Broody quail

[DK newbie]

Too bad Hope you get lucky some other time!

 

[Esmeralda]

I'm sorry your quail got off the nest.
I have a coturnix quail that went broody in the summer and raised five chicks. It's really tough love with quail, she protects him fiercely for about a week, not so much for the next week, by the third week they're on their own. But it's September and she's gone broody again, and the nights are quite cold. I know it's unusual for quail to go broody, but especially at this time of year

 

[quailkingmattb]

It is complete bs that quail lost there broodyness from being in captivity for too many generations mine go broody all the time as long as they have the rite environment

 

[pkhunter]

It is complete bs that quail lost there broodyness from being in captivity for too many generations mine go broody all the time as long as they have the rite environment

How about some pictures of your broody Quail with their baby chicks.

 

[Esmeralda]

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[Esmeralda]

This was the first time she went broody in June. She was surrounded by clumps of sod, but I couldn't water the grass while she was sitting so it all died. She is definitely broody again, mid September and the nights are cold, so I hope she shelters the babies longer than she did the first bunch.

 

[DK newbie]

Oww, they are so cute! How many eggs did she have and how many chicks hatched? And how many survived?

 

[Esmeralda]

The other girls kept laying eggs in her nest, so it was a few days before I started marking the eggs and taking away the extras. I think I left her with eight eggs. Six chicks hatched, but after a few days one mysteriously disappeared. I never found any sign of it. There's no way for anything to get out or in. The mother spent the first few days just threatening everyone else in the Quail run, myself included. And none of the others ever went near the chicks they would run for fear from them. By the second week they were entirely on their own.
This time she is at least made her nest under cover from the rain. And it's a deeper nest so she has more eggs under her. I will try to get a pic later of the new nest. She gets off when I go in The run with food.

 

[DK newbie]

Thanks for the info - I've noticed with my buttons as well, that other quail seem scared of the chicks. Good to know the same goes for cots. In the case of my buttons though, they usually all end up caring for the chicks - they can't keep running forever if there are enough chicks, and once they've understood it's more comfortable to just let the chicks hide in their feathers than running away all the time, they all seem to go broody ^^

 

[jeanbeanjb]

The other girls kept laying eggs in her nest, so it was a few days before I started marking the eggs and taking away the extras. I think I left her with eight eggs. Six chicks hatched, but after a few days one mysteriously disappeared. I never found any sign of it. There's no way for anything to get out or in. The mother spent the first few days just threatening everyone else in the Quail run, myself included. And none of the others ever went near the chicks they would run for fear from them. By the second week they were entirely on their own.
This time she is at least made her nest under cover from the rain. And it's a deeper nest so she has more eggs under her. I will try to get a pic later of the new nest. She gets off when I go in The run with food.

One of mine just went broody as well and she keeps gathering the other hen's eggs? U saud u marked them and removed the rest. Would me disturbing the nest stop her from brooding? Can I use a permanent marker? Or would the chemicals damage the chick inside?