May 4th and I've got some eggs in the incubator. around 80 Gambel's,70 Valleys,20 Blue Scaleds,and only 15 Mountains.
 My Mountain Quail took a while to get going this year. I got my first egg around the middle of last month and they're still just getting rolling,one hen here,then another hen there. I'll be setting another batch in a few days and will candle the ones from the week before.They usually lay until the third week of June here in Maine so I can still salvage a half decent season as long as they keep going. Anything is better than 2018. I've never had a year where my Mountain Quail didn't lay until that one.
 We'll see how the Mearns do this year. Last season they laid pretty good but the fertility was spotty for the first time ever. In all of my past seasons with Mearns,most hens laid around 50 eggs each,and all fertile right up to the very last egg in late August / early September. I knew something was strange when the birds weren't calling in April and early May. In all past years the pairs called back and forth on and off all day starting in April. I'm a bit concerned because this season they aren't calling either. Most hens start laying by the middle of the month so we'll see what happens.Their sand boxes are all sifted,and they've had their beak trims,and pedicures for the season.
 Even someone who's had quail for a lot of years like myself,learns something new now and then. Last year I learned that I can't always rely on even the old faithfuls. Years of laying just like a bobwhite,then BAM - little to nothing the next season. When I was active on Facebook and having people comment on my posts,the Three Golden Boys used to come on now and then under their fake profiles last year and make comments laughing about my Mountains not laying and not putting out a lot of Mearns. Well I've been at it for 20 years or so,and now that I think of it,I don't consider that bad at all. Hell,most Mountain breeders didn't set the world on fire last season,and there weren't a whole hell of a lot of Mearns around either,but I did raise the most Bensons in the country. These guys have been at it for four and five years now and think it's a guarantee every year. It's going to be funny when they do their usual year round taking of thousands of dollars in deposits from people and then have a season where their eggs aren't fertile or their birds don't lay at all. Do you think they'd give the customers their refunds ?😀
 I guess it's been a month or so now since I turned my Facebook page over to an administrator. It's been nice and peaceful since. I'm seeing a lot of views on my last four videos on YouTube, Maine-ly Quail-Exotic Quail. Like and subscribe ! 😀 I'll have some more on here,there,and my website in the near future. I'm told that The Three Golden Boys,Earl,Young,and the Egg Nazi,Ms.Peterson watch my sites as close as ever. They all really need to get a life but I guess it's too late for that now.
 I came to my senses a few weeks ago and decided to wash my hands of a guy who I've been trying to make up my mind about for around three years now. Lives down south. Always seemed like a pretty good guy but was and is buddies with one of The Three Golden Boys. I often asked him what the hell was up with that. He'd always complain about him,and knows of his bad reputation but keeps on helping him with everything ! He'd always have a lame excuse that he feels sorry for the guy because he has no friends. Well that's why !  You can't be a shyster and a wiseass and expect to make many friends. This guy spoon feeds him with tips and advice on everything there is,and even helped write the instruction sheets that he puts in the box with his egg orders. Then like he did with me,argues with every bit of advice he gives him. He more than just tolerates him. They're good friends. 
 People have been telling me for a few years that he plays both sides. Well I finally had enough of trying to figure that one out. If a guy is good friends with one of my worst enemies,then I don't want anything to do with him,and it hit me all at once that he's helping a known shyster stay around in this business,jerking around and screwing people for the past couple years. The guy bails him out with birds and eggs that he runs his face for but can't come up with,and all the tips and advice for the guy's customers that he doesn't have an answer for himself. I believe that he sent him some Mountain Quail eggs early this season and a female Benson Quail that he bought from me last fall. If that's the case then all Three Golden Boys got Bensons from me in a sneaky roundabout way last year. I'd never sell directly to them if they paid me three times the cost. The other two had guys that they know pay me for them and send to their own addresses. This guy told me that Whaah Whaah sent pictures of my boxes to his buddy.They all had a good laugh. I feel worse for the birds knowing that they went to those shitholes.
 All of the finishing touches are done on my 12 new pens. I built a new 4' by 8' brooder table along with four new brooders. I'm wrapping up building nest boxes and sand boxes this week and then all of the building should be over and it'll be on to my lobster gear. I just got two White Peking ducklings for pets and mascots for the farm. Cute little buggers.😀
 I'll keep everybody updated. Oh yeah,before I forget,I'm still getting requests for hatching eggs. I haven't sold eggs since 2017,except for my pheasants. No quail egg sales.

 Until next time....

​Taking egg orders for eggs from 'Big Ears' the Blackneck Pheasant and his 2 hens.Should be rolling by mid-April. $50 for 9 Postpaid.These and maybe my Goldens are the only eggs that I sell because I don't want to build a lot more of pens to raise any. 😃

​Well I went and did it. 150 Valley, Gambel's, and Texas Blue Scaled eggs coming in May.
Anybody looking for eggs from them and also Northern Bobwhites and Tennessee Reds, look up Forest Hills Game Farm in Liberty,KY.
Their prices are reasonable.These ebay hustlers' prices of $2.50 - $3.00 an egg are ridiculous Forest Hills has breeder flocks of thousands of birds.Eggs are around .80 a piece,.50,and .55 for Bobs and Tenn,Reds.
I bought a lot of my first eggs from them around 20 years ago.Good people,really nice birds and eggs,great prices. I highly recommend them.
I'm looking to build up a small colony of each kind this season and will be selling the extra birds in the fall. 
Stay away from the backyard hustlers and give them a holler. You'll be glad you did.
See,I actually can have good things to say about people. I usually just write about the scumbags.😀.

​That's the nickname we gave him because he's a little sniveling crybaby bitch when someone gives it right back to him.The guy sure can dish it out but sure can't take it coming back.  
  Here's how it all started between the two of us.  A few years ago this fuckin prick from Florida called me for some birds. I can't remember which types,either Mearns or Bensons,maybe some of both.Instantly I didn't like him.Lousy personality,not at all friendly.Just a pisspot to talk to. Most folks are pretty friendly when calling about the birds but every once in a while I get one like that.Everything was basically,"How much,how much,how much ?",one of those guys where it's all about,"What can you do for me ?".That's the type who's all about the buck and nothing else. A guy like that,when you give a good deal,wants a better one. After I got off the phone with him I remember shaking my head,taking a deep breath and saying to myself,"Man was that guy an asshole or what ?"
  Anyway,I was new to this Facebook crap and the whole internet thing and around that time I had a couple others that were about the same. I never used to get people quite like them during the old Game Bird Gazette days.Sure in any business you'll run into an asshole or a character once in a while,but with Facebook I got a crash course in the new generation of shitbag hustlers !
  I can't recall how many dealings I had with him. I talked briefly with him a handful of times just answering his rapid fire questions and dictating to me how to ship and what to write on the box when I send his birds,as if it was my first time ever sending any. Again I really already hated this dick.He was getting under my skin fast.
  I sent his birds. The Express Mail label said delivery would on the second day by 3:00 PM. Maine to Florida.Approximately 1700 miles.Well,as happens now and then the birds arrived the morning after that.Yes a tad late but the birds were fine. He e mailed me,"I want my money,I want my money,I want my money !!",basically screaming and crying for me to get the Postage refund for being a few hours late. Well by that time,like I said,I had it with him and that's all it took for me to snap and tell him off. I told him something along the line of to calm his ass down and quit being such a goddamn cheapskate ! I told him that I've been shipping birds and have had birds shipped to me for a lot of years from all over and if we all went to collect the refund every single time then the Post Office would stop all shipping of birds altogether. I've been hearing for years that the Post Office doesn't really want anything to do with sending live birds and that it won't take much to make them stop.
  Well that's when the shit hit the fan.He sent me an e mail telling me that he holds a grudge and he's gonna haunt me not just for then but for years to come.That was the one time he told the truth.
  So immediately it started. He went on the Softbills site and put an ad on pretending to be me. It read something like,Hi,this is Scott O'Schmuck from Maine and I'm having a breeder's liquidation sale. Mountain Quail,$40pr.,Bensons,$30pr.,Mearns,$100pr. ..... He went on saying that the reason I'm selling is because I'm senile and inbred and that my birds are all second quality..... . A whole line of shit like that. I couldn't believe it but people actually started calling me on it. Quite a few actually.Most knew it was some kind of a joke.Only a couple of halfwits took it seriously ! Well that only backfired on Derek because I explained to all of those people who he is,our dealings,and what kind of guy he is.Pretty much all of them told me that they'd definitely put him down as someone not to do business with.He had an ad on Softbills himself at the time. I reported him for doing that and he got the boot. Later he crept back on under a different name,"Ellenton Elegants". He's good with making up names and fake profiles. More on that in a bit. He also started the same thing,telling lies about me on Matt Pitchford's Google site,"Quail Enthusiasts". Matt threw him off.  So far,Scott 2,Derek 0. It only made him madder. He's lied about me about everywhere to anyone dumb enough to listen. He even went on my Facebook page,Maine-ly Quail wising off and starting trouble. I blocked his ass.
  A year later I got a call from a woman from Florida.She wanted to buy some Mearns Quail.I told her I had some. She told me she had a few but it was a total disaster.I sent her down three pair.When they arrived she called me.I'll never forget it. She said,"Mr O'Brien,what are these ? !"  I replied,"Mearns Quail."  She said,"Oh my God,these are BEAUTIFUL !!!" "These are nothing like the ones I have !!"   She didn't even think they were the same species  !!  I told her to send me a picture of hers. She did and I told her that yes they are Mearns but pretty piss poor specimens. She was carrying on about how nice and big,and plump,and shiny mine were !  I asked her who the hell she got her others from. She told me Derek Wagner,and the whole story of the ordeal.
  She told me that she contacted him because she saw his ad somewhere and wanted to go to his place and buy some. He said,"No no,I'll meet you somewhere...".Probably ashamed of his slum farm. She ended up meeting him half way on a hot 100 degree Florida day. He had the birds in the back of his truck in little tiny cardboard boxes with no air holes. They did the transaction.She put them in her air conditioned car but by the time she got home it was already too late. There were a few already dead,and more that keeled over not long after from heat stroke. She only ended up with a few left. She called him and told him about it. He got mad at her and told her it was all her fault and wouldn't make good for any of it !
  Around that time he was still stirring some shit with me so I told the woman that I was going to write a post on my Facebook page about him. I told her that I wouldn't mention her name or anything.She said,"No,by all means mention my name and give my phone number !" "I want to let people know just what kind of guy he is !" I asked her if she was sure and she told me absolutely. Well I wrote a good post about the little worm and our experiences with him. Shit hit the fan again. Somehow he got a few of his loyal conned flunkies to give me some shit on my page in the comments.I was on there telling it like it is and they wouldn't have any of it.One was a 350 pound plus lummox religious fanatic who private messaged me trying to explain about God and the bible,how to be..... . I pretty much told him he's talking to the wrong guy.He kept it up and I told him he'd be going to meet his maker soon if he didn't lay off the cheeseburgers.He kept on and on and I put him in his place as much as possible. There's no convincing their kind anyway.
  Well Whaah Whaah was wild !! He called Michelle all that day and sent her SEVENTEEN e mails about the things he's going to do to her and of course called her every name in the book. He's known to threaten women. He's done it to a friend of mine and I've heard others if things don't go his way. When he screws someone and the people complain then he tells them off and how it's all their fault,and if it's a woman he usually threatens them it seems. Somehow he got on my page and started mouthing off to me. This guy's just like his nut buddy in Michigan.Mouthiest bastards you could ever meet. I swear they must practice the art of it to be so goddamn mouthy ! I guess it's from a lifetime of having to bail themselves out of a lot of scrapes by telling people off and such. So he started in with me.  I told him that I'm coming for him and am gonna tear his fuckin head off !!  Well he thinks nothing of threatening women but when a guy comes back at him he calls the cops !!!  What a pussy !!!!!😂 He called the local county sheriff here in Maine on me from Florida,1700 miles away !!!!!!😂😂😂WOW  !!! What a goddamn little pansy !!!!!! Things slowly quieted down for a bit but I'd hear things now and then about him and his lies.... No big deal.He's a scumbag and surely won't hurt my reputation.
  The latest one is how he's been stalking my Facebook profile and ten of my other Facebook "bird friends" profiles.He made up a fake profile just like Ohio Joe does.This one was named "George Underwood". Sent me a friend request one time and talked birds just a little,asking me about Bensons and about another guy in Kansas,I don't remember just everything. So I wrote a post maybe a few months ago about Sal Alvarez,the con man from California,and "Underwood" came on and started to ask questions just like the way Wagner used to,but trying to be more polite. He started to ask me about why I keep bringing up The Three Golden Boys and said that I oughtta drop it because it was a long time since I had any trouble with any of them,and that I should just focus on the birds.He said he's just an old man who wanted to learn about quail and wanted to learn from me and my vast knowledge,and all that bullshit....  Well it wasn't two years since the Golden Boys gave me any trouble.It's all the time. That's why I keep bringing them up.If it was two years old I'd let it go. Anyway the conversation started to get heated and he showed his colors.I told him and everybody looking at the post that this is no Underwood,it's Derek Wagner under another fake profile.I busted him and he started wising off again.I tried to block him. I couldn't. The bastard wouldn't go away. I looked at the profile and reported it. It was gone the next day.
  The guy is such an insecure,sneaky little weasel that he has to make up fake profiles to stalk other breeders to see what they're raising,how many,what they're selling.... . His whole life is lying,sneaking,mouthing off,and screwing people. He is one piss poor example of a man. He's a coward's coward. Another one he just pulled,just like Ohio Joe pulled on me this year is having someone order some Bensons from me,sending them to their address instead of his of course. He was bragging to his Golden Boy buddy Keith about it,sending him pictures of the boxes I sent. They have to sneak like that because no other real breeders like the assholes and won't sell them anything.
  Little by little we're getting to him. I know two people in Florida with great reputations that can't stand the guy will take every bit of any local business of his. I set them up in Mearns,Mountain,and Benson breeding. They're doing a great job,built really nice pens and have some nice stock. A ton of Facebook followers and one sells tons of Bobwhites to local shooting preserves. I clicked off of all the Facebook dummy sites over a year ago but Shawn's still on a few for some Bobwhite business. He saw some idiot recommend Wagner for Mearns. Right after the comment Shawn posted my website address😂😂.Wagner probably shit his duds. Then the little shyster was on there advertising Gambel's eggs for $2.50 each. I told Shawn to put up right by his post that for Valley,Gambel's,Scaled,Tennessee Red,and Northern Bobwhite eggs,to contact Forest Hills Game Bird Farm in Liberty Kentucky for them. Great farm and people.Fair prices. Gambel's eggs are 25 for $35, 50 for $52,and they even sell lots of 100 and more. I'll bet the puke had a stroke when he saw that !😂😂 He pulled the post down quick !
  For those of you who aren't familiar with him,he's an egg hustler on ebay.He goes by the name Fisher on there. People complain about the dud,dirty eggs. He sent a friend of mine in West Virginia some eggs which were supposed to be Bensons. Only one out of a dozen hatched. It turned out to be a coturnix. One guy was on one of the Good Egg / Bad Egg sites saying that he sent him $175 and never got a thing from him.The guy has bad reviews but not enough. Like I've said before,not enough people have the balls to speak up for themselves when they get the shaft. I've never heard one good word about him and from my dealings with him it sure doesn't surprise me. So damn many people tell me about getting screwed by him but when I mention to them about speaking up for themselves,they cower and disappear. 
  Well there it is,and there's plenty I left out too. Don't say I didn't warn ya ! I've had to give out a good bunch of "I told ya so's" about him and his buddies.

I've been doing this for a lot of years now and look forward to every April when the Mountain Quail start laying.I have quite a list of people who pay me in advance for their eggs throughout the winter.When the birds are just beginning to lay it's one here,two there for a week or so until they all get rolling.All of those I put in my own incubator and do a fertility check around the first 5 days or so. As long as everything looks good and they're all fertile,then I'll start to send orders out. They always have been for me. I keep a decent ratio of males to hens in the pens. So then,in the order in which people pay me,I go down the list and send them out. I've been packing my eggs over the last few seasons in mostly batches of 10. I bought some of the clear plastic quail egg cartons which hold 10 eggs.I pad the bottom of where each egg goes with tissues folded up and cut to fit snug,but not too snug.I place the 10 eggs in,and on top of that i'll fill in any gaps with cotton and / or tissue.I then fold up a whole tissue and place it over the top,close the lid,then tape it shut. After that,I wrap a piece of the "big" bubble wrap around the carton and tape it. I ship in the medium sized Priority Mail box. I put about 3" of either shredded paper or packing peanuts in the bottom.On top of that,a piece of newspaper,then right in the center of the box go the eggs. Then all around the eggs go more peanuts or shredded paper,On top of that,another piece of newspaper,then peanuts or shredded paper all the way to the top of the box. That keeps the eggs suspended right in the center of the box,not laying on the bottom,against a side,or up against the top. I have good results that way. I set a batch of eggs each week in my incubator and candle to make sure fertility is still good as I'm sending out peoples' orders. Here's where it gets difficult.... I have quite a few people who have good results with my eggs,but you wouldn't believe the adventures that I've gone through with some of them. I deal with a lot of idiots and nuts.There are one hell of a lot of them in this business or hobby ! Here's a good example. Last year a guy from Michigan called me in the spring He was interested in Mountain and Mearns eggs. I had a funny feeling,a strange intuition about this guy. He sounded plenty smart enough,but something wasn't right. He asked me a lot of questions about the birds because he never had these two types before.I'm always glad to help about anybody out when they buy from me.Anyway,he sent me the money for 10 Mountain and 10 Mearns eggs. When the Mountains were ready,I let him know,and sent them.He called when they arrived and questioned me some more about everything.A real intense,high strung guy. He told me about his super expensive deluxe model incubator,an XD 53 - 00A model,such and such and all of it's features with the automatic humidity,and the thermometer that reads accurate to the thousandth of a degree. He asked me again about my humidity readings. I told him that I don't know what they are.I explained my method that's been a proven winner for me for quite a while. I incubate mine in a GQF Sportsman cabinet incubator for the first 22 days. I have the moisture pan on the top full,but no extra wick pads. During the last 3 days I put them in GQF circulated air Hova Bators with very little moisture.I use a plastic yogurt container,cut down to about 2" high. I hog ring a piece of hardware cloth to the top so the chicks don't jump in and drown.It's only about 3.5 to 4 inches in diameter,which is plenty of surface area of evaporation for the right amount of humidity. I like close to a dry hatch for all of my quail. I don't fill the moisture rings on the bottom,and I have a glass,mercury stick thermometer at about 99 - 100 degrees. So he started to question me.He went on to say that the book says to have this much moisture,and a wet bulb reading of that much,and on the 22nd day,it has to be this much and so on...... I again told him what I do and that it works really well,but to do what he wanted to do.He started arguing with me about what the manual and the book said again. So,I thought that it was the end of that and I'd send his Mearns eggs in a couple of weeks. Boy,was I wrong !! About 4 or 5 days later he called me again. Really upset and kind of nervous acting. He said that he candled his eggs. Out of the 10 eggs,he saw veins in so many,I don't remember exactly,and described all of the eggs to me.He questioned me all over again. 5 days later,the same thing. He candled and about 6 were developing and 1 had a blood ring,and a couple had stopped developing.. He started to question me again and wanted to know how mine were doing. I told him around 100%.It really bothered him I could tell. Every 5 days or so until he stopped turning on the 22nd day I went through this. In the meantime I sent his Mearns eggs.He had to give me the progress report on those every 5 days too. This was driving me nuts but I tried to keep my composure. So on the 22nd day on the Mountains he was watching those eggs like a hawk. I don't think that he even slept all night for 3 nights. He had to call me and e mail me to tell me that he had 2 pip,then later another 2,then another 1.... He couldn't stand it.He didn't see them wiggle,and couldn't hear a peep,so he opened up the incubator and picked up the eggs,felt and listened,then called me of course..I told him that he shouldn't disturb them at that stage at all. He couldn't help himself. On the 25th day,hatch day,he was climbing the walls. He called me at least 3 times. They didn't hatch. By that night he couldn't take it anymore. He was so impatient,that he took surgical scissors and cut all around the air cells on the 5 or so that he didn't kill already. He helped them all out of the shell prematurely. Their yolk sacks hadn't fully absorbed into their bodies yet.They had rough navels.Premature birds. That means the temperature was too low. Probably the moisture too high too. He just couldn't leave them alone ! I had to hear all about that,and meanwhile,all about the Mearns every 5 days too still.Same thing when those were in lockdown.He ended up with about 2 out of 10,and of course everything was my fault. I thought that I was finally rid of him,but a week later I looked at my e mails. There was one from him, First sentence was,"Okay,level with me man,your birds are suffering from malnutrition and infertility issues." He went on to say that I don't know what I'm talking about and that I have zero people skills,and all kinds of foolish nonsense like that ! By then I was boiling !!!! I sent him an e mail right back and went right up one side of him and down the other. I told him what a psychotic nutjob that he is,how I knew that there was something wrong with him from the start,and that a grown man doesn't act like that unless there's something drastically wrong ! I went on for a while telling him everything that's wrong with him and everything he did wrong after I did nothing but help him from day one. Didn't faze him one bit. He sent me an e mail back,calling me every name in the book and that I owe him eggs,and all this and that..... He sent me e mails every day for weeks,calling me a dumb Irishman,a dumb fisherman from Maine,and begging me for eggs,pestering the living shit out of me !! I decided to use a little reverse psychology on the mental case. I sent him an e mail right back and said something like,"Okay,you got me." "Good one." "I'm bein' Punk'd here,right ? !" He came back,thinking that I was stupid to think such a thing,and said yes and that he was only kidding around !! I rolled with it. He said that he got rid of the fancy incubator and got a new one.He blamed it all on his incubator instead of me,all of a sudden.
Just to get this goddamn nut off of my case,I sent him another 10 eggs. To this day he acts like we're buddy-buddy.I hear from him once in a while,still asking me how to do this and do that... He had a little better hatch the second time with the Mearns. Now he's got his own site,offering professional advice from a licensed breeder !!!!!! He's advertising Mearns and Mountain eggs and started chicks. Big prices,twice the cost of mine !!! He has 2 pair of Mearns to supply all of these and 4 Mountains of which he sent me a video of the other day,asking me how to sex them. It was a bit difficult to see,but to me ,it looked like at least 3 males out of the 4.
So folks,the moral of the story is,"Think twice before getting into the hatching egg business " I have many more stories for upcoming posts about the characters on my "bird-shit list"
​