My first time ever incubating Quail eggs.

[Breezy Optimist]

She's doing fantastic!

Had a little worry and almost lost her. She wasn't pooping, and didn't want to eat, and after a while started slipping away So i had a quick check and found she had a solid lump of poop stuck in her bum and she couldn't push it out.

So i had to be gross and start picking it out myself. I gave her some warm sugar water and some olive oil to help her try and get going too. But after managing to pull that solid poop out of her bum she started pooping and perked right up.
She is currently walking around in the brooder eating and drinking by herself and doing just great Phew!!
Did have a little accident with the olive oil and she singed her fluff off!! But that's grown back overnight and she's all sorted lol.
Her brothers and sisters are due to hatch tomorrow, or Wednesday. So she will only be in there on her own for a day or two.

My parents female quail has stopped sitting on her eggs after incubating them for a week, so i've taken those on aswell lmao! I'm a glutton for punishment haha!

Oh, and you remember Mouth Almighty? M.A? He is so grown up, and.....he's turned out to be the Asian Blue (Chinese Painted Quail) !!!

He's getting his adult feathers now and they are blue on the top, and red on the bottom. So pleased!

Here he is having a nose at us from his cave in the aviary



All underneath him is red, and his baby brown feathers are disappearing and being replaced with blue feathers

And even better, i was in the aviary yesterday giving it a clean, and he came running over and was eating from my hand just like he did when i raised him at home

He still remembers me! Love him <3

But, yes, the new little one is doing great now....here she is having a cuddle with me lol



So cute

 

[Athaid]

Oh my god she's so small Good job reacting so fast and saving her life like that, I'm so glad she's okay now. That aviary looks great. I can't believe you're hatching even more quail lol, I'm afraid you may be addicted, Breezy.

 

[Breezy Optimist]

She is so tiny, much smaller than Mouth was, but her egg was unusually small too.

haha, well this is the last batch of eggs i'm hatching, unless anyone else wants me to hatch for them. I don't keep these guys for myself, otherwise i'd have a serious problem lol.

I should hire myself out for hatching eggs and raising the chicks lol. But i don't mind doing this for people, i love it. And being at home means i have the time, so why not

My parents aviary is lovely, all natural looking, no bright yellow plastic feed bowls or anything like that, it all looks natural. Very pretty.

Here's a peek at the higher part of the aviary where the finches hang out...

 

[Athaid]

Oh wow, that's beautiful. And soon it'll be full of even more birds. Does anyone ever go in the aviary, Or do you just look from the outside?

 

[Breezy Optimist]

No one goes in there unless it's clean out time..and that's usually me. I go to my parents house every Sunday for a family roast dinner (or salad on those rare sunny days we have here lol), so i told them while i visit i'll clean out the aviary. The least i can do for my parents

But the birds are pretty used to me being in there, they just hang back a bit, but don't get scared or panic or anything. Mouth likes to come up and get food from my hand and have a peck at my hand and generally have a nose at what i'm doing lol, so glad he remembers me

But 99% of the time we just watch from the outside and let them get on with it. The birds all come up to the bars when we approach and sit there having a look at us and chirp away. We poke some grass and roots through the bars and they come over and take it from us. So it's all friendly

We won't be putting too many birds in there, it's best to give them all lots of space. So any quails that hatch that make it, will be either added to this aviary or go in a outside run and house, so they all have loads of space to run around and fly etc.

I've seen some people keep like 15-20 button quails in a rabbit hutch, and i feel so bad for those quails. Free range is the way to go, fresh air, plenty of room to roam, and just be a quail

 

[Athaid]

Yes, Completely. I don't agree with the people who keep animals cooped up in little cages. I'm sure I've stepped on a few toes over issues such as this. Anyway, that's great. We want to plant loads of trees and bushes around here for all the birds and other wildlife. I have a different view on animals and nature than most people it seems. Good to meet someone similar.

 

[Breezy Optimist]

Yeah, a lot of people don't seem to remember that these birds and any other animals are living creatures, they need room to "be". So if you have the room, then why not create a nice home for them?

On a good note though.. i had 100% hatch rate today!

7 eggs, and now 7 chicks lol!



They've joined Olive (that's her nickname for now because of the Olive Oil accident lol). She seems happy to have them there. They all look healthy, no legs problems, and no deformities. Only one is a bit of a screamer at the mo, so will watch for 'Pasty Butt' like Olive had, and i'll know just what to do

And i just checked the eggs that were given to me because the mother hen stopped incubating them and left them to go cold....and i have 12 almost fully developed chicks in them wiggling around lol!!

Oh my god, what have i let myself in for?! haha! Lucky they all have a home to go to, but wow! Those 12 are due on Tuesday

 

[Athaid]

Oh wow, a 100% hatch rate, that's great I got my name because of my olive skin tone when I was born, a little different from how your quail got their name haha.
You're going to have a brooder full of little fluffy chicks, I'm so jealous

 

[Breezy Optimist]

LOL!! Well hello Olive! I'm Sue

Haha, what a way to get a name eh? How were you olive coloured at birth? Or are you olive skinned naturally? But haha, that made it easy for your parents to choose a name for you

And yes, i currently have a brooder in front of me here in the living room full of now 8 fluffy sleeping quails of all colours

Thank god for bed socks! They make great nests to keep them comfy and warm under the heat lamp

 

[Athaid]

My name's actually Olivia, but it's nice to meet you Sue
I tan very easily, so my skin has always been more of an olive colour. But I can get very pale if I don't get a lot of light, so who knows. Aparantly I was a yellowy colour because of some kind of deficiency, and had to be placed by the window until my skin tone was more neutral.

I'm so jealous of you, honestly. I wish I had some little chicks, or hamsters, or something they're so cute.