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Science Spiel: Broody Quail Hens and Selecting for Motherhood
I haven't noticed feather color making a difference—I've had just about every common color mutation make and sit a clutch. But I've only seen maybe 20 hens go broody total (and I've had to break most of them. They lay infertile eggs, plus I can't afford to buy hatching eggs for each of them, not... -
Broody Quail Hen Success!
The numbers are in......4 hatched! One never made it out (pipped upside down AND hit a vessel), and the rest were mysteriously empty—just yolk and huge, saddle-shaped air cells. Never had that many fail to even start developing, kinda odd. I'll try a different breeder next time. Moved mom... -
Science Spiel: Broody Quail Hens and Selecting for Motherhood
About half of all the female Coturnix I've ever kept have sat a nest (before I took their eggs away), and that's only when I've let them build a clutch in the first place. But every hatch has been from a different breeder, so it can't be all down to genetics. I'm inclined to think... -
Quail Shaking Head and Walking Backwards
I have a bird who has always done this. She was born with a beak malformation—the "quick" was set too far back, and from the start she would do her little "back-up" during eating, loosening dirt for bathing, but especially drinking. I've long suspected her beak is hyper-sensitive, as she only... -
Broody Quail Hen Success!
Thank you! So pleased. Every broody I've given eggs to has hatched a fourth to a third of their clutch. Often the non-hatchers are empty or early quitters. I do "eggtopsies" to figure out where things went wrong, and have found only two fully-developed chicks that failed to hatch. But I think... -
Broody Quail Hen Success!
There're more! Secret bonus chick #4, pale little critter halfway out: -
Neutering male quail: a philosophical discussion
Wow, never even considered this as a possibility. And yeah, medicating an animal that lightweight with something that suits its biology AND doesn't break the bank is a challenge. Not quite sold on the ethics, but medically very interesting. I look forward to your write-up—thanks for sharing your... -
Broody Quail Hen Success!
It's happening! Went out to check on her and this little critter ran right up to me: Had to pop it back with Janey, wanted to wander right into danger. Mama has 1-2 others drying off under her, one more zipping. Didn't want to spook her off the nest, but got a peek behind the curtain... -
Science Spiel: Broody Quail Hens and Selecting for Motherhood
I'm running a little "eggsperiment," letting eggs build up to see where the hens prefer to lay. Three other hens have gone broody in the meanwhile since my girl Janey started sitting, and I've had to break all 3 (not enough partitions for that many protective mamas). But I noticed that the hens... -
Broody Quail Hen Success!
Got 14 celadon eggs under diligent broody mama Janey—now it's Day 17, and I can hear the shells being chipped open beneath her. She's been so good! Candled at Day 9, a few empties but didn't pull them out (learned hard way that taking eggs can break the broody even if the rest of the clutch is... -
Air bubble on newborn chicks neck, accidentally popped it
Hmm. I would stop watering them like that right away. You're more likely to make them aspirate force-watering them like that—aspiration is usually deadly since birds can't cough due to their respiratory anatomy. I can tell you really want them to live and do well, but for now they (and you)... -
Air bubble on newborn chicks neck, accidentally popped it
Just a couple things I'm wondering about: 1. How have you determined that it's not drinking enough? Newborns can but often don't gorge—they still have a yolk to metabolize. 2. How do you know it's full of air and not whatever you're feeding it? Because if food had been entering its crop, it... -
Air bubble on newborn chicks neck, accidentally popped it
Isn't that just its crop? Especially if it came back after feeding. Air bubbles I've seen make the skin seem more translucent. Also why are you droppering the little thing to the point it's soaked? Even day-old chicks should be able to drink and eat on their own. -
Air bubble on newborn chicks neck, accidentally popped it
Huh. "Popped" implies an opening in the skin—if you have anything like betadine, you might try diluting it and gently flushing the area. I'm just concerned about whatever caused there to be an air bubble in the first place—that's not normal. I've seen uninformed people accidentally puncture... -
Air bubble on newborn chicks neck, accidentally popped it
Can you post pictures? While there could be air leaking under the skin if an air sac was punctured, there's a lot of important anatomy in that area. It'll help people help you better if we can see what you see. -
Quail pets flooring
Stall pellets/bedding pellets (compressed wood shavings and saw dust) might be what you're looking for. They gradually loosen into wood dust as they absorb water. I use them when I have to take a bird or two indoors for "hospital," and have also brooded chicks on it in the past. Dries poop... -
Bumps on rescue quails' beaks for over 8 weeks
Hmm. You sometimes see wounds like this in birds who spend a lot of time stress-pacing against a wire wall—results in a sort of repeated abrasion injury (think "cheese grater" effect) that is not contagious. It doesn't' look like a disease I know of, but other folks could know more. Whatever it... -
Quail Poetry
I wrote another one! Hatch She takes a feather from her breast, weaves it, weft, through walls of dry grass. Puffed up like a winter vest, she settles Over her clutch, nestled in for the long haul. No one had to tell her how to build her nest, nor how to turn the eggs beneath her beak. It... -
Quail Poetry
Oh this is fun! Have a poem: Eggs They arrive mottled, blues and browns, So like Easter candies, so like and unlike the Stones you find at river’s edge in Autumn. They come out warm, smooth with bloom, Heavy with potential. Liquid seeds, they Could germinate in the heat of your hand. If you... -
‘Old’ quail
When I have a puffy or shaky quail in an aviary setting, and they aren't ancient yet, I treat the whole flock with liquid CORID—at least for my ground-based flock, it's almost always an early sign of coccidiosis, which is common and treatable. My oldest bird was about 5 and a half. In the week...