Want to offer just-hatched Coturnix quail chicks, started juveniles and coop-ready young adults this December? Let me share the dates you need to put eggs in the incubator and some useful tips when it comes to selling Christmas Coturnix quail chicks & juveniles:
Selling Christmas Coturnix Quail Chicks & Juveniles
Every December there are people who are on the hunt for Coturnix quail chicks & juveniles. Perhaps they just got a new backyard coop for Christmas or are wanting to get a jump on the spring breeding season. Either way, there is some December demand for these sweet egg layers!
Chicks May Not Be Possible
If, by using the magic of artificial lighting, you have managed to keep your hens laying through November, you may not have recently hatched quail chicks available for a Christmas Eve pick up. And that is okay, since many keepers are going to be brand new to quail keeping. Started quail that are 3+ weeks old and coop ready are ideal, especially in cold winter weather.
But if You Still Want to Try to Hatch Chicks:
Coturnix quail eggs need 18 days to hatch in an incubator, with perhaps an extra day to allow everyone to hatch out. If you’d like to have tiny baby quail chicks ready for pick up Christmas Eve, quail eggs need to go into the incubator by December 5. Again, having hens who are laying this far into the winter is rare without supplemental lighting and very deliberate care. But if you’re the only breeder in the area with quail chicks on Christmas Eve, you can almost name your price!
Offering Coop Ready Juveniles
If you’d like to have young quail who are feathered enough to go into an outdoor pen (3+ weeks old), set eggs in your incubator no later than November 14. This will allow 19 full days for incubation and 3 full weeks for feathering before pick-up on December 24.
Offering Point of Lay Adults
This is one of the easiest solutions because you’ll be gathering hatching eggs while your covey is still laying in the autumn warmth. Eggs should go in the incubator by October 10 so the birds will be 8 weeks old and coming into lay or laying by December 24 if you give them supplemental lighting. (Quail hens with no supplemental lighting won’t come into lay until February or March, even if they hatched in October.) This is a desirable option because feather sexable individuals should be very obvious. Non-feather sexable colors can be vent checked for males since they will be sexually mature by 8 weeks old.
Rare Feather Colors Sell Well
Your prettiest birds are going to sell the best all year round, but this is especially true at Christmas. At the very least, buyers are going to want an assortment of feather colors so try to provide this if at all possible. (I know this depends on what hens are still laying when you need to collect hatching eggs but a variety is ideal if possible!)
Celadon Blue Egg Layers Sell the Best
You probably already know that Celadon layers sell the best, followed closely by Jumbos and then unique feather colors. If you are able to offer any celadon birds around the holiday, even if they are point of lay adults, do it! Celadons are always very popular.
Click to view our Guide on breeding Jumbo Celadon Quail!
Leg Band Your Quail Chicks!
If you’re hatching celadons, jumbos, and standards at the same time, leg bands are handy for telling who is who, even when the chicks are all together in the same brooder. Two week-old quail chicks will need size 3 leg bands so make sure you have them on-hand so you can size up. Our article on how to leg band quail chicks walks you through every step!
Selling Christmas Quail Coops
Chicks & Juveniles aren’t the only things you can offer for some holiday income. Cute backyard quail coops sell incredibly well; almost as fast as you can build them! You can find FREE Quail Coop building plans or purchase our very beginner-friendly white cottage quail coop plans from our website shop.
Getting Enough Hatching Eggs from Your Covey
If you’re planning an autumn hatch, here are the tips and tricks I use to ensure my covey keeps laying through the fall, even as the daylight hours diminish:
- Add supplemental lighting. I love these triangular solar garden lights. I let them charge in the sun during the day and then tuck them into the coop in the evening when I collect eggs. Place the black solar side down so the quail can’t knock them over. They add multiple hours of extra light that keep my girls laying.
- Keep waterers sparkling clean. Hens must be drinking regularly to produce eggs. Clean waterers are the best way to ensure this. This 2 liter waterer with the brass nozzle has been my absolute favorite to use with quail.
- Offer interesting, egg-building foods. My hens chirp with delight when I bring out my homemade quail scratch with quinoa and meal worms. They eat greedily and the next day there are eggs everywhere! Common green clover leaves are also a wonderful, free treat you can offer your covey for a protein and calcium boost.
- Keep the dust bathing bowl full. This may seem strange but dust bathing helps quail relieve stress. Ensuring she’s happy, healthy, and free of mites is the recipe for a quail hen remaining in peak laying condition. Try the dust bath blend I use if you’d like her flinging dust bathing habits to also fight poop odors when it spills over droppings in and under the coop!
Happy Holiday Sales!
I hope these tips and suggestions help you have your best Christmas selling season yet!
You Might Also Enjoy Reading:
Charts Showing How Much Coturnix Quail Chicks Eat
Selling Hatching Eggs on Etsy (quail eggs included!)
Selling Christmas Chicken Chicks
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