Broody coturnix on infertile eggs, should I switch them out?

[Binki]

The broody instinct is strong once it's set in. We have a disabled Button quail who has decided to sit and hatch eggs. I had to replace hers, which weren't fertile, with her sisters so hopefully she'll get to be a mum. They are super skittish little things but she was raised inside so she is at least used to the general chaos of our house! But she puts up with me candling her eggs every now and then. She doesn't like it but always returns to her nest.

I've noticed our Buttons in the aviary hunt bugs as much as possible especially when raising babies.

If your girl is successful maybe you could tap the proper quail food and the babies might copy you and check it out.

Awww buttons sound like great parents ^^ she's still sitting strong, do broody hens still lay eggs? I heard her "WOOP!" Squeal and went to look at the nest, seeing if I had to remove any but I am pretty sure there were only ten

She started making woops, coming back towards the nest so I backed away quickly xD

I tried tapping on the food last time she raised chicks but she still seemed frantic trying to find them bugs, I did manage to get some chicks to eat the ground up feed though

 

[JaeG]

Broodies don't lay any more eggs once they've started sitting. Maybe she's using that sound for something else now. I know zebra finches have been studied and found to sing to their eggs.

Buttons are very cute but pretty wild. They don't like to be touched and catching them is like trying to catch a tiny eel. They are fast and slippery!

 

[DK newbie]

I read a study on broody coturnix once. I think there were only two hens that went broody, one of them twice, so the study was based on 3 clutches in total. As I recall, in one of those clutches the hen laid one egg the day after going broody, then stopped. In another clutch there was one egg the day after going broody and one egg the next day as well. The chicks still hatched at the same time though, as they can apparently speed up or slow down their development to match their clutch mates. So, they can lay after going broody, but shouldn't keep doing it.

I've seen the same in my buttons - one or two eggs after they've went broody but then it stops.

With regards to feed, my buttons feed their chicks the best thing available. If there are bugs, those are at the top of the list. If there are no bugs, small seeds are the favorite. None of those either and they'll make do with the game bird feed in their feed dish.

 

[JaeG]

That's pretty amazing that the eggs laid later still hatched with all the others. Nature really is incredible.

One of our Button pairs have one little baby. I gave them a bit of well broken down compost today and they had a ball finding worms. I've seen them take on big beetles too. Bugs really are what they crave.

 

[Binki]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge guys

Update: she's still sitting strong, and literally pooped a broody poo today as big as my thumb. Literally.

Her cage was due to a cleaning when this happened, ugh I wonder if I should let her try and rear them or just take over because a few chicks died last time because they weren't in an incubator/brooder :/

And it's all full of wood shavings and scratched up newspaper

 

[JaeG]

Is there any way you can add a heat lamp? Or have you got a smaller cage you can have inside or in your garage that you can transfer her and chicks into once they've hatched? That way you could keep them in a smaller area, give them supplemental heat, and keep an eye on how things are going. Or pen them into a smaller area in her current cage so that the chicks are never far from your girl and can't wander off and get cold. Fingers crossed she's more aware of her responsibilities this time around.

 

[DK newbie]

With my buttons, I find that when I loose chicks it's usually due to obstacles in the cage. The chicks are attracted to dark objects, thinking they are mom, so if they get cold they head for the nearest dark object. If that's a tunnel, rock, food dish or whatever, and not mom, this is where they get in trouble.
If the obstacle is completely round and they can't get inside or under it in any way, they usually manage to go around it and find mom. If it's not, apparently they sometimes keep trying to get heat from this object for so long they end up unable to go to mom even if she responds to their peeps and come closer.
Removing all obstacles - and perhaps keeping the cage below 10 square feet so the distance the chicks have to cover to get to mom isn't too big - quite often gives a 100% survival rate for my button chicks. And I suspect coturnix chicks are a little more hardy - a larger body mass must allow them to stay warm for longer without mom.

 

[Binki]

Super great points and suggestions as well! When I incubate I block off a portion of the brooder (super duper very well - they are amazing at jumping and squeezing into places where they can get stuck, away from the heat so yeah why not do any different for a broody mom?

Should I do a brooder with paper towel bottom to move mom and the chicks into after they've all hatched or do you think it's better to partition her existing cage?

 

[JaeG]

I honestly don't know if moving the mother quail will upset her or if she'll be so busy with her new chicks she won't notice. I've moved chickens with chicks before but quail can be funny about change. So if you can securely partition off some of her existing cage it might be better.

 

[DK newbie]

If the existing cage is suitable for chicks (tiny wire size and such), I'd leave her where she is. If it's not, I think it'll be okay to move her. I have never moved my buttons with chicks, but I've read a couple of stories about cots being moved and it was ok.