broody japanese quail hen

[Overeasyplz]

that is awesome, please let us know when it happens again.. Here I was telling my DH that Cots don't go broody ever. He said it was impossible, birds don't forget how to brood..

 

[aleishamclellan]

hello,just registered so could post!!! well i too am in NZ and i have now 2 japanese quail sitting on eggs.One has been sitting around 10 days and i noticed another sitting yesterday. i have 4 pairs of quail. a pair in the bottom of each of my 4 avairys. have been collecting the eggs up and putting them in the nest for them,as they initially were laying all over the avairy floor. after around 10-12 eggs had been collected in the nest they have just decided to sit on them? my nests are simply a bit of hay in the corner of the avairy with a box facing inward to provide shelter.Fingers crossed they hatch!!!which part of nz are you in?

 

[FenDruadin]

I really love this article:

http://www.thatquailplace.com/articles/index.php?id=8

It's about button quail, but I believe the same principles are probably true for japanese quail. I have a hard time believing a bird that is still so close to its wild cousins could really be so abysmal at brooding its own young, so it makes sense to me that it has to do with the way we are keeping them, rather than a deficiency on their part.

With that having been said, I keep mine the same way most folks do--on wire with a large "sandbox" that is often just filled with straw, and nothing much else but food and water and sometimes weeds to dig through for bugs. But I wonder, if they were provided with natural conditions--maybe a large flight cage with lots of hiding places and only a few birds--maybe broodiness and successful natural incubation wouldn't be so rare. Some day I hope to have the opportunity to find out!

Anyway, congrats on the broody quail, even though she wasn't successful this time. You both learned a lot this time, and maybe she'll try again later. I would love to see little baby quail peeking out from under a real mother quail!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Button quail are the most broody of the domesticated quail. Coturnix very rarely go broody and are very easy to break up.

 

[OceanLyons]

Hello everyone. I'm from Arizona and it was 100 degrees today. I came across this post and wanted to share my experiences.

My first batch of baby japanese quail hatched yesterday naturally (outside with mama and the crew in an aviary). As of now, I have four healthy babies. Yeah!
A total of three babies were found dead in the aviary (one in the nest, one two feet from the nest, and one five feet away from the nest near a water dish that was too tall for it to drink from).

The hen is currently sitting on 14 more eggs. She lives with three other hens and a male. I've had them for over a year.

Sometimes I collect the eggs on a daily basis for various lengths of time ranging from a couple of weeks to two month periods. The uncollected eggs would remain in the aviary until I started collecting again. The eggs are usually laid in nests that the quail create. When I first set up my aviary, I laid a 6 inch deep bed of sand for the floor. Over time, I added bags of tree trimmings and piles of stuff from my garden (sticks, old pea plants, broccoli, etc). They enjoy pecking on them and eating the bugs. A corner of the aviary has a three raised mound of mulch. The mound was created to be a refuge to keep the quail out of standing water during the monsoon season (heavy rains and wind). The walls of the aviary are wire. One side is one and half feet away from the side of my house. Two sides are covered by tarps, and there is a fairly solid roof.

Before I start collecting eggs to eat, I always smash the old eggs into my compost bins. Once, I noticed that there was some blood in one of the yolks. I was shocked because I did every expect to have baby quail with this species. A month or so ago, I stopped collecting eggs to see what would happen. Well.... I have babies!

I'm not sure if it just one hen sitting on the eggs or if they take turns. I've been too busy with work to take the time to figure it out. I'm keeping the babies inside and they seem to be doing well.

Pictures will follow soon...

 

[wezl]

I've been suspecting someone was gathering eggs. Tonight I watched one of my hens shoving eggs under herself. So cool! But I'm going to be moving them th next few days. I'll just see what happens!

 

[fatty chook]

why i have baby jap quail coming and the mum and dad take turns in sitting lol and the male keeps on pulling his feathers out and it is so cute that they are helping each other

 

[fatty chook]

from my expreance when doing that they still sit

 

[Honeyfarm]

I have a Japanese quail hen who has gone broody. I have taken another hen out because she attacked it frequently and the male was giving her too much attention. Now the broody hen has viciously attacked the male I imagine it was because of the chick she has hatched. Are they usually so aggressive? I hatched them by incubator in the past. Should I keep her separate or cull her? She is the only one ever broody when I was told they no longer go broody.