Chukar clutch

[26peeps]

We have at present one adult male and two adult females for sure, and one half-grown offspring from a clutch previous to our getting them, gender still uncertain.

So we got them comfortably housed and happy and sure enough, eggs began appearing in the farthest back and darkest corner of their enclosure, behind a concrete block on clean straw. So we watched and waited. Some of the eggs are distinctly smaller and lighter, so we think both hens might have laid in that nest. Nobody showed any signs of "sitting tight". By the time the clutch got really big, we had made our connection with a local Institute which lends a very nice incubator to its members (which we are). On July 1, we took 13 eggs to that incubator, set it up, and now we wait. The clutch will be overseen by the incubator's owner, in his basement. All operations in this fine machine are automatic - turning, air circulation, monitoring devices, etc., but it's comforting to have a trusted human checking.

The hen(s) seem to be continuing to lay. We left 4 or 5 eggs in the nest, hoping one or the other female will decide to sit and raise a naturally incubated clutch.

Updates as there is any news.

 

[GitaBooks]

Sounds like fun!

I don't have any Chukar myself, but I was thinking of getting some sort of quail or partridge and was wondering, are Chukars friendly? Are they flighty? Are they aggressive? I would either want Chukars or Japanese Quail.

Thanks for any advise!

 

[26peeps]

Friendly? Not exactly. I mean you can't/wouldn't want to pet and cuddle them the way some people do their chickens. It's a game bird. Flighty? Well, they will take any opportunity to get out of their enclosure, naturally, but they don't go crazy when their necessities are taken care of inside it. Be calm, go about your business, and you may go. Aggressive? To people, no. I do see the male kinda picking on one of the others now and then, but it never looks like an attack or anything like that. Heck we had a rooster once that was a real menace! but these birds are calm and quiet, I'd say. No crowing or cackling comes from them, just a few low chucking noises. We find them pleasant and no bother. They eat less than the chickens. And now the hen(s) are laying so there will be more of them soon. We just set a clutch of 13 eggs in the incubator and left some with the hen as well.

These are our first partridges so we are gradually learning about them from first hand experience. Don't know how they would be if allowed to mingle with the chickens because they have been kept separate. I have no knowledge at all about the Japanese quail you're interested in. Maybe someone else will chime in with that info for you.

 

[GitaBooks]

Thanks so much!

 

[26peeps]

The quarter is for scale. They're so tiny!



Today is hatch day for the lucky 13 chukar eggs we put into the incubator! So far, 11 peeps are out of the shell and look healthy; one intact egg is rocking; and one egg is question mark. We are SO pleased with the fertility and hatch rate!

 

[GitaBooks]

They are so cute! Congratulations!

 

[26peeps]

We have another clutch cookin'. Will post again soon with results of that hatch.

 

[26peeps]

We sold every last chick of the Lucky 13 from Hatch #1 at $5 each, and sold refrigerated eggs at $8 per dozen. Unfortunately, Hatch #2 (in the styrofoam home-made incubator) did not come off. Not a single egg hatched. On that we gambled and lost. So we will set a new clutch in the Institute's nice big automatic-everything incubator today or tomorrow and I'll post about that one when there's news.