Do quails sit on their own eggs to hatch them?

[Kaystn61]

Mine was around 21 days. She hatched out 6 and 5 have survived .

 

[Esmeralda]

Today is day 8 of my coturnix sitting on a clutch of eggs, and there is a second female that sits on eggs when she gets up for food and water... I took the males out at day 2. Should I take out the non broody females?

 

[DK newbie]

If they seem to bother her, I'd remove them. If they don't.. Well, perhaps if they can be removed without stressing her. Not for her sake, but for the sake of the potential chicks, which they might attack. But if you think the half-broody female would be stressed and start calling if you remove them, I'd consider other options. Like, somehow separating them while keeping them in the same enclosure or something.
Would you mind posting a few pictures of your set-up? I'm quite interested in knowing the kind of environment that makes a coturnix go broody.

 

[Esmeralda]

 

[Esmeralda]

 

[Esmeralda]

 

[Esmeralda]

It is a 6ft by 12 ft triangle, just under 5ft at peak. I have been tossing in sod I have dug up from lawn to make vegetable beds so ground is all lumpy with lots of holes... It is like an Easter egg hunt looking for eggs. In early spring the whole thing was covered with clear vapour barrier plastic, but now only back end is covered. And they killed all sod, so I have been tossing in clumps of jeruselum artichoke plants that would otherwise go into compost.

 

[DK newbie]

Oh, that looks really nice! The last pic is the broody one? Seems she has selected a very open spot for her nest.. Strange. My buttons wouldn't do that. But if she has stayed there for 8 days, I guess you have a decent chance she's going to stay there for 16-18, though I'd be very careful not to disturb her. How many quail do you keep in that cage? And how many males were there?

 

[Esmeralda]

There were 2 males, which are still close enough to hear them calling all the time. And 7 female. There was grass hanging over the nest, but it dried up and died. I was trying not to disturb them too much but the others still kept coming to lay in nest, so I marked original eggs and when I bring new food, she gets up for a few minutes and I steal extra eggs.

 

[DK newbie]

Ouch.. Does sound like the others are causing problems. But it's **** hard to tell whether them being there and you being forced to disturb the nest every day, or them being removed and her possibly being stressed by that, is worse.