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The incubator for quails is a thermostatic box with humidity control. It is important during the breeding period to ensure the stability of the incubation regime, control the possibility of turning the eggs with the required frequency. The incubator can be bought or built with your own hands.
Requirements for the incubation of quails at home
Eggs in the incubator are laid fresh, demolished within a week. To increase the yield of chicks, the parent stock is kept separately. For 30 minutes the females are alternately placed in a cage with 3-4 males for fertilization. This will get the brood up to 80% of the bookmark.
Eggs are medium sized without cracks, with a clean shell. Before laying eggs are looked through on an ovoscope in order to make sure the embryo is present. The incubator is installed in a warm dry place.
To develop embryos, certain conditions are necessary:
- Two days in the incubator keep the temperature 3, degrees, humidity 60-70%, eggs do not turn over.
- On the fifteenth day, the eggs are turned over after 2 hours to prevent the embryo from sticking to the shell.
- Before piercing the eggs for 2 days, the temperature should be reduced to 3, the humidity should be maintained at 90%, periodically the surface of the eggs be irrigated from the atomizer.
Development of the chick up to the puncture is 17 days. Hatching chicks should dry out in an incubator for 24 hours.
The embryo retains its vitality even in the short-term absence of heating. In this case, the eggs are removed from the incubator and cooled to 15-18 degrees. In the future, the incubation of quail can continue, but the timing of the release of the chicks will shift.
Humidity in the chamber is maintained by means of installed blocks of water and adjustable ventilation ducts. The temperature is set automatically or manually using an accurate thermometer, not an indoor one. To turn the eggs without opening the incubator chamber for quail mesh with eggs turn left and right 45 by using the lever outward. Eggs in the grid are placed vertically, with a blunt end up.
The yield of 75% of the stuff is considered normal. The remaining eggs can be unfertilized or "asleep".
The design of incubators for quails from factory production can have an automated egg revolution, precise regulation of regimes. But usually these devices are designed for a stable diet. Backup battery is not provided. Purchased incubators for quails are universal, they can take out chickens and goslings, changing grids and mode of operation. However, the cameras in the devices allow the laying of 100-300 eggs. The incubator is expensive. Therefore, it is often possible to see an incubator for quails by yourself in a rural farmstead.
The principles of building a self-made incubator
Many designs of thermostats made by craftsmen, with drawings and step-by-step instructions can be found in the reference literature and on websites. Depending on the handy material, the number of eggs in the tab, the backup power source, it is not difficult to choose the appropriate design.
A wooden box of the right size is selected. In order to maintain a stable temperature and humidity inside, it is necessary to make the thermal insulation of the walls. Outside, the walls can be covered with polystyrene foam plates, roll insulation, and plywood on top. Carry out the finishing of the inner surface so that you can wash and disinfect the cavity.
Perfectly suitable for making an incubator for quail old refrigerator. A sufficient volume of the camera makes it possible to obtain a durable functional device.
To observe the state of the eggs from the top, make glass, drill several holes to ventilate the chamber. To install nets with eggs, make stops and a sealed hatch. To create the desired humidity, install an evaporator on the bottom of the chamber. Grids with eggs should be higher, so that the quail does not drown in the bath.
To evenly heat all eggs on the upper and lower mesh, an internal fan is installed, which is turned on periodically. The cell should have an air space sufficient to turn the nets with eggs to 45 and to manipulate the eggs. Above the floor level, the tray with eggs must be at least 10 cm. Up to the ceiling or top sight glass, the distance is calculated depending on the heating used. If these are 40 W light bulbs, then the distance from them to the grid should be at least 10 cm. Grids can be turned in manual and automatic mode.
Tray for eggs can be done by pulling on the foam frame a nylon line or other material. The main condition, laid eggs do not roll when turning the tray, hatched chicks should not fall into the cells.
Typically, the incubation of quails at home is done using a power supply. For emergency situations, it is necessary to consider connecting the battery. To monitor the temperature in the chamber, you need to buy a mercury thermometer, which is used to monitor the operation of temperature sensors. Room thermometers do not provide the desired accuracy. The thermometer is installed so that it does not touch the shell. Humidity is measured with a psychrometer.
The removal of quails in the incubator at home is easier than other breeds of birds. The chicks hatch more viable, dry in the incubator until excavated within 24-48 hours. It is important to create small fogs in the camera during the exit from the toddlers, so that the shell is more easily separated when the beak is destroyed.
The incubator should be mounted on a raised platform. During the induction period, there should be no sudden shocks or noises. Surprisingly, embryos may become frightened and frozen in development.
The withdrawal of quails in the incubator at home will reduce the cost of buying young animals when fattening the livestock for meat. A simple device to cut costs, will allow you to plant your own healthy bird flock.