Could a silkie or other lightweight bantam hatch quail?

Jul 9, 2020
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Melbourne, Australia.
I did make a thread on this a little while ago, but I don’t think it was specific to banties. I have some very smol ones and plan on getting even tinier ones, such as Dutch bantams, which I heard are good mums. I imagine it’s possible, but hard. I think a lightweight chicken would reduce the risk of crushing the eggs...I’m sure there are other problems though...quail and chickens are very different and need different feed too. Would you put mama and babies all on game starter? Or chick starter? What’s the difference again? Is it protein????
 
Yes it’s possible, and I know a lot of people use broody bantams because their quail don’t go broody and they don’t want to buy an incubator. However, I can’t say I would recommend it. Chickens can carry diseases that are life threatening to quail, and the hens are prone to breaking the fragile eggs. If you wanted to do this, pick the smallest bantam you can.

As for feeding, I would give the chicks a smaller feeder, and a larger feeder for mom so the hen is discouraged from trying to eat the chick food and the chicks cannot reach the adult feed. Yes, the difference in game bird starter and chick starter is that game bird starter has more protein. If you only have chick starter handy you can easily supplement the protein with some mealworms.
 
Yes it’s possible, and I know a lot of people use broody bantams because their quail don’t go broody and they don’t want to buy an incubator. However, I can’t say I would recommend it. Chickens can carry diseases that are life threatening to quail, and the hens are prone to breaking the fragile eggs. If you wanted to do this, pick the smallest bantam you can.

As for feeding, I would give the chicks a smaller feeder, and a larger feeder for mom so the hen is discouraged from trying to eat the chick food and the chicks cannot reach the adult feed. Yes, the difference in game bird starter and chick starter is that game bird starter has more protein. If you only have chick starter handy you can easily supplement the protein with some mealworms.
Thanks! That helps! I don’t think I’ll try it any time soon...still haven’t convinced my mum to let me get quail. I’d rather not get an incubator since they are very expensive, and I’m already spending all my money on my chickens...This spring I plan on getting silkies and Dutch bantams.... Dutch bantams are one of the smallest, 400-500g. They are good mamas too. They sound like a good choice fo this sort of thing. There are complications obviously, like disease, but if I did it I’d be willing to give it a few tries. I just got my first EVER egg from my own chicken! It tasted amazing and had such a vibrant yolk. It was tiny and cream-coloured, since ebony is a tiny chicken. She is half silkie (which are very good mamas) and I think half sebright, (not great mamas) so I’m yet to see if she is a good mama. Maybe the silkie instinct will come through? She is quite a small chickens, about 1kg.
 
Thanks! That helps! I don’t think I’ll try it any time soon...still haven’t convinced my mum to let me get quail. I’d rather not get an incubator since they are very expensive, and I’m already spending all my money on my chickens...This spring I plan on getting silkies and Dutch bantams.... Dutch bantams are one of the smallest, 400-500g. They are good mamas too. They sound like a good choice fo this sort of thing. There are complications obviously, like disease, but if I did it I’d be willing to give it a few tries. I just got my first EVER egg from my own chicken! It tasted amazing and had such a vibrant yolk. It was tiny and cream-coloured, since ebony is a tiny chicken. She is half silkie (which are very good mamas) and I think half sebright, (not great mamas) so I’m yet to see if she is a good mama. Maybe the silkie instinct will come through? She is quite a small chickens, about 1kg.
Congratulations on your egg! If you give it a few tries, figure out what works what doesn’t work, I know there are people that have successfully hatched quail from bantams. Good luck with your chickens and maybe quail!
 

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