Backyard Chickens & Coturnix Quail: Incubating Hatching Eggs and Chicken Breeding

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Quail Mania 2 is officially in the books — and the turnout was huge. In this episode of the Poultry Nerds Podcast, we debrief the event results, what improved from last year, and what’s already being planned for Quail Mania 3 (including a Kids Corner and the possibility of expanding to three days).
Event highlights discussed:
15 speakers, 16 sponsors, and 1,363 participants
Over 4,800 live chat messages
All-Access Pass availability through May 31 (so you can learn through breeding season)
Then we shift into a topic that directly impacts hatch rates and breeder success: rooster (cock bird) health and fertility.
You’ll learn:
Layer feed vs all-flock feed: what’s best during breeding season
The truth about calcium and roosters (and why it’s usually a long-term management issue)
How fat roosters reduce fertility and performance
Molt management and why weight cycling matters
Foot health, roost height, and preventing injuries
Spur management and protecting hens
Easy ways to check fertility before setting a full batch
Why aggression shouldn’t be tolerated in a breeding program
If you’re trying to improve fertility, hatchability, and chick quality — this is a must-listen.
Sponsors mentioned: Valley Hatchery (coupon code: QuailMania), Hatching Time, ParcelPath
Join Carey of Show Pro Farm Supply and Jennifer of Bryant's Roost as we delve into chickens and quail (mostly)  to help you enjoy your birds more and worry less. Backyard chicken keeping shouldnt be stressfull, let's get back to the simple days
Valley Hatchery is a proud sponsor of Poultry Nerds, find more at ValleyHatchery.com
Support the show
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EggFoam.com get your egg shippers and live shipping boxes and always get free shipping!
ShowPro feed supplement for all your feathered friends! Grow them bigger and healthier with the best ingredients.

Coturnix Quail hatching eggs from Bryant's Roost, including jumbo celadons!

Quail cartons and Supplies from Double R Farms

Please subscribe to our podcast and leave a review, we appreciate you. And if you have a subject request, email us. [email protected]

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This week on the podcast we talk about some questions we see asked in our new Facebook group, Incubation Masterclass about incubating and general chicken keeping.  We answer general questions and correct some misinformation we have seen discussed.  Get more confident with your chicken skills after this episode
Join Carey of Show Pro Farm Supply and Jennifer of Bryant's Roost as we delve into chickens and quail (mostly)  to help you enjoy your birds more and worry less. Backyard chicken keeping shouldnt be stressfull, let's get back to the simple days
Valley Hatchery is a proud sponsor of Poultry Nerds, find more at ValleyHatchery.com
Support the show
Feel Free to email us at - [email protected]
Join us on Facebook at - https://www.facebook.com/PoultryNerds

Sign up for News at PoultryNerds.com

EggFoam.com get your egg shippers and live shipping boxes and always get free shipping!
ShowPro feed supplement for all your feathered friends! Grow them bigger and healthier with the best ingredients.

Coturnix Quail hatching eggs from Bryant's Roost, including jumbo celadons!

Quail cartons and Supplies from Double R Farms

Please subscribe to our podcast and leave a review, we appreciate you. And if you have a subject request, email us. [email protected]

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In this episode of the Poultry Nerds Podcast, we break poultry husbandry down into something simple, practical, and proven: the rule of threes.
Every bird goes through three critical stages of life — incubation, brooding, and grow-out — and in each stage, there are three things that matter most. Miss them, and problems follow. Get them right, and everything gets easier.
We dive into:
Egg selection for better hatches (size, shape, shell quality, and why pullet eggs are a hard no)
Why constant candling hurts more than it helps — and when checking eggs actually makes sense
Turning, tilting, airflow, and avoiding incubator disasters
Brooding basics done right: heat, dryness, airflow, and why floors matter more than people think
Heat lamps vs brooder plates and how different species really behave
Grow-out fundamentals: feeder space, moisture control, and consistent growth
Why we don’t medicate, how natural selection strengthens flocks, and what ethical culling really means
Common myths, bad habits, and hard truths most breeders won’t say out loud
This episode is equal parts education, experience, and straight talk — no gimmicks, no hype, just what actually works in real barns with real birds.
Whether you raise chickens, quail, turkeys, or gamefowl, this episode will help you hatch stronger chicks, brood them cleaner, and grow them out healthier.
👉 Like, subscribe, and share — and if this helped even one bird do better, it was worth it.
Join Carey of Show Pro Farm Supply and Jennifer of Bryant's Roost as we delve into chickens and quail (mostly)  to help you enjoy your birds more and worry less. Backyard chicken keeping shouldnt be stressfull, let's get back to the simple days
Valley Hatchery is a proud sponsor of Poultry Nerds, find more at ValleyHatchery.com
Support the show
Feel Free to email us at - [email protected]
Join us on Facebook at - https://www.facebook.com/PoultryNerds

Sign up for News at PoultryNerds.com

EggFoam.com get your egg shippers and live shipping boxes and always get free shipping!
ShowPro feed supplement for all your feathered friends! Grow them bigger and healthier with the best ingredients.

Coturnix Quail hatching eggs from Bryant's Roost, including jumbo celadons!

Quail cartons and Supplies from Double R Farms

Please subscribe to our podcast and leave a review, we appreciate you. And if you have a subject request, email us. [email protected]

send us an email and be sure to include your address so we can respond!
In this episode, we’re talking about how to scale from hobby quail-keeping to a real business—without getting burned by scammers, chargebacks, or platform fees.
Carrie’s back from travel (and we’re recording during an ice storm), so we’re using that momentum to break down the practical business side of quail: how to start selling, how to get paid safely, where to sell online, and how to price correctly when fees stack up. Even if you raise chickens, turkeys, ducks, or other poultry, the same business principles apply.
What we cover:
The 3 types of poultry people you’ll run into (and why it matters for learning & scaling)
Payment processors: PayPal, Venmo, Zelle — what they do and what they don’t protect
Why “Friends & Family” payments are a major red flag for buyers
Purchase protection fees (and why sellers must price for them like any other cost of doing business)
The buyer/seller trust balance: shipping risk, fair expectations, and chargebacks
Selling platforms: Etsy, eBay, Amazon, Shopify, Squarespace (pros, cons, and what fees really cost)
Why websites are never “set it and forget it” (and when platform fees might be worth it)
The importance of reviews: reading them, leaving honest ones, and building long-term credibility
If you want more business scaling strategy and quail-specific education, check out Quail Mania (free): quailmania.com.
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#Quail #QuailFarming #CoturnixQuail #HatchingEggs #PoultryBusiness #SmallFarmBusiness #FarmMarketing #EtsySeller #eBaySeller #Shopify #Squarespace #PayPal #Venmo #Zelle #Hatching #Incubation #Homesteading #BackyardFarming #PoultryNerdsPodcast #QuailMania
Join Carey of Show Pro Farm Supply and Jennifer of Bryant's Roost as we delve into chickens and quail (mostly)  to help you enjoy your birds more and worry less. Backyard chicken keeping shouldnt be stressfull, let's get back to the simple days
Valley Hatchery is a proud sponsor of Poultry Nerds, find more at ValleyHatchery.com
Support the show
Feel Free to email us at - [email protected]
Join us on Facebook at - https://www.facebook.com/PoultryNerds

Sign up for News at PoultryNerds.com

EggFoam.com get your egg shippers and live shipping boxes and always get free shipping!
ShowPro feed supplement for all your feathered friends! Grow them bigger and healthier with the best ingredients.

Coturnix Quail hatching eggs from Bryant's Roost, including jumbo celadons!

Quail cartons and Supplies from Double R Farms

Please subscribe to our podcast and leave a review, we appreciate you. And if you have a subject request, email us. [email protected]

send us an email and be sure to include your address so we can respond!
In this episode of the Poultry Nerds Podcast, we sit down with HP Murray of Gopher Ridge Farms for an honest, behind-the-scenes conversation about raising quail, building efficient farm systems, and how quail math can turn a small hobby into a full-time operation.
HP shares his journey from growing up on a farm, stepping away from agriculture, and then returning to it through quail after retirement. From early brooding mistakes to importing German quail lines, this episode is packed with real-world experience you won’t find in a textbook.
Topics covered in this episode include:
How HP got started raising quail and what he learned the hard way
Why quail quickly become a 7-day-a-week commitment
Importing quail eggs from Germany and introducing new genetics
Building your own quail lines through selection instead of constantly adding “new blood”
Designing a brooder house for heat, ventilation, and ammonia control
Moving away from stacked cages to a low-maintenance, one-level cage system
Why automatic waterers can dramatically reduce daily labor
Raising and managing gamebirds like chukars and bobwhites
Lessons learned from decades of breeding, hatching, and scaling production
Whether you raise quail for eggs, meat, breeding, or business, this episode offers practical insight from someone who has lived it—mistakes, successes, and all.
👉 Subscribe to the Poultry Nerds Podcast for real poultry education, honest conversations, and experience-based learning.
Join Carey of Show Pro Farm Supply and Jennifer of Bryant's Roost as we delve into chickens and quail (mostly)  to help you enjoy your birds more and worry less. Backyard chicken keeping shouldnt be stressfull, let's get back to the simple days
Valley Hatchery is a proud sponsor of Poultry Nerds, find more at ValleyHatchery.com
Support the show
Feel Free to email us at - [email protected]
Join us on Facebook at - https://www.facebook.com/PoultryNerds

Sign up for News at PoultryNerds.com

EggFoam.com get your egg shippers and live shipping boxes and always get free shipping!
ShowPro feed supplement for all your feathered friends! Grow them bigger and healthier with the best ingredients.

Coturnix Quail hatching eggs from Bryant's Roost, including jumbo celadons!

Quail cartons and Supplies from Double R Farms

Please subscribe to our podcast and leave a review, we appreciate you. And if you have a subject request, email us. [email protected]