Spirited Sons - Egg-stremely Egg-citing!

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Schooling two active boys has never been more... interesting. That's the word I'm looking for! I love my boys! God has given them the blessing of strong, active bodies and minds. We continually pray the first will remain intact, and the second will remain engaged with Him first, and then the school work. You'll meet my sweet sons, both entirely different, but both loving God to the best of their ability in the way He made them. I lovingly refer to them as my Bell Pepper Boy and my Habanero or Hambone. That should say it all! This blog is an eclectic mix. The events, conversations, and the thoughts behind it all will be in here. Every once in a while I'll try to capture something I don't want to forget. I hope you find things you enjoy. Please let me know if you do! Blessings!

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Mystery of History vol. 1
Saxon 5/4
Horizons Grade 2
A Beka Language
Spelling Power
Apologia Zoology 1

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The Bible
Adam and His Kin by Beechick
It by Groeschel

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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Egg-stremely Egg-citing!

Posted in School Things

Since I posted pictures from our last egg batch a couple years ago, I thought I would share how it all turned out that time. We were pretty fruitful considering the eggs traveled through the mail. More than 50% of any number of eggs sent through the mail is considered a really good hatch. With Buttons, 50% is a really, really good hatch.

Here are some pictures of the Pharaoh chicks hatching out.

These chicks hatched at night. I believe if you put your eggs in the incubator at night they will hatch at night. Put them in in the morning, and they will hatch in the morning. Our hatch this year should be morning chicks.

As the first chicks get out, they peep. Their peeps help encourage the others to come out.

These are the newly-hatched Pharaoh Quail chicks. They eventually dried off and lived in the brooder for a few weeks! How many are there, friends? ;') They lived in the brooder with heat lights for quite some time. These chicks do not make their own body heat for several weeks. The temperature in the brooder moves from 90 degrees to room temperature about 5 degrees at a time per week.

As fast as they grow inside the egg, they grow seemingly faster on the outside. A matter of a week or two, and they are getting their pin feathers! Quail reach maturity at 4 - 6 weeks!

This just might be my favorite stage, though. They were so fascinating to watch!

I'll try to post the old pictures of the Button Quail hatch, too. I thought you'd enjoy these, and I could find them faster than my BQ pictures. ;')

Have a great school day, everyone!

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Comments

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Sawickis

Jen ~

Thanks for the pictures. How cool! They're so cute. Are they very noisy? How about at night?

Kristie

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Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - Quail as Pets. . .

Posted by MayTheyBeMightyMen

Pharaoh Quail can be pretty loud. They actually frighten easily, so they don't make the best pets.

Buttons are much smaller. Mainly, they are quieter because they are smaller. If well-socialized, they don't frighten very easily. Night frights are a possibility, but we have our quail cage near an area where we keep a little light on at night. Works great. One quail is pretty quiet (females are much quieter as a rule). A male who cries out for a mate has two sounds they make: a call and a sound that is similar to Darth Vader's breathing. However, we had our single male quail in with a male diamond dove in the same cage. No noise from the quail at all.

If you have a pair, they are nearly completely quiet. Perhaps a morning "crow" from the male. We almost never noticed anything as long as our male was living with another bird.

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Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by MayTheyBeMightyMen

Oh, and females make a little "squawk" when they lay an egg. I imagine it's not very, very comfortable at the actual laying moment. ;')

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Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by kellieann

I just read through the whole saga...fascinating! Thanks for posting! Harrison has been studying birds in science, and I may have him come take a look.

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Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by CrossView

So tiny!
We love hatching chicks and poults but we've never hatched quail. Thanks for sharing! =D

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Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by ilovemy3angelbabies

Congratulations! Does that make you a "grandma?" :D

They are so adorable. How fascinating the whole "life" process is. God is amazing!

Blessings~
Laura

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