Button Quail is sitting on her eggs, do I remove male now?

[judithfoster62]

My button quail laid 7 eggs and is now sitting on the nest, my male is looking rather rejected and lonely, but is still in the cage with her. Do I leave him in or remove him, as he was helping with the nest building, but will he help with the sitting and be ok when the chicks hatch?

 

[DK newbie]

No one can tell you for sure. Usually they don't help sitting but some at least sit beside the hen and keep her company sometimes. My roos are great dads and help rearing the chicks but sometimes people have a roo that attacks the chicks. Sometimes even the hen does. Anyway, I'd leave him there and observe very carefully when the chicks hatch - if they hatch - and just take it from there.

 

[judithfoster62]

Thankyou for replying, she has stopped sitting on the eggs and hasn't been back to the nest for a few hours now, but has laid another egg, so now there are 8. Shall I turn the led bulb off to encourage her to sit? I put it on to encourage her to lay in the first place.

 

[DK newbie]

If she's laid another egg, she's not broody. But spending several hours on the nest might suggest she is becoming broody. I don't know how the light affects broodiness, but usually mine choose dark corners when they go broody.

 

[judithfoster62]

She has got a dark corner under the electric hen, which isn't turned on though, she made her nest out of the hay I put underneath it. I covered that end of the cage with a towel for more privacy for her, the light is hanging through the top of the cage on the opposite side to her nest. I read that she could lay up to 10 eggs before sitting, but if I have to remove them and put them in the incubator instead, will they be ok up to 10 days old?

 

[DK newbie]

10 days is the limit I usually read for eggs intended for the incubator, so I'd say yes. They can lay more than 10 eggs before going broody, though. Theoretically, they could lay most of their life and not go broody, actually, but in my experience they can't cover more than 12 eggs, so I'd remove them when she has 12, if she's still not broody.

 

[judithfoster62]

She's sitting on her eggs, but making a growling noise while watching him, so I think I will have to remove him.