and breeding sets for those who want a sure thing. However, we recommend hatching at least once as it is like Christmas - the excitement builds for the first 1-15 days and then you get to watch the miracle of life as these seemingly frail creatures fight their way out of their shell into your new world. Honestly, there is nothing better than hatch day.

We have put together a detailed How-To Hatch page just for you to help answer this question. We want you to be successful in your hatching journey. But the "cliff note" answer:

Days 1-14 Temperature 99.5 - 100  Humidity 40-50

Days 15-18 (or hatch) Temperature 99.5  Humidity 60-70

*There are many factors that affect what temperature and/or humidity you will need to set your incubator to. See our How To Hatch for more information. 

We check, double and triple check your eggs to ensure they are the right size, shape, clean AND whole. We encourage you to check your eggs prior to acceptance so that we are offered the opportunity to make it right before you leave with your eggs. Once you leave with your eggs we can no longer control what happens to them, however, depending on availability, if we can help we definitely will. If you find a crack in an egg that was not obvious upon pick up/delivery, we will replace it.

Sherry and Melissa candle their eggs upon receipt to double check for cracks and we advise you to do the same. Do NOT set compromised eggs. When in doubt, throw it out. A cracked egg has a great likelihood of breeding bacteria and exploding compromising your entire hatch. We only candle one other time and that is immediately prior to lock down. The reason for this is that we find it is much more difficult to see development in quail eggs. There are many google sites and YouTube videos on how to candle and to identify what you should see by way of development. When you are candling prior to lock down your goal is to identify any "duds" (eggs which either were not fertile to start or those eggs whose development stopped during the days prior. Survival of the fittest at is best can be seen in every hatch. This is life and sometimes cannot be prevented, however sometimes it can. Most fertile eggs that begin developing and stop days 1-14 are attributable to temperature and/or humidity issues. Eggs which do not hatch after lock down with viable embryos, is generally attributable to genetic issues or humidity problems. It happens with every hatch to EVERYONE, for this reason, we encourage you to do an "eggtopsy" and educate yourself as to what went wrong. We are here to help trouble shoot any hatching issues. Please do not hesitate to reach out. 

There are multiple google sites and YouTube videos to help you identify what you should be seeing. Days 1-14 the embryo develops in steps. By day 15 the embryo is generally completely developed and will spend the next days until hatch getting into position, absorbing the yolk and blood in the veins of the membrane, resting, pipping internally and externally, zipping and then running the last 5 miles of the marathon pushing its way out of its shell.  

There is no possible way to answer this questions as it depends on so many factors out of our control. We have put together an entire page titled "How to Hatch" to help you get the most successful hatch out of the eggs you have purchased. We breed for quality, health and check fertility constantly, however we cannot control what happens once our eggs become yours. We do want you to have the best hatch possible so are here to help you trouble shoot your hatch. We expect, if you do all things correct, you should get a 50% or greater hatch. To put this in perspective, when Sherry and Melissa hatch, they get at least an 80-90% hatch rate in perfect conditions. It is important to note that many quail business utilize different methods to determine hatch rate (counting only those eggs that hatch after lock down OR counting all eggs set as the starting point) makes a difference and can inflate and/or deflate this percentage.

We guarantee we are here to help you with your hatch and that our goal is for you to have a successful hatch. We have provided a detailed How-To Hatch guide for you and we are here to help you troubleshoot and to answer your questions. But we cannot guarantee a hatching rate as we have no control over what happens when our eggs leave our hands and become yours. We are happy to share our hatch rate with you with the caveat that you would need to exactly duplicate what we do to get the same results. This simply is not possible, but again, we are here to help you in your situation in order for you to get the best hatch rate possible. 

It is important that  you have your brooder set up prior to your chicks hatching. Sherry and Melissa set up their brooders when they set each hatch. We recommend the same for you. Have your brooder space/container set up with bedding (we recommend using paper towels or the blue shop paper towels for the first 3-5 days then move to small particle shavings), waterer, feeder and heating source. Melissa likes to use the heater plates with the cavate that they need to be set to the correct height (set on a slant with the front a bit higher than the back so that the chicks can pick how close they need to be to the plate AND pay attention to the manufacturer's instructions as they do not work correctly when the external ambient temperature is too cold). Sherry likes to use the ceramic coiled heater. Both of these products are linked on our recommendations page. We have used a variety of waterers but find the quail waterer is the best for first timers as it protects the quail from drowning. DO NOT use the chick waterer as the opening is too large and your quail can fall in and drown. Once our quail get a little bigger, we switch over to the Rent A Coop shallow metal cup waterer also linked on our recommendations page. For feeders we use small plastic containers found at any store and fit them with chick quail feeder ports (these are also linked on our recommendations page).  The feeder ports prevent food waste as quail like to shake their food like a dog with a new toy. For bedding we start with paper or shop towels as this offers traction for little feet and helps prevent the occurrence of splay leg, slipped tendons and curled toes. After 3-5 days we transition to pine pellets (wet and broken down into saw dust) alone or mixed with fine shavings.

Melissa prefers the heat plates and Sherry has been very successful using the ceramic spiral lamp. Either will do the job as long as you follow the instructions. Even with instructions, watch your quail chicks, they will tell you the most about whether they are too warm or too cold. If they are running around eating and drinking, then retire for naps under the heat element and then repeat the fun, THEY ARE HAPPY. If they are clumped up in a chick pile and will not come out or are screaming, it is because they are too cold. Adjust your heat element accordingly. If your quail chicks are avoiding the area of heat provided by your heat element, they are too hot. We encourage you to do your research here are we cannot account for every situation you may experience and a lot of factors come into play with heat elements. DO NOT use a brooder plate if your ambient temperature is under 60 degrees as they cannot keep up with that low temp and will not work correctly. Brooder plates work by mimicking a mother hen where the chick will press its back up to the heat plate to warm itself and then move away accordingly to help moderate its heat. This is why Melissa sets one side of the brooder plate higher than the other on a slant. Chicks are not able to maintain their body temperature by themselves without help, until they are fully feathered at approximately 3-5 weeks.

Quail are very cold hardy and can moderate their own temperature once fully feathered. Sometimes this happens as soon as 3 weeks, but it can take up to 5 weeks. Look for fully feathered including head feathers as that will give you a good indication if they are fully feathered or not. Supplemental heat also depends on the time of year and the ambient temperature of where you will be housing your quail. If it is the winter, we recommend you brood indoors and then when fully feathered, transition your quail off heat indoors for a period of time, then outside with supplemental heat and finally off heat all together. This rule applies as well to any new quail you acquire. It is important to know what temperature they are used to and properly transition them for their health. During the summer you can move your quail outdoors much sooner. The general rule is derived from chicken chicks so 95 degrees for the first week and decrease each week after, however we have found this is not really as applicable to quail as quail feather out much quicker. 

Quail are very cold hardy and can moderate their own temperature once fully feathered. Sometimes this happens as soon as 3 weeks, but it can take up to 5 weeks. Look for fully feathered including head feathers as that will give you a good indication if they are fully feathered or not. Supplemental heat also depends on the time of year and the ambient temperature of where you will be housing your quail. If it is the winter, we recommend you brood indoors and then when fully feathered, transition your quail off heat indoors for a period of time, then outside with supplemental heat and finally off heat all together. This rule applies as well to any new quail you acquire. It is important to know what temperature they are used to and properly transition them for their health. During the summer you can move your quail outdoors much sooner. The general rule is derived from chicken chicks so 95 degrees for the first week and decrease each week after, however we have found this is not really as applicable to quail as quail feather out much quicker. 

Quail mature at different times just like humans. However, in general your quail should mature at 6 weeks and begin laying at approximately that time. There are factors which will play into when your quail mature and we encourage you to look at their light and feed requirements. Quail need 14-16 hours of light for the hormones which trigger the production of eggs to kick in, so if you have a hen that is not laying, look first at nutrition and then at the amount of light provided. If you have acquired adult quail from us, it is not uncommon for them to go through a transition period of approximately 2 weeks although depending on other factors such as travel stress, general covey stress, nutrition after deliver, lighting and handling after delivery, you can expect that time to increase. Sherry and Melissa have experience acquiring adult quail via great shipping handling and horrible shipping handling both of which affected the time it took for the quail to adjust and start laying (some came out partying like nothing happened and others were stressed). We have also driven hours with quail in boxes with like results. It also depends on your quails temperament. One of the reasons Melissa fell in love with the German Sparkly has to do with when she received her first breeding set. They were held up 2 days at a post office (darn USPS) and did not arrive for four days. While her other type of breeding set did not handle the stress well, the German Sparkly came out of the shipping box happy and partying. They started laying within days while the stressed set took weeks. Again, many factors go into when a hen will lay but generally speaking if you are hatching and/or raising one of our chicks, and all nutritional, light and housing requirements are correct with no stress factoring in, you should expect them to lay around 6-8 weeks.

We do not accept refunds. We will however do everything in our power to fix any deficiency caused by us. We want you to be happy and love our quail as much as we do but we cannot fix issues which occur outside of our control. 

We guarantee the health of our quail for the first 24 hours. After that too many factors come into play that are out of our control and in yours. Regardless of what may happen and when, we encourage you to reach out, even if beyond the 24 hours, if something happens that you do not know how to handle, we want to help trouble shoot if we can. We encourage and highly recommend that if you are receiving chicks from us to supply room temperature (75 degrees) drinking water for the first 12 hours with Sav-A-Chic added. After the 12 hours passes, provide regular luke warm drinking water. We also encourage you to have Nutri-Drench or Rooster Booster liquid on hand to treat any weak or stressed chicks. 

Once you receive your hatching eggs, you should go immediately home and store them pointy side down at room temperature. If you are local, you can let them set 6-12 hours and then set them in your incubator. If you have to drive a distance, we suggest increasing that to 12-24 hours. This allows the eggs to settle prior to setting. 

We encourage you to do your research in this area. Quail eggs, just like chicken and most poultry eggs, come with a natural bloom added by the hen right before the egg is laid. This bloom naturally protects the contents of the egg from bacteria getting in. It allows you to be able to store your eggs on the counter for a certain number of days. However, once that time frame expires, you will need to move your eggs into the refrigerator. Or you can immediately refrigerate your eggs you intend to eat. Fresh quail eggs will last up to 6 months if stored correctly but we can promise they wont last even close to that long as they are wonderfully delicious. It is important that if you receive your eggs refrigerated from us (this is the only way you can purchase them from us) that they go immediately into your refrigerator. If they are left out you risk the egg sweating and bacteria entering the egg. If this happens, we recommend you practice Melissa's favorite saying "When in doubt, throw it out"!!!

We currently do not ship any age of live birds. We will never ship chicks. The reason for not currently shipping live adult birds is due to the inconsistency with USPS. This service may be coming soon, however we will not put our quail at risk of harm. We put a lot of work into our quail and do not want to see them come to unnecessary harm prior to their intended use by you. Chicks are a different story and although chicken chicks are commonly shipped without issue, quail chicks tend to be less tolerant of the stresses associated with shipping. It is hard for us to justify any possible mortality of a baby animal and regardless of their intended use by you, we strive to provide healthy, well breed stock for you to start with. If shipping chicks is what you are looking for you are free to explore the larger factory hatcheries, however, you get what you pay for in this regard.

We simply cannot answer this question for you and encourage you to seek out your local, county, state and federal laws applicable to the area you live in before you purchase quail. What we can tell you is that it is much easier to have quail than it is to have chickens because in those urban areas where chicken are either not allowed or limited, you can generally keep quail without any issues. HOWEVER, please do the homework prior to your purchase. We cannot take back live quail or hatching eggs once they have left our premises. Not only is it against our policy, but we practice strict biosecurity.

We simply cannot answer this question for you and encourage you to seek out your local, county, state and federal laws applicable to the area you live in before you purchase from us with that as your intent.