QUAIL PROPAGATION METHODS 35 



After hatching the temperature may be from 100 to 103 

 degrees. The young are kept in the machine till they are 

 dried off and lively, and then are replaced under the hen at 

 night. This doubtless saves some from being crushed and 

 is all right if one wishes to take the trouble and will keep the 

 temperature right in the incubator. It is not necessary, 

 though, if the hen is kept quiet and in the dark. The egg- 

 shells should be removed without lifting the hen. 



Removal to Rearing-field. Let the hen brood the little 

 quails until they are a day old or a little more. There should 

 be no hole or crevice through which the young could possibly 

 escape. Then remove her to a fresh coop and run, out on 

 fresh turf, and give her the chicks. She should have whole 

 corn or coarse grain accessible, which will keep her quiet 

 during this critical period, nor will she be so likely, in eager- 

 ness for food, to trample the chicks when they are first fed. 

 Here, again, make sure that the little fellows cannot escape. 

 They do not yet know the hen's call and would certainly 

 get lost. It is well to watch them awhile to make sure that 

 they know enough to brood when chilly. If the weather is 

 cold or wet, they should be kept at first shut in the coop; 

 otherwise they can run out in the little yard. 



Food for Young. Young quails and other gallinaceous 

 species in the wild state are mainly insectivorous, and re- 

 quire animal food. So it has been a matter of experimenta- 

 tion to ascertain to what extent artificial feeding could be 

 modified and yet hold the young birds in health. It has 

 been found, in short, that they will thrive on various arti- 

 ficial foods, provided that during the period of growth they 

 are allowed to range in the open and supplement the artificial 

 diet by the insects which they catch. 



Feed Lightly. Another axiom of successful propagation 

 of wild birds is to feed lightly. This is especially true of the 



