We hope you enjoyed watching the quail eggs hatch!
We successfully hatched 17 of 25 jumbo coturnix quail eggs, and the chicks are now on the farm in their brooder cages.
Stop back for more quail chick video footage in the coming weeks. You'll be surprised at how fast they grow! These littles ones will be laying their own eggs in about 12 weeks.
Why is the Library hatching eggs?!
Early in 2021, we were approached by a local urban farmer, who raises crops and animals inside the city limits of Louisville. He offered us a proposition: If he bought the incubator, would the Library help manage the hatching process and educate the community on hatching eggs and owning birds? Of course, we said "Yes!!"
The urban farmer, who wishes to remain anonymous, started with Muscovy eggs. Muskovies are waterfowl that look a lot like ducks, except they have claws on their webbed feet. They can actually climb trees! Our first clutch of Muscovy eggs hatched over the summer. Here's a video of the egg hatching process, as well as some footage of the ducklings on the farm!
For our second round, our farmer asked us to do quail eggs, and we were very fortunate that MyShire Farm, located in Miamisburg, Ohio, was generous enough to donate 25 jumbo quail eggs (the eggs aren't jumbo, but the quail that hatch from them will be, relatively speaking!). Each tiny speckled egg was placed in our incubator on November 13, 2021. From November 29 through December 2, the eggs hatched, and we broadcast the live stream of the incubator right here! If you missed it, don't worry--we'll be showing a highlight reel of quail hatching on this page very soon. Stop back!
As with the Muscovies, the quail babies (called chicks) will go live on the urban farm right here in Louisville now that they have hatched. They will live in a brooder, a small, safe pen, for a time, then the farmer will give them more and more fenced space to run in. Also like the Muscovies, eventually, the Quail will be free-range, meaning they will be able to roam the entire property. They will always have a safe structure they can return to when they get scared or the weather turns bad. He will socialize them so they get used to people, and introduce them to the Muscovies; he will feed them and make sure they have fresh water. But they will also help to make the crops grow better in the spring by eating bugs, spreading their manure, and churning up the soil.
Watch for additional videos as the quail chicks grow. Want more information about hatching and raising Quail? Try MyShire Farm's website, their YouTube Channel, and their Facebook page.