A few questions about my broody Button Quail

[Lily Quail]

Hi guys,

A few months ago I purchased some Button Quail. I have a colony of 3 females and 1 male in an outside cage and 1 silver pair in an indoors cage.
I have 2 quails sitting at the moment, a female from outide and a silver female from inside

.

1. Is the incubation period round 16 days for button quail?
2. When they hatch
   
   will I need to put a light over them and their mom to keep warm or will she keep them warm by herself?
3. Would I need to seperate the male quail from her? Or just see how he behaves/interacts with his little chickys?

The silver girl Layla is currently on her 13th day of sitting and the brown girlie outside is a few days behind.

Thanks for your help and any info is appreciated

Lily

 

[bfrancis]

First

Hi guys,

A few months ago I purchased some Button Quail. I have a colony of 3 females and 1 male in an outside cage and 1 silver pair in an indoors cage.
I have 2 quails sitting at the moment, a female from outide and a silver female from inside

.

1. Is the incubation period round 16 days for button quail? Yes, it is 16 days in an incubator, with a hen it might be a day longer...you need to start counting when she was dedicated to sitting on the nest, not when the eggs were laid.
2. When they hatch
   
   will I need to put a light over them and their mom to keep warm or will she keep them warm by herself? Inside hen should be ok with her chicks, no light. If your nights are still getting chilly or below 75*F (or days for that matter), putting a lamp on the outside hen at night will be good.
3. Would I need to seperate the male quail from her? Or just see how he behaves/interacts with his little chickys? The males are helpers, should be ok. Remember in the wild, they mate for life. The male is always by his mate's side.

The silver girl Layla is currently on her 13th day of sitting and the brown girlie outside is a few days behind.

Thanks for your help and any info is appreciated

Lily

For future ref, the plural for quail is "quail"..."quails" is not a word...brown hen is laying eggs and sitting on them...she is no longer a "girlie"...all hen right there, just saying...


Good luck with your hatches!

 

[camchick]

You are soooo lucky that your quail are sitting. My "hen" always seems to be an incubator!!!.

also, bfrancis, spot on info, great advice!