Broody signs in quail/button quail?

[NewfoundMamaBird]

Good day all! I'm looking for some advice from any seasoned quail parents out there. I am curious as to whether there are any signs that a quail, in my case a button quail, "might" get broody?
I have 9 button quail that are 10 weeks old which i hatched in an incubator. These are the first birds of any type i have owned. Of the 9, i am "fairly certain" that 4 are female and 5 are male. They are indoor house pets and are currently housed in 3 separate 3 x 1.5 foot cages. Two cages contain a male and female bonded pair only and the third cage contains 2 females, 2 males and what I believe to be another male (white birds...long story). All 5 are getting along great still so there has been no need to separate yet. In that cage there seems to be one bonded pair. Three of the 4 hens have been laying daily for just over 2 weeks. All cages have houses and plants to hide in.
What I have noticed is that two of the hens don't show much interest in the eggs and just plop them wherever in the cage, not hidden and nowhere near the secluded house. But the other hen and her partner seem to be taking it more seriously. They made a little nest in the back of the house and she has consistently been laying in there daily. I had pulled all their first eggs, but then decided to leave this one couple to do their thing and see what happens. When she lays today there will be 6 eggs in her nest. Also unlike the other couples who ignore eggs after laying, these two seem to go in every so of often and poke them around a bit and leave again. She may never brood the eggs, but I want to give her a chance. So my question is, before the day comes that they decide they will sit on the eggs, do they give any signs that they will go broody? Is there a way to tell is a hen is likely to start sitting? Perhaps there isn't such a thing but I thought I would ask. Thanks all!

 

[ButtonNomies]

She won't leave the nest if she goes broody. Mine make nests and collect their eggs but after a while they seem to lose interest and I'll wake up to find they've booted all the eggs out their nest all over their habitat. If she looks like a pancake on top of her eggs then she's broody, she may just be neat and like her eggs in one spot xx

 

[NewfoundMamaBird]

She won't leave the nest if she goes broody. Mine make nests and collect their eggs but after a while they seem to lose interest and I'll wake up to find they've booted all the eggs out their nest all over their habitat. If she looks like a pancake on top of her eggs then she's broody, she may just be neat and like her eggs in one spot xx

She dutifully went in under the box and neatly laid today's egg again. She seems to only sit there after laying for a minute or so until she is back out again. It's actually very sweet actually because both she and her mate go in when she lays. He sits in the front and waits like he is guarding the door until she is finished and ready to leave again. Other than when she lays or when one or the other goes in for a second to seeming turn or check over the eggs, they don't spend any time in there and sleep outside the house.

 

[ButtonNomies]

She dutifully went in under the box and neatly laid today's egg again. She seems to only sit there after laying for a minute or so until she is back out again. It's actually very sweet actually because both she and her mate go in when she lays. He sits in the front and waits like he is guarding the door until she is finished and ready to leave again. Other than when she lays or when one or the other goes in for a second to seeming turn or check over the eggs, they don't spend any time in there and sleep outside the house.

Yes my boys do this too, even go so far as to go in first with some hay and make the nest. I caught one of my boys rolling an egg into the nest he made after he'd taken too long building n she'd laid the egg next to him instead theyre quite fastidious in this task and I can just imagine him mansplaining it all to her as she's sat there cross eyed needing to lay!!

 

[NewfoundMamaBird]

Yes my boys do this too, even go so far as to go in first with some hay and make the nest. I caught one of my boys rolling an egg into the nest he made after he'd taken too long building n she'd laid the egg next to him instead theyre quite fastidious in this task and I can just imagine him mansplaining it all to her as she's sat there cross eyed needing to lay!!

Yes my boys do this too, even go so far as to go in first with some hay and make the nest. I caught one of my boys rolling an egg into the nest he made after he'd taken too long building n she'd laid the egg next to him instead theyre quite fastidious in this task and I can just imagine him mansplaining it all to her as she's sat there cross eyed needing to lay!!

They have made some progress! But I don't know enough to know if it's normal progress. Yesterday after she laid her egg, she sat on them for a while! I was certain that was it. Then she left. Today, the same. Except she spent the better part of the whole afternoon in there. She sat for a long time, fussed over getting the eggs where she wanted them, spent time building up walls all around the eggs. Again, I thought this was it because she was in there with them so long. Then she left. I see her pop in on occasion and give them a little poke. I suspect she will do the same tomorrow. What I don't know, and can't find an answer to, is whether this is normal. I don't know at what point incubation would begin. Is there a period of time after which the eggs will be aborted and won't hatch if she walks away again and goes back the next day?

 

[The Birb King]

I kind of have the same question. I have 7 button quail that are a year and a half old and they stopped laying eggs over the middle of winter but started laying again a couple weeks ago. When they first started laying again they would kinda just randomly lay eggs all over the cage but now I noticed they had made a nest in the dust bathing area , I gave them plenty of other nesting places idk why they lay in the dust bath but whatever. Anyway, when I discovered it yesterday there were like 6 eggs and today there were even more! I took some out because I thought there were too many there I left like 5. Yesterday I noticed one of the females kept going in there and sitting on the eggs. It seems like she is off the eggs for a long time though. Yesterday when she got off them, I could have sworn I saw one of the males take her place and sit on the eggs. Is she broody? I have had the her and 1 other hen I think go broody before but they abandon the nest after like 2 days. Will the same thing happen again? Is it normal she is up off the eggs for so long? And how do I keep the other quail from disturbing the nest? Today some of the males came in and tried to mate with her so that made her get up, and also how do I stop the other 2 hens from just laying more and more eggs in there? I only want her incubating those 5 because if more are laid they would hatch at different times and she would not be able to sit on them all anyway. Any tips?

 

[ButtonNomies]

Guys, if they're leaving the eggs remove them. Ull know when they're broody coz they WONT leave the eggs at all. They will all share in sitting on them but they won't be left without a dumpling pancake on top of them. Good luck in trying to control how many they sit on too they'll just keep laying new ones til they've got how many THEY want to sit on xx

 

[The Birb King]

Guys, if they're leaving the eggs remove them. Ull know when they're broody coz they WONT leave the eggs at all. They will all share in sitting on them but they won't be left without a dumpling pancake on top of them. Good luck in trying to control how many they sit on too they'll just keep laying new ones til they've got how many THEY want to sit on xx

Im pretty sure she is broody at this point she stayed on the eggs all night. And they reason I remove some eggs is because she cant fit on them all with her tiny body

 

[ButtonNomies]

Im pretty sure she is broody at this point she stayed on the eggs all night. And they reason I remove some eggs is because she cant fit on them all with her tiny body

She will probably mate and lay to replace the ones you take I swear they cam count

 

[The Birb King]

She will probably mate and lay to replace the ones you take I swear they cam count

That is the issue. Im taking the eggs for her own good because she can not fit on them all. And the other hens keep laying more eggs in there which she will not be able to incubate or they would hatch at different times. It is also winter here and they live in the garage so if she leaves the eggs for too long they might get too cold and die. Any tips on how to solve these issues?