Brooding quail exist?

[Dan Clark]

So everywhere I look it say contournix don’t brood but how likely Is it that I’ll have a hen that will raise egg to hatching? Kinda wondering if it can be be rebreed back into the species.

 

[Kale the Quail]

So everywhere I look it say contournix don’t brood but how likely Is it that I’ll have a hen that will raise egg to hatching? Kinda wondering if it can be be rebreed back into the species.

there are quite a lot of people who've had broody coturnix quail, but sadly I've never had any.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

It's extremely rare, I'd invest in an incubator than in the quail to test the theory ; )
You can certainly try, I've seen/owned broody button quail, and saw one bobwhite go broody (although it was only one, and she was my only experience with a bobwhite and she didn't sit through the whole hatching time and abandoned the eggs after a 5 days) None of the Coturnix I had ever tried to brood, I was told by a 4H teacher years ago that in as little as one generation domesticated a Coturnix would lose the ability to brood, no idea if its true but it sure feels like it! Good luck!

 

[Dan Clark]

I have a incubator first time using one. Friend gave it too me A old styrafoam one So this should be interesting. Just was wondering why quail are no longer a brooding species of bird.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I was always told they're too dumb Not sure in all technicalities though. But honestly at the rate they lay, hatch and can grow I'm almost glad they don't! Imagine how quickly they could overpopulate! :O

 

[Nabiki]

The chances of going broody are very slim. You have a higher chance if you have a large aviary with lots of natural seeming places to hide. If you manage to get quail that were actually hatched by a broody hen, they are more likely to go broody themselves.

 

[Quaicken108]

I know lots of people who have had quails go broody and quails who haven’t. It really varies but majority of people would say that they don’t.

 

[JaeG]

Getting a quail to sit is only half the battle. I've only read one story on here where the coturnix hen sat and hatched out chicks (there may be more), but she was clueless about what she was meant to do with the chicks and would pace, trying to get back to her flock.

This lady was able to get a broody quail hen to adopt quail chicks that had been hatched by a bantam chicken:
https://holistic-hen.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_27.html#.Xx-gH3viuUl

She keeps her birds in very large, beautiful, natural enclosures.

 

[Quailobsessed]

I've had broody quails. Some of them were raised by their parents (which I believe does make a difference). I bought a couple of quails from a breeder who has bred broodiness back in her birds (and has been doing so for years). I think encouraging broodiness is very important for the conservation of the species.

 

[koturnix]

I hear that a broody quail hen is one in a million. Broodiness has been pretty much bred out of coturnix as they are raised for egg production and brooding = less eggs laid. Some forum members have reported success, I imagine they have rather large aviaries with plenty of cover and other natural additions to get the hens to replicate the broody behavior. I might try that later when I get a larger yard. Perhaps a serama hen that broods/raises the chicks might teach its broody behavior to them? Though chickens might pass diseases onto quail so that's a whole new can of worms there...