California Quail Trio + Should I try hatching this time?

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

I unexpectedly lost one of my male quail a few weeks back, so now I have two girls and a boy. One of the girls started laying today, am I correct in thinking I need to take the extra girl out before any fights start?
And I am also indecisive about whether I should hatch this season. I have experience hatching Jap quail, but that was a few years ago. I haven't done much research into hatching the California quail yet, what's it like? How different or difficult is it to hatch and raise them?
I've also been meaning to move them to a different aviary, will this disrupt her laying at all?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Nabiki]

Where in the world are you located? Are you're birds under artificial lights? ....they shouldn't be laying this time of year, if your in the USA. Also, are they Valley quail that are laying or Coturnix?
If they are getting along....I'd leave them be, I wouldn't seperate unless there's a problem.

I knew they had to be in Australia. They're the ones who shorten Japanese to Jap. Since that's a racial slur in America, it's a giveaway for our friends down under.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

I knew they had to be in Australia. They're the ones who shorten Japanese to Jap. Since that's a racial slur in America, it's a giveaway for our friends down under.

I want aware of that, thank for letting me know!

Valleys aren't any harder to hatch or raise than other quail. You'll want you're temperature set at 99.5°F or 100°F. Humidity should be around 45% for the first 21 to 22 days of incubation, the last 3 or 4 days the humidity can be bumped up to 55 to 60%, higher than that will cause problems with hatching.

Once the have dried off (fluffed up) you can transfer them to a brooder. The temp should be measured at the floor of the brooder and under the heat lamp, if using a heat lamp for the source of heat, and for the first week, should be ~95°F. The brooder should be big enough to have a heated end and a cooler end. The temp should be lowered by 5°F per week until ambient temperatures are 70°F or higher or the birds are fully feathered. Feed and water should be placed in the cool end of the brooder. You may have to place paper towels down and sprinkle finely ground crumbles on the towels to get the chicks to start eating the crumbles....as most crumbles are to large for quail under a week to 2 weeks of age to ingest.
HTH

Thank you so much for this! Very helpful!

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

I just candle a couple of the eggs and they're fertile! I was unsure whether they would be due to it being their very first eggs.
Now I am really nervous and excited!

 

[007Sean]

Not much different in the incubation and hatching from Coturnix, except, it takes 24 days of incubation for Cali Valley quail.
They need more room/space than Coturnix.
Other than that not much difference.

And YES, moving them to a new enclosure will make them quit laying until they become accustomed to their new surroundings.

 

[007Sean]

Where in the world are you located? Are you're birds under artificial lights? ....they shouldn't be laying this time of year, if your in the USA. Also, are they Valley quail that are laying or Coturnix?
If they are getting along....I'd leave them be, I wouldn't seperate unless there's a problem.

 

[007Sean]

Oh, sorry! In Australia so complete opposite to most people! Forget that sometimes
No, they are not under artificial light, we're going into Summer here. Valley quail laying currently, I don't have the Coturnix anymore.
This is my first time owning Valley Quail, so am really new to this all.

Valleys aren't any harder to hatch or raise than other quail. You'll want you're temperature set at 99.5°F or 100°F. Humidity should be around 45% for the first 21 to 22 days of incubation, the last 3 or 4 days the humidity can be bumped up to 55 to 60%, higher than that will cause problems with hatching.

Once they have dried off (fluffed up) you can transfer them to a brooder. The temp should be measured at the floor of the brooder and under the heat lamp, if using a heat lamp for the source of heat, and for the first week, should be ~95°F. The brooder should be big enough to have a heated end and a cooler end. The temp should be lowered by 5°F per week until ambient temperatures are 70°F or higher or the birds are fully feathered. Feed and water should be placed in the cool end of the brooder. You may have to place paper towels down and sprinkle finely ground crumbles on the towels to get the chicks to start eating the crumbles....as most crumbles are to large for quail under a week to 2 weeks of age to ingest.
HTH

 

[Nabiki]

No such thing as too many questions.

I'm not as familiar with CA quail as I am with coturnix, but I believe they are more likely to go broody than coturnix. If they've started a nest, there's no harm in letting them sit. They may not hatch, but it's probably better than dealing with a staggered hatch.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

Where in the world are you located? Are you're birds under artificial lights? ....they shouldn't be laying this time of year, if your in the USA. Also, are they Valley quail that are laying or Coturnix?
If they are getting along....I'd leave them be, I wouldn't seperate unless there's a problem.

Oh, sorry! In Australia so complete opposite to most people! Forget that sometimes
No, they are not under artificial light, we're going into Summer here. Valley quail laying currently, I don't have the Coturnix anymore.
This is my first time owning Valley Quail, so am really new to this all.

 

[007Sean]

They may or may not go broody. If they do let them, they may not sit all the way through though! If they do sit and they do hatch, I'd remove them from the aviary and put them in a brooder. It's just too easy to lose the chicks to too many uncontrollable factors.
ETA- Here's a link to my experience with Bob's.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/awesome-surprise.1422275/