Broody Coturnix?

[Sill]

Oh, and please post updates as she broods her chicks...and more photos as they progress please!

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

Big congrats on this clutch! How is this hen set up? It looks like the nest is in an enclosed area with shavings, what is the rest of her enclosure like and how many quail in her covey?

Thanks! I'm pretty excited about it.

I'll try to get pictures of my set up tomorrow if it's stopped raining long enough to do so. But in the meantime, what I use are almost identical to those pictured below (a google stock photo). They are technically "dog breeding cages" that I picked up for a song when the breeder closed down. But each of the cages I have is on it's own individual stand. What's really nice is that the brood boxes have hinged tops so I can easy collect eggs and clean/replace shavings on a regular basis. The only thing I did different to the cages was to install small wire mesh on the floor, and placed a 2"x10"x30" piece of untreated white pine on the wire right in front of the brood box door so they can get in and out of the box easily, as well as have a solid stoop to rest on if they want. Oh, and I also put in a "sand box" for them...which is just a shallow 14" terra cotta plant dish filled with play sand, with a bit of food grade diatomaceous earth mixed in with the sand for good measure.



I had a trio of the whites in her particular cage until last week, when a young raccoon managed to get it's little hand through the wire and grabbed the other hen, taking her head off through the wire (said raccoon, along with 3 others, were trapped later that same week). While I hatched out about 40 quail total, I didn't have many Texas A&M eggs in my initial hatch, and only ended up with two hens and a few males. I saved the best male for breeding and put him in with the two girls (we ate the extra males), but I had quite a few female Pharaohs hatch out, so with those I have 6 females and 2 males to a cage (again, eating all the extra males).

What I first noticed right away about this girl was, while all the other hens were laying their eggs helter skelter, she always picked the same corner. And so I purposely didn't collect her eggs just to see what would happen. Each day she would add to the pile, while the other female would lay just where ever the notion took her, although never in the corner pile. So each day I collected the scattered eggs, and left this little hens eggs alone (so these chicks are ALL hers). Then when she decided she had enough eggs (she had a couple too many to fully cover, IMHO), she went broody and I left her alone. Then we lost the other female, so it was just her and the male. And I decided to take him out this evening and put him in his own cage, as he kept going in and grabbing the empty shells and tossing them around the cage, then going back in the box and trying to breed her while she's trying to hatch out the rest of the chicks. I'm just hoping that her chicks will have the same broody trait that she does.

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

Oh, and please post updates as she broods her chicks...and more photos as they progress please!

Will do...

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

Nine have hatched so far. And she is VERY protective of them...trying to attack my hand and arm if I even act like I'm going to touch one of her babies.

 

[chippysmom327]

Nine have hatched so far. And she is VERY protective of them...trying to attack my hand and arm if I even act like I'm going to touch one of her babies.

AHHHH CONGRATULATIONS!!!! e I'm sooooo excited for you! I'll remember this forever. Very cute little family!

 

[Sill]

We need a "Quail Cam" so we can watch them interact with each other. I find myself logging in here often to check for updates on my favorite quail momma!

 

[aperez54]

so awesome!!! definitely need that quail cam or can you post videos on youtube and share?

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

Here she is, teaching her chicks a lesson in foraging. She's giving them little wood roaches that had been hiding under the tarp on the outside of the cage and were sent scurrying along the inside walls of the brooder box when I moved the tarp. After scanning the walls and not finding any more bugs, she calls her chicks back under her. ( password: BroodyQuail )

 

[aperez54]

OMG THAT IS THE CUTEST THING ON EARTH!!!!

 

[Sill]

X2

Her calling the chicks and puffing up to cover them all was amazing to see! Thank you so much for posting this.

Interesting vocalizations. She sure wanted some more of those bugs! I wonder what she would do with a bunch of small meal worms?

Does she call the chicks to the feeder?