Chuckar Chicks

[bkidd79]

So, with hesitation I will tell you that I know that birds lay eggs, and I know that the chuckar (which I currently have) are birds, it had never dawned on me that my chuckars would lay eggs. So I find myself in posession of a few chuckar eggs. I really think my kids would get a kick out of having these eggs hatch so I pulled up incubators online and found a set of instructions for a homade incubator. I have gathered the required materials and actually made it. It works really well. Maybe to well it gets up to 110 degrees. So I have to modify it, which i am going to try a dimmer switch. We have yet to see the result.

Anyway, anyone have any pointers for the best success? I hear 99.5 degrees for 25-30 days. Other than that I have no idea. Would love to hear your input. Thanks

[Ken Lynch]

Need humidity. Soup bowl with water to evaporate should work. Also need a way to turn the eggs. Doing it manually becomes a pain very quickly.

[tommyboy72]

I made one with a dimmer switch and it was a pain in the a$$ trying to hand regulate that darn thing. Save yourself the headache and buy a 110 volt thermostat such as a hot water heater thermostat or wall heater thermostat that is 110 volts rather than 24 milliamp control power. Just a suggestion.

[winchestermodel50]

When I was a kid, we sometimes had peacock or duck or quail eggs or whatever, given to us by a city zookeeper. My sister would go catch a Bantam hen out of the chicken house and put it in a cardboard box with a lid with a brick on it. The chicken had food and water in the box, but it was kept dark unless you were changing water or feed. After a week, the chicken in the box would become broody and you could put any kind of eggs under her and she would definitely hatch them. I don't think we left the lid on the box after the bird became broody. She will turn the eggs herself and it is a pretty labor free experience. You need to throw the hen out within a day or two of hatching quail or partridges as they will drive her over the edge and probably kill these comparatively active chicks. They usually handle bigger species of birds quite nicely. Unattended chicks will definitely need a heat lamp for several weeks. I'll bet you could put 25 eggs under one of these hens.

[kninebirddog]

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/hova-b ... E-HOVABAT/

[ksbirddog]

One year I kept a rooster and hen quail to see if they would lay and then set the eggs. The hen laid, but would not set, so I decided to do some dog work with the two quail I caught the hen and she let out a distress call. The rooster flew up into my face and tried to claw my eyes. I slapped him away. The persistent little fellow then landed on my forearm, dug his claws in and started pecking my arm--he drw blood. If I had not experienced this, I may not have ever believed it.

[bkidd79]

I have the eggs in the incubator. I guess we will see if they hatch. Got a small bowl of water in there a piece of cardboard to block the direct heat and the temp is 99.5 and holding. I can turn the eggs once a day. If thats not enough, guess i wont have any chicks. Don't have the timeing for any more than that.

As far as the laying hen (?) she lets me take the eggs freely. No problems so far.

I have also noticed if I go out and feed the birds when its dark outside, they wont move away from me, I can even pick them up without them struggling. I am sure this must be normal. During the day I cant even open the cage without them trying to fly out the back through the wires.