A broody coturnix??? New Photos!

[smokeyodie97]

could we see what your pens look like.

 

[Kim_NC]

That last pic with the little hatchlings is adorable. Congrats!

edit: typo

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Maybe since the babies were reared this way, they will carry on the tradition?

 

[country freedom]

moon.walking.duck :

cant broodiness be carried through the male line as well as my buttons which have just hatched i paired a parent reared cock with a hen i had seen showing signs of interest in eggs/nest building in the avairy and both have sat on the eggs and are now raising the chicks however i know coturnix are different to button quail if i wasnt so far away id buy any males just to see if they have any effect

You could try that idea out and see if is true. Keep the males who show the strongest traits of helping out brooding and rearing along with the females that do the same.

You quail breeders with the quail who hatch out their own - You are the ones who might be able to reverse the trend of non-broody quail.

After I move, (we aren't gonna be on the grid), I want quail that are broody!
Great job peeps!​

 

[Wifezilla]

As for broodiness through the male lines...the male that is the father of the chicks is not the father of the hens that went broody. So we have no idea if he is contributing to this trait.

Now for some bad news. We lost 3 chicks yesterday. 2 of them hatched but apparently never made it completely out of the egg. Humidity issue. It is very dry here right now and I was gone all day yesterday...never even made it home for lunch, so I didn't catch that they were stuck. Another one was just dead. No apparent injury. The other 4 are already eating and drinking, so I think they should be ok.

Lucy Lu sorted her remaining eggs and kicked 8 eggs out of the nest. She is still setting on the others. I am going to continue to let nature take its course, but watch more closely for any stuck babies.

I will have more pictures of the babies and the pen later today.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

Sorry you lost the 3 babies. But momma Lucy Lu probably knew they were weak and had problems so didn't help them out of the shells. They may not have made it anyway, even if you had been home to help them along. This is a natural hatch after all and that happens.

I keep checking this thread to see the new babyzilla's in a more nature setting. Good work, pat yourself on the back. With all the Fireants, it's sure not going to happen here.

Been thinking, you could keep all your babies and expand the hoophouse. That way come spring you would have more hatching. Then really have some for freezer camp. This could be a learned thing, now that it is started. More likely that instinct will kick in with the others setting nests. You could try for a whole flock that breeds/hatches their own. You have a good start on it.

I know that by keeping different ages of chickens or ducks, the young learn faster from the older ones and the whole flock is more settled. I do believe birds have their own language that we just don't comprehend.

 

[moon.walking.duck]

http://www.thatquailplace.com/articles/index.php?id=8
knew i could find it somewhere this talks about teaching buttons how to raise chicks and how they need to learn the whole cycle by watching something they never see in most situations eg incuabtor raised in a huge hatch then heat lamped then sold for pets in finch cages although buttons are different to coturnix in behaviour this also talks about the environment

 

[ksukristin]

this is so awesome- I love this thread and the pic with her and the babies is SO adorable! I can't wait to see what happens next- congrats!!!

 

[Wifezilla]

I stumbled on that article around the time I started shopping for quail. I kept it in mind even when they were in a cage. I had silk plants around the sides, and added wicker baskets they could climb in and out of. I would put straw in there from time to time and it was "party on!".

From the article...

They were fed game bird starter for balanced nutrition, finch seed for scratching and pecking at, leave lettuce and cucumber for green food, and mealworms.

Yeah, that is pretty much what I feed mine too.
.​

 

[Wifezilla]

Are these thing suicidal????

I checked on the quail when I went to feed the ducks. All was well. I grabbed their marble infested water pan to clean it and headed back in to the house. Took care of my son, bathed, etc.. and then went to bring out the clean water dish. I see 2 babies laying on the ground OUTSIDE the hutch and mom pressed up against the wire raising a fuss. I thought they were dead. There was a small gap in the hutch door and apparently they jumped out but couldn't get back in. I picked them up but there was twitching. They were VERY COLD so I started breathing hot air on them and held them in the sun out of the wind. They responded even thought one I thought was a complete gonner. All this time I am looking for the other babies. Mom had one but I couldn't find #4. It took about 10 minutes but the mostly dead babies were starting to squirm and chirp. I put them under mom AFTER I fixed the hutch door so there was no longer a place for them to squirm out. She was happy to get her chicks back and the babies snuggled right under her.

I resumed my search for #4. Found him wedged in a far corner behind the hutch. He wasn't so lucky. One of the adults had pecked him so there was nothing I could do.

While all this is going on, one of the adults got out of the main run so I had to go quail hunting in the yard! Arrrggggg! Finally got Keiko back in the pen.

I hope the rest of my day doesn't go like this.