A Complete Analysis of Quail Incubation Techniques and Methods
Quail have strong disease resistance and consume little feed. They begin laying at around 40 days of age, with an average egg weight of 12 g--13 g, a feed-to-egg ratio of 2.5:1 to 2.7:1, and an adult quail weight of about 150 g. The average annual laying rate reaches 85%--90%. Feed costs are low, the space required is small, results come quickly, and they are easy to manage and easy to raise. Each adult quail consumes 4 qian of feed, and raising efficiency is high. Under cage-rearing conditions, about 400 quail can be kept per 3 sq m (calculated on the basis of 6-tier cages). Raising 1000 quail, they begin laying at around 40 days of age, producing an average of about 20 jin of eggs per day, about 850--900 eggs per day, and a daily profit of about 25 yuan. Selling the droppings can cover workers' wages, and 1 person can manage about 10,000 quail.
An Introduction to Quail Incubation Techniques and Methods
I. Artificial Quail Incubation Techniques
Artificial incubation of quail is an important part of the quail farming industry. In addition, quail have lost their brooding instinct, so artificial incubation is necessary for reproduction and production.
Artificial incubation equipment for quail eggs includes electric incubators, warm-water incubators, electric blanket incubators, kerosene lamp incubators, and others, so the incubation process also differs.
Mechanical egg-turning electric incubator
In addition to automatic temperature control, this incubator is also equipped with a fan and an egg-turning device, which keeps the air inside the incubator fresh and makes egg turning simple to carry out.
The cabinet is made with 2 layers, with insulation material packed between the two walls, and its size is determined by the number of eggs to be incubated. Generally, an incubation cabinet of 90 cm × 90 cm × 120 cm can incubate 5000 quail eggs. A 10 cm × 10 cm square vent is opened in the middle of the top of the cabinet. Fans are installed on both inner sides of the cabinet, 2 bearings are mounted on the support plates of the egg tray rack, the fan shaft passes through the egg-turning frame, and one end extends outside the cabinet, where a reduction pulley (large pulley) is fitted. It is driven by a 45-watt motor or the motor of a 30 cm electric fan. The fan speed is 80 rpm~100 rpm, each fan has 6 blades, the diameter is 60 cm, and the blade width is 3 cm. The egg-turning frame is made from wooden strips, with both side faces quadrilateral in shape, and an iron pipe is installed in the middle for the fan shaft to pass through. The iron pipe is placed on the bearing seats, allowing the egg-turning frame to rotate 45 degrees around the iron pipe to achieve the purpose of turning eggs. Egg tray supports are installed on the inner side of the egg-turning frame, with a spacing of 10 cm between each tier of supports. The egg tray frame is nailed together from 4 cm × 1 cm wooden strips, and the frame is threaded with 2 layers of wire to hold the quail eggs so that the eggs will not roll or fall out of the tray when the egg-turning frame rotates. The automatic temperature controller is composed of a transistor relay control circuit, a conductive meter (that is, a mercury contact thermometer), and an electric heater (four groups of 150-watt electric stove wires, installed respectively at opposite corners on both inner sides of the cabinet), or it is better to use a thermistor temperature controller instead.
After the incubator is made, the position of the electric heater should be moved so that the temperature difference among the egg trays on each tier is within 1℃, and the diameter of the water pan should be adjusted so that the relative humidity is 50%~70%. During the first 10 days of incubation, the incubation temperature (based on the thermometer reading) is 38℃, and afterward it is lowered by 0.3℃~0.5℃. During the day, the position of the egg rack is changed once every 2 hours to 3 hours (egg turning), fixed with a metal hook, and the eggs are turned once more just before going to sleep at night. Three days before hatching, the eggs are placed in the hatching tray, egg turning is stopped, and warm water is sprayed once a day with a sprayer.
Incubation in a kerosene lamp incubator
The kerosene lamp incubator has a simple structure, is not restricted by power outages, also has a high hatch rate, and is easy to operate, making it convenient for widespread use in rural areas or for laid-off workers.
Structure: Use wood to make an insulated box 200 cm long and 100 cm wide, with box walls 7 cm thick, and fill the hollow spaces in the walls with vermiculite powder or crushed foam particles. Make 3 tiers of wooden racks inside the box so that the egg trays maintain a 40-degree tilt. The top of the box can be replaced with a cotton quilt. The front of the box should have two doors for ventilation and hatching. At both ends of the box, 15 cm above the ground, there are 2 iron pipes with a diameter of 3 cm each, and a kerosene lamp is placed at the mouth of each pipe. These 4 iron pipes cross diagonally upward inside the box and extend out through the opposite side, and after extending out, a section of chimney is installed upward. The temperature inside the incubator is maintained by the heat given off by these 4 iron pipes.
Operation: By adjusting the size of the kerosene lamp flame, the temperature inside the box can be adjusted. A water pan should be placed at the bottom of the incubator to regulate the humidity inside the box. Before incubation, the temperature should be adjusted and tested in advance, and then incubation can begin. The temperature should be checked and adjusted 4 times~6 times a day, and eggs should be turned by hand 6 times~8 times. The temperature in the incubation room is about 20℃. Pay attention to humidity and ventilation in the later stage of incubation. One kerosene lamp can incubate 3000 quail eggs at a time and only needs about 2.5 kg of kerosene. As long as the heat is well controlled, a high hatch rate can likewise be achieved, saving money compared with an electric incubator, but it requires frequent observation and frequent adjustment, and fire must be prevented.
Flat electric light bulb incubator
Made from materials including 1 15-watt and 1 25-watt electric light bulb, 1 large and 1 small cardboard box (with a 4 cm~6 cm gap around them after the large box is fitted over the small one), several kilograms of sawdust (or rice husk), 1 piece each of gauze, burlap, and a thin quilt, 1 wet-and-dry bulb thermometer, 1 small-mouthed cup or small bowl about 6 cm in diameter, and two short sections of pipe 1.5 cm~2 cm in diameter (bamboo or plastic). Since there is no temperature control device, temperature regulation is relatively difficult (if 1 mercury conductive meter is added for temperature control or a thermistor temperature controller is used, then it is possible). Based on experience, the temperature can be adjusted by covering with burlap or a thin quilt (depending on the outdoor temperature), or by increasing or reducing the wattage of the light bulbs. Late at night the voltage is slightly higher, so care must be taken to avoid excessive temperature inside the incubator.
Hot-water heating incubator
It is composed of a box body, egg trays, hot-water bottles, and so on. The box body is made by fitting a large and a small cardboard box together, with insulation material (such as cotton, rice husk, sawdust, etc.) packed tightly between the two boxes. Inside the box body, 3~4 glass bottles filled with hot water are placed horizontally as the heat source. A wet towel is laid over the bottles, and 4~6 small square wooden sticks are stacked on each side to adjust the distance between the egg tray resting on them and the hot-water bottles, so as to keep the temperature in the egg tray stable at a certain value. The egg tray is covered with some thin cotton pads or towels for insulation. Generally, an incubator with a volume of 0.3 cubic m can incubate about 60~100 quail eggs. When hot water is just added, the water temperature is relatively high, often exceeding 40℃. At this time, some of the covering on the egg tray should be taken and placed on the hot-water bottles for insulation, so as not to make the temperature in the egg tray too high. After about 1 hour, because the water temperature has dropped considerably, the covering should be taken back from the hot-water bottles and returned to the egg tray, and the number of wooden sticks should be gradually reduced so that the egg tray slowly moves closer to the hot-water bottles and the temperature in the tray is kept stable. The hot water in the bottles is changed once every 4 hours~6 hours, which can be done at the same time as turning the eggs and adjusting the position of the egg tray. At 15 days, egg turning is stopped and the hatching stage begins.