The fact is that in the process of domestication, quail females almost completely lost the instinct to incubate eggs. Therefore, one cannot do without an incubator in breeding these birds. As a rule, some industrial devices such as "Universal", "Nasedka" and ILU-F-03 are used to incubate small eggs today. These modern devices can be purchased at any hardware store. But you can also do it yourself. More on this later.
The main rule in making an incubator for these birds is to take into account the number of eggs. We've all probably seen and even tasted these beautiful spotted little eggs. If we compare it with an ordinary chicken product, then the quail egg is almost three times smaller, which means that there are peculiarities of incubation. Due to the small volume, many more chicks can be hatched at a time.
So, before we start making the device, we will understand some of the points of incubation of quail eggs. The first condition is, of course, temperature. In this case, it should be within 37.3-38.3 degrees. In the very room where the structure will stand, the temperature should also not drop below 20 degrees. The ideal humidity outside the chamber is 20%.
For manufacturing, you can use all the same materials as for a chicken egg. It could be an old refrigerator or a regular box. But in this case, it is worth taking care of its sufficient thermal insulation, using modern insulation materials.
For heating, the easiest way is to use conventional 40 W incandescent bulbs. For a small space, 4 of them will be enough. More modern designs incubators for quails can be made with heating elements.
Also, after making the device yourself, never put eggs in the trays right away. Test your device, as they say, in practice. Let it run for several days "idle", look and check how the sensors work, whether the temperature is well maintained.
The first design, which you will see below in the drawings, we offer, made and proposed by the amateur poultry breeder S. E. Dulik. Although it looks very complicated and time-consuming, it helps to get a good result of the incubation of quails. Distinctive feature such a device is its heating element. It is a regular tank of water, which, as you understand, heats the eggs evenly, but does not depend on the voltage. Even if there is no light in the house, your chicks will be safe.
The tank is made of iron, so you should think about making it in advance. You can use a ready-made one, but then you will need to adjust the size of your entire incubator for it. So let's get started.
Scheme of an incubator designed by S. E. Dulik: 1-tank with water; 2-upper branch pipes; 3-plex lamp limiter; 4-valve; five- wooden frame; 6-bottom tray; 7-top tray; 8-double glass; 9,11,12-wooden overlays; 10-fiberglass; 13-bars with holes; 14 ventilation slots. 
Incubator of simple design: 1-space between the walls; 2 ventilation holes; 3-window; 4-hole floor. We hope, after such a detailed review, it will not be difficult to make a homemade incubator. Moreover, the result will surely please you. Healthy and robust birds are the result of your hard work.
In this story, you will see what a simple homemade incubator might look like and also how it works.
The quail incubator is a thermostatic box with humidity regulation. It is important during the hatching period to ensure the stability of the incubation regime, control of the possibility of egg overturn with the desired frequency. You can buy an incubator or build it yourself.
Eggs are laid in the incubator fresh, laid within a week. To increase the yield of chicks, the parent stock is kept separately. For 30 minutes, females are alternately planted in a cage with 3-4 males for fertilization. This will allow you to get the brood up to 80% of the bookmark.
The eggs are medium-sized, without cracks, with clean shells. Before laying, the eggs are examined on an ovoscope in order to make sure that the embryo is present. The incubator is installed in a warm, dry room.
For the development of embryos, certain conditions are needed:
The development of the chick until the hatching is 17 days. The hatched chicks should dry in the incubator for 24 hours.
The embryo remains viable even with a short-term absence of heating. In this case, the eggs are removed from the incubator and cooled to 15-18 degrees. In the future, the incubation of quails can be continued, but the release date of the chicks will shift.
The humidity in the chamber is maintained by means of installed blocks with water and adjustable ventilation ducts. The temperature is set automatically or manually using an accurate thermometer, not room temperature. In order to turn the eggs without opening the chamber of the incubator for quail, the nets with eggs are turned left and right by 45 0 using the lever brought out. Eggs in the net are placed vertically, with the blunt end up.
A yield of 75% of the loaded material is considered normal. The remaining eggs may be unfertilized or "asleep".
The design of prefabricated quail incubators can have automated egg turning, precise regulation of modes. But usually such devices are designed for stable power supply. No backup battery is provided. Purchased incubators for quails are universal; chicks and goslings can be hatched in them, changing the nets and operating mode. However, the cameras in the devices allow laying 100-300 eggs. An incubator is expensive. Therefore, more often in a rural courtyard, you can see it at work for quails with your own hands.
Lots of artisan thermostat designs with blueprints and step by step instructions can be found in reference books and websites. Depending on the material at hand, the number of eggs in the bookmark, backup source power supply, it is not difficult to choose a suitable design.
A wooden box is picked up the right size... In order to maintain a stable temperature and humidity inside, you need to make thermal insulation of the walls. Outside, the walls can be overlaid with expanded polystyrene plates, roll insulation, upholstered with plywood on top. Finish the inner surface so that the cavity can be washed and disinfected.
An old refrigerator is perfect for making an incubator for quails. Sufficient chamber volume makes it possible to obtain a robust functional device.
To monitor the state of the eggs, place a glass on top, drill several holes for ventilation of the chamber. To install nets with eggs, make stops and a sealed hatch. To create the required humidity, install an evaporator at the bottom of the chamber. The nets with eggs should be higher so that the quail does not drown in the bath.
For uniform heating of all eggs, an internal fan is installed on the upper and lower grid, which is switched on periodically. The chamber must have sufficient air space for turning the egg nets at 45 degrees and for manipulating the eggs. Above the floor level, the tray with eggs must be at least 10 cm. To the ceiling or upper sight glass, the distance is calculated depending on the heating used. If these are 40 W bulbs, then the distance from them to the grid should be at least 10 cm. The grids can be turned over in manual and automatic mode.
Egg trays can be made by pulling nylon fishing line or other material over the foam frame. The main condition is that the laid eggs do not roll when the tray is turned over, the hatched chicks should not fall into the cells.
Usually, the incubation of quails at home is carried out using the mains supply. For emergencies, a battery connection must be provided. To control the temperature in the chamber, you need to buy a mercury thermometer, which is used to monitor the operation of temperature sensors. Room thermometers are not accurate enough. The thermometer is positioned so that it does not touch the shell. Humidity is measured with a psychrometer.
Breeding quail in an incubator at home is easier than other breeds of birds. Chicks hatch more viable, dry in the incubator before being removed within 24-48 hours. It is important during the period of hatching from the eggs of babies to create a fog in the chamber with a fine spray, so that the shell is easier to separate when it is destroyed by its beak.
The incubator should be installed at an elevated position. During the period of hatching, there should be no sharp shocks or noise in the room. Surprisingly, embryos can get scared and freeze in development.
The hatching of quails in an incubator at home will reduce the cost of purchasing young animals when feeding livestock for meat. A simple device to reduce costs, will allow you to breed your own healthy flock.
Many poultry hobbyists use handmade incubators. You can make a small home incubator yourself.
Option 1
In this incubator (Fig. 21) there are no complicated parts, it is simple to manufacture and relatively cheap.
Rice. 21. Incubator in section: 1 - bottom with ventilation holes; 2 - plywood sheathing; 3 - stop for tray installation; 4 - electrical wiring; 5 - incubator cover; 6 - insulation; 7 - frame with mesh (tray); 8 - water tank; 9 - rods perpendicular to the direction of movement; 10 eggs; 11 - viewing window
The incubator is heated using conventional 40 W electric bulbs, but water heating can also be done. For cladding, plywood with a thickness of 2
3 mm. You can take polystyrene as insulation. The sheathing is sewn with small nails. In the bottom, you need to drill 3-5 holes with a diameter of 1 cm.
The incubator lid is removable and insulated. To monitor the temperature inside the incubator and the state of the eggs, a hole is made in the lid, closed with double glass.
Inside the case, 10-20 mm below the cover, wiring is mounted with lamp holders (one in each corner of the cover).
At a height of 100 mm from the bottom of the incubator, a tray with eggs is placed on a support. Foam plastic can serve as a support. The tray is made in the form of a frame with a metal mesh stretched over it. The incubator is installed in a room with a temperature
20-22 ° С, relative air humidity up to 50%.
Option 2
The incubator described below has a small capacity, up to about 50 chicken eggs, and quail eggs can hold 4-6 times more.
It can be built from plywood sheets, the thickness of which should be 3 mm. The walls of the incubator should be made double, and the empty space between them should be filled with sawdust, tow or some other heat insulator. The incubator lid must close tightly. Therefore, a bike or felt gasket is stuffed on the ends of the body, and strips are placed on the edges of the lid. The lid should be double, insulated. A window must be cut on the lid so that you can observe the incubation process without opening the incubator itself. Parallel to the window on the lid
ten holes must be drilled for ventilation. Since the humidity is constantly changing during ventilation, it is necessary to make easily movable strips above the holes. With them, as necessary, you will then open the holes, then close them. Make the floor of the incubator from a sheet of plywood, drilling nine holes in it in the middle. Inside the incubator, it is necessary to compactly fit a horizontal egg tray, dishes with water for additional air humidity and four 15 W electric bulbs. Egg trays can be made from a metal mesh stretched over a frame. On the frame, make strips with which you will rotate the trays. If you do not make such strips, then you will have to manually turn the eggs 180 degrees 2 times a day. In any case, every 2 hours you need to change the position of the eggs. To do this, make a stand out of the board 4-5 cm thick. Substitute it under one or the other leg of a homemade incubator. Incubator tilts - eggs move. The mesh should be made of stainless steel with fine mesh. Evaporation should be monitored constantly and fresh water should be added. Set up the incubator in a warm, draft-free environment.
Option 3
A self-made incubator (Fig. 22) is suggested by S. Kozin, a resident of the village of Tulyushka, Kuytunsky District, Irkutsk Region. From fiberboard we make a bedside table with two doors with glass and three trays. The bottom is made of a metal mesh with a mesh of 5x5 mm. We fix the trays with screws on a metal plate in such a way that each of them can tilt in both directions at an angle of 45 degrees (respectively, the total angle of inclination is 90 degrees). Three holes must first be drilled in the plate - according to the number of trays. With a handle, all trays can be easily rotated 90 degrees in one motion. Many hobbyists recommend laying eggs in a tray with the sharp end down or on their side, the horizontal arrangement of the eggs, as many quail breeders believe, somewhat worsens the result of incubation.
But back to our design (see Fig. 22).
In the nightstand - above and below - we drill ventilation holes. To avoid temperature drops, we will install a fan in the upper part of the incubator - an electric motor from an old turntable with a four-bladed "wheel" from plastic bottle... Since the motor is low-voltage, let's connect it to a transformer from the same turntable. Let's do the four-bladed wheel like this. Cut off the top of the plastic bottle. Drill a hole in the plug screwing the neck. Cut the shell into four parts and bend it - you get blades. Let's put a homemade wheel on the electric motor shaft. The fan is ready.
As heaters, we connect six 100 W bulbs to the thermostat. We fix four lamps at the top of the incubator, and two at the bottom.
Unlike other heating devices, incandescent lamps reach the set temperature in 2-3 minutes. After turning on the thermostat, the lamps burn with full incandescence, and after 2-3 minutes they start blinking. This means that the required temperature has been reached.
Option 4
Quail eggs are small, the chicks from them also come out tiny, therefore the quail incubator can be small in size (Fig. 23). It can be equipped in a conical plastic bucket. Drill holes with a diameter of 1 cm in its walls at a height of 8 cm, they serve to limit the level of the water to be poured and ventilate the entire incubator. By changing the level, and hence the area of the water mirror, as well as the immersion depth of the filtered paper, they regulate the humidity. The heat source is two 15 W incandescent lamps, and a metal partition with holes is used as a safety grill and a heat accumulator. An electric contact thermometer and a fan are installed in the lid, which are turned on once within one to two days. This incubator is extremely simple to design.
Option 5
S.E. Dulik suggests a more complex incubator design (Fig. 24), but the time it takes to build it will pay off with the incubation results.
Rice. 24. Scheme of an incubator designed by S.Ye. Dulika: 1 - tank
with water; 2 - upper branch pipes; 3 - plex lamp limiter; 4 - valve; 5 - wooden frame; 6 - bottom tray; 7 - top tray; 8 - double glass; 9, 11, 12 - wooden lining; 10 - fiberglass; 13 - bars with holes; 14 - ventilation slots
A distinctive feature of this design from all existing ones is the heating element. Its role is played by a tank with water (1), which allows for uniform heating of all eggs (there is no local heating of eggs, as when heating with lamps), and most importantly, the tank protects against a lack of voltage. IN this option the tank is welded from iron 4 mm thick, but it can be bent from galvanized iron and soldered. Top nozzles (2) with a height of 30 mm made of 4-inch pipe sections are welded into the top cover of the tank so that the inner hole is 10 mm less than the diameter of the nozzle. This collar is required for the plexiglass lamp stopper (3). Two disks are cut from a plexus 4-5 mm thick, the outer one is 95 mm in diameter, and the inner one is the size of the cartridge. The plexes for fixing the lamps are at the same time indicators of turning on the heating (it is clearly visible through them when the water is heating - they let the light through from the lamp). Bulbs of 100-watt lamps are lowered directly into the water up to the sockets. The holders are selected from chandeliers with an external nut on the holder, which provides the ability to adjust the height of the lamp. Two lamps have been chosen to duplicate the heaters (lamps fulfill this very role). They are connected in parallel with the load of the thermostat. The tank is filled with water under the very top cover. On the side, the tank is equipped with a half-inch valve (4), which allows the water to be drained in case the incubator is empty of water and in the event of a power outage. ...
A tank preheated to the incubation temperature of eggs is an excellent heat generator. Within 10-12 hours of the absence of electricity, it cools down by only 0.5-1 ° C, since on all sides, except for the bottom, it is sheathed with a heat insulator (foam 40 mm).
Structurally, the incubator is a wooden frame - 5 of bars 40x40 mm, assembled on thorns, two trays: the lower (6) - for trays with water and the upper (7) for laying eggs. The upper tray is made of 12 mm thick planks. The bottom is sewn up with a stainless steel mesh with 13x13 mm cells, on which a nylon mesh is placed, and eggs on it. The front wall of the upper tray is glazed with double glass (8)
to preserve heat in the hatching chamber of chicks and for visual observation: through the glasses, without pulling the tray out of the incubator, one can observe both the temperature (the thermometer is located directly in the middle of the tray, in a horizontal position at the level of the top of the eggs) and the hatching and drying of the chicks in the hatcher. In front, on the glazed frame, wooden pads are attached to screws and PVA glue (9). They protrude beyond the size of the front wall by 20 mm on all sides, which makes it possible to seal the tray through the foam rubber gaskets (in the retracted position of the tray) and prevent heat from escaping from the hatching chamber. The lower tray (6) is also wooden structure, but already with a bottom made of 2 mm fiberglass (10). It is screwed to the frame with screws from below. Glass fiber laminate on the sides of the tray protrudes 20 mm to the side, which allows the tray to be pushed into the incubator along the grooves sawn in the wooden plates (11). At the front, the lower tray is equipped with a wooden strip (12), which is fixed to the tray with screws. The front of the tray is sewn with foam.
In the lower part of the incubator frame, to the right and left of the lower tray, there are bars with nine holes 12 mm in diameter on each side (13). Ventilation openings open if necessary. There are also upper ventilation slots (14) 180 mm long. They are located on the left and right in the upper part of the frame so that the upper part of the slots is at the level of the bottom of the tank. These slots are fitted with two-half gate valves.
The entire frame is sheathed with polystyrene (inside between the bars), and then from all sides - fiberboard on screws. The top tank is also covered with polystyrene and fiberboard with holes for lamp sockets.
Option 6
Among the many designs of incubators, you can choose the simplest, but most reliable.
From plywood, fiberboard or dry thin boards, knock the box off double walled and install it on the legs (Fig. 25). The space between the walls (1) is filled with dry sawdust and covered from above and below with wooden planks. A cutout for the door is made in the front wall.
Rice. 25. Incubator of simple design: 1 - the space between the walls; 2 - ventilation holes; 3 - window; 4 - floor holes
The upper cover of the incubator is removable, double, with sawdust inside. There are two rows on the lid ventilation holes(2) - five in a row. The hole diameter is 2.5 cm, and the distance between them is 3 cm. In the middle of the lid, a window (3) of an arbitrary size with double glazing is made. The holes are necessary for ventilation and temperature control inside the incubator, and through the window it is convenient to observe without opening the door what is happening inside and monitor the temperature. Each row of holes is covered with a plywood strip that moves in the grooves of the blocks nailed to the lid. It is also necessary to make five of the same holes on these strips. By moving the bar, we can partially or completely cover the holes.
For a snug fit of the lid to the incubator body, a bike gasket is glued along the upper edge of it, and strips are nailed on all sides of the lid on all sides.
Inside the incubator, electrical wiring with sockets for light bulbs is mounted on the walls, and below there are horizontal slats for the tray.
The floor in the incubator is plywood 6 mm thick. 9 holes (4) with a diameter of 6-8 mm are drilled in it evenly over the entire plane. To humidify the air, a plate of water is placed inside the incubator.
The egg tray is made of wooden blocks in the form of a frame, on which a metal mesh with cells of 2-3 mm is pulled, and for the convenience of turning the eggs onto the frame of the tray, you need to install guide strips, as shown in the figure. By changing the position of the slats, it is very convenient to turn the eggs over. They can be placed directly on the net and manually turned over.
Before laying eggs in the incubator, it is warmed up for 1.5-2 hours and the temperature is adjusted. Strengthen the thermometer
Can be on the frame of the tray. The temperature is regulated using ventilation holes or by selecting light bulbs of different wattage. The incubator is installed in a warm room on a stool or stand away from the door and vents.
A homemade incubator requires a psychrometer to measure the humidity inside the apparatus. You can do it yourself (fig. 26).
Rice. 26. Homemade psychrometer: 1 -
dry thermometer; 2 - humidified thermometer; 3 - bottle for distilled water; 4 - fabric; 5 - thread, tied tightly; 6 - thread, loosely tied
You will need two thermometers. Fix them parallel to each other on a plank. Under one we put a can for distilled water (you can use an autodrinker for poultry). We wrap the part of the thermometer where the mercury ball is located with a thin cloth (you can use gauze) in one layer. Tie the top with a thread, but not very tight, so as not to interfere with the passage of water through the fabric. The lower edge of the fabric is
Immerse 5 mm in distilled water (the cloth should not touch the walls of the vessel).
We will install the psychrometer in the incubator so that the thermometer readings are visible on the closed door of the apparatus. The water will evaporate from the surface and cool the mercury ball, and the wet thermometer will show more low temperature... The relative humidity in the incubator will be determined according to Table 3. Its level is at the intersection of the dry and wet bulb readings.
For example: dry bulb reading 38 °, wet bulb reading 29 °. This means that the relative humidity in the incubator is 47%.
Incubation results depend on the quality of the eggs. Eggs for incubation are obtained from females aged 2 to 8 months, eggs of females older than 8 months are recommended to be used for food.
If you are going to have quails in household, you will definitely need an incubator. But you don't have to buy it, you can do it yourself. You can build a convenient and modern incubator for quails with your own hands using instructions and drawings.
The fact is that in the process of domestication, quail females almost completely lost the instinct to incubate eggs. Therefore, one cannot do without an incubator in breeding these birds. As a rule, some industrial devices such as "Universal", "Nasedka" and ILU-F-03 are used to incubate small eggs today. These modern devices can be purchased at any hardware store. But you can also do it yourself. More on this later.
The main rule in making an incubator for these birds is to take into account the number of eggs. We've all probably seen and even tasted these beautiful spotted little eggs. If we compare it with an ordinary chicken product, then the quail egg is almost three times smaller, which means that there are peculiarities of incubation. Due to the small volume, many more chicks can be hatched at a time.
So, before we start making the device, we will understand some of the points of incubation of quail eggs. The first condition is, of course, temperature. In this case, it should be within 37.3-38.3 degrees. In the very room where the structure will stand, the temperature should also not drop below 20 degrees. The ideal humidity outside the chamber is 20%.
To make a homemade incubator, you can use all the same materials as for a chicken egg. It could be an old refrigerator or a regular box. But in this case, it is worth taking care of its sufficient thermal insulation, using modern insulation materials.
For heating, the easiest way is to use conventional 40 W incandescent bulbs. For a small space, 4 of them will be enough. More modern designs of incubators for quails can be made with heating elements.
Also, after making the device yourself, never put eggs in the trays right away. Test your device, as they say, in practice. Let it run for several days "idle", look and check how the sensors work, whether the temperature is well maintained.
The first design, which you will see below in the drawings, we offer, made and proposed by the amateur poultry breeder S. E. Dulik. Although it looks very complicated and time-consuming, it helps to get a good result of the incubation of quails. A distinctive feature of such a device is its heating element. It is a regular tank of water, which, as you understand, heats the eggs evenly, but does not depend on the voltage. Even if there is no light in the house, your chicks will be safe.
The tank is made of iron, so you should think about making it in advance. You can use a ready-made one, but then you will need to adjust the size of your entire incubator for it. So let's get started.
Scheme of an incubator designed by S. E. Dulik: 1-tank with water; 2-upper branch pipes; 3-plex lamp limiter; 4-valve; 5-wooden frame; 6-bottom tray; 7-top tray; 8-double glass; 9,11,12-wooden overlays; 10-fiberglass; 13-bars with holes; 14 ventilation slots.
Incubator of simple design: 1-space between the walls; 2 ventilation holes; 3-window; 4-hole floor.
We hope, after such a detailed review, it will not be difficult to make a homemade incubator. Moreover, the result will surely please you. Healthy and robust birds are the result of your hard work.
In this story, you will see what a simple homemade incubator might look like and also how it works.
Popular models of incubators for quails
All aspects of quail egg incubation
Manchu quail - beautiful golden birds
Do you need a consultation?
I grow quails using a chicken incubator. True, I had to buy a separate net for their eggs. The first brood was weak, a little more than a quarter of the eggs hatched, as then I read the humidity and set it incorrectly. The second brood is already much better, over 75%. Now I am waiting for the third brood, I hope the performance will improve even further. The incubator is similar to the one in your third photo.
thanks for detailed instructions... I will bring it to life. After I try it, I will write down what happened and what percentage of hatchability.
Do it yourself - it's great. The main thing is to be able to do it)))
Please tell me what temperature should be in the incubator? Is it permanent or does it need to be changed after a week, after ten days? How many degrees?
Vladimir, we have all these aspects in a separate thematic article. You can read it here - http://zoohoz.ru/perepelki/vse-aspekty-inkubatsii-6239/
The incubator has broken down, but there is no money for a new one? It doesn't matter, because you can make a device with your own hands, spending a minimum of time and money on it.
If you can do without an incubator for incubating chicken eggs, then it will not work with quail eggs. The thing is that domesticated quails have completely lost their incubation instinct.
The quail breeding device is different from the usual one. A standard device holds between 100 and 300 eggs. If the poultry farmer breeds quails in much larger quantities, then you will have to buy several more such incubators. Why pay more when you can make a homemade incubator for more than 500 eggs?
Due to the fact that quail eggs are 3 times smaller than ordinary chicken eggs, the cells for them should be smaller. Therefore, more small quails can be hatched at one time than chickens.
For a future incubator with your own hands, you will need the following materials and tools:
For the design to be done correctly, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
