Coturnix Quail hatched her own eggs

[colo Todd]

This is the coop.. I had fresh grass hay in the top srounding a basket. She would drop her eggs there. I had another that was dropping hers in another corner. I'd take from one and add to the other. She started brooding in about a week.. At that time I locked the others out..
It's getting down to 50 at night so today I moved her and her nest to my shed with a light on them.. She was upset about that but is sitting on the rest of the eggs and chicks.. I lost one chick so far. Two seem to be stuck.. Can they be helped without hurting the chick??
Thanks for the note..

Todd

 

[DK newbie]

Thanks for the pic How many quail do you keep in the coop? Just the two hens and a roo?
I've never helped a quail chick out of the egg, so all I know is that people on this forum disagree on whether you should do it or not ^^ I don't, but I might have had a few more, healthy buttons if I did. I have too many already though - my 3 hens and one roo have resulted in 20 healthy chicks this year, I really need to get rid of some of them ^^
How many chicks does she have now?

 

[colo Todd]

I'm looking at 6 chicks and she's still on eggs..
We'll see.. With winter on the way I'll need to insulate part of the coop..

 

[colo Todd]

She got off the eggs.. We have
6 chicks...
I put the eggs under a lamp..
Maybe????
We'll see

 

[Eggs on Toast]

I have a Pharaoh and Manchurian golden and I am hoping to get them broody. I have them in a 125cm x 125 cm square pen that is placed on the ground under a large tree. They're on dirt and leaf litter and a bit of dry grass and hay to make their nests with. They also have a log in there to make the habitat more natural and I scatter the seed on the ground. Will this possibly get them broody or is there any more to add? Any thoughts?

 

[Eggs on Toast]

Also they are a breeding pair. The males poop is foamy and he's often seen mating with her.

 

[DK newbie]

It's hard to say.. It seems that many of the accounts I've read involved enclosed areas - like Todd's hen incubating in the top part of the coop. The last one I read about was in a large, aviary-like enclosure and had the nest in a bucket that was laying on its side. Do you just have that one hen with a roo? I believe I did read an account where a hen got broody after being placed alone with a roo, but if he stresses her, it's not likely to happen.
It seems to be important that the hen is not stressed by people either - maybe that's where the enclosed area comes in, so she doesn't see the person feeding her. Don't know whether Todd fed them in the top part of the coop, though. But if possible, I'd add more than just the log - plants, perhaps. And if you have an old bucket or a broken flowerpot, I'd add that too. And if the cage is very open, I'd place some sheets of wood around it, so at least some of the cage becomes a little dark and more protected..
Just guessing though, never even had cots ^^

 

[eliseswart]

Great story!
I have a quail sitting on eggs for 14 days now. I separated her from the others because they attacked her for some reason. She started to make a nest, so I let her keep the eggs and after 4 days I changed them for fertilized eggs from a friend, having no male quail myself.

So this weekend it's hatching time. I had no confidence but after reading this story, well, maybe we'll have chicks on Sunday. Isn't that fun?

 

[Eggs on Toast]

It's hard to say.. It seems that many of the accounts I've read involved enclosed areas - like Todd's hen incubating in the top part of the coop. The last one I read about was in a large, aviary-like enclosure and had the nest in a bucket that was laying on its side. Do you just have that one hen with a roo? I believe I did read an account where a hen got broody after being placed alone with a roo, but if he stresses her, it's not likely to happen.
It seems to be important that the hen is not stressed by people either - maybe that's where the enclosed area comes in, so she doesn't see the person feeding her. Don't know whether Todd fed them in the top part of the coop, though. But if possible, I'd add more than just the log - plants, perhaps. And if you have an old bucket or a broken flowerpot, I'd add that too. And if the cage is very open, I'd place some sheets of wood around it, so at least some of the cage becomes a little dark and more protected..
Just guessing though, never even had cots ^^

I bought 3 quails but the last female wouldn't get along with the male. I cannot find another female quail over here so I just hope she doesn't get stressed too much. Here's a few pictures of their pen:

That's the bunch of dry grass I put in there for them two:


There's a bigger picture of the pen 125cm x 125cm:



And then I planted some greens in there for them which the male is inspecting right now:



The pen has planks on the side of the meshing so that they cannot get disturbed easily and then I just open up the hatch a bit to feed them and refill the water dish.

 

[Sill]

Also they are a breeding pair. The males poop is foamy and he's often seen mating with her.

Be careful he is not over breeding her and stressing her out. Coturnix are usually kept 3-7 hens per male so the hens are not over bred.