Finch Egg Incubation!

[JaeG]

Handle them lots if you get them as chicks. Some always seem to be tamer than others. Some colours seem to be calmer than others too. In New Zealand the Tibetan colour is not overly friendly and pretty wild, and the golds are always pretty docile. Yet I've read the opposite on here. Maybe ask the breeder which of his/her birds s/he finds the calmest and friendliest.

I checked on my Society finch eggs but they look blotchy so I'd say our cold snap has done for them. It was still pretty warm when they laid them and started incubating but now winter has really hit. At least my two Java finch chicks are doing well.

 

[Coturnix Quail]

Alright, but I'm pretty sure she only breeds Coturnix, if any. That's really unfortunate, good luck with your Javas! Pikachu and Poot are still doing well too.

 

[JaeG]

Hope your pair are still on track! Do you have any idea when the eggs might hatch? It can't be too far away now. Fingers crossed!

 

[Coturnix Quail]

Still doing well! She actually has 8 eggs, and only one seems to be infertile! I'm thinking 2-4 more days? Yeah! I'm very excited, I just hope they feed them! Thanks for the support!

 

[Coturnix Quail]

Hey! I'm back.. With 10 2 week old quail chicks! Alright, so, I need your help! First off, one has a tumor above its eye! I got them from a breeder, but I didn't notice, and maybe she didn't either, I'm not sure. Second, she didn't tell me the breeds, but it seems I have 3 or 4 Coturnix, alot of white and yellowish chicks too, and beige looking ones. She called the yellow and white ones the tuxedos, and the brown Coturnix, and the beige, well, beige. Also, they seem to be pretty skittish, and tips on that? They're much tinier than I remember! They're on 1 in. so should their tiny feet be okay? They're so cute!! Right now they're in the garage with no heat lamp because she said they were old enough and it's getting pretty warm here. They just wanna hop right out of my hands! Except one sweet 'tuxedo'. She just sat there in my hands and lay there, it was so cute! Well, please reply, I wanna keep them alive!

 

[JaeG]

How well feathered are they? If they haven't got most of their body feathers they will still need heat. If it's pretty warm where you are they will probably be ok during the day but I'd give them a bit of heat at night just in case.

If you take photos of them I can take a guess on colours. They are pretty active at 2 weeks old but spend lots of time with your hand in the cage to get them used to you. They usually like to have their chests stroked rather than their backs but there are always friendly ones and more skittish ones. I wouldn't worry too much about the tumor - it may have got pecked perhaps and might heal up just fine.

Just watch them and make sure they are ok on the wire and not tripping (I've never kept mine on wire). I bet they are so cute!

 

[Coturnix Quail]

UPDATE: Pikachu and Poot haven't been sitting for 2 days! (Including today.) I checked the eggs and they're all fertile, except the one I assumed wasn't. 2 are very close to hatching and the rest have vessels and such. If they don't continue, should I TRY incubating them myself..? Also, they aren't tripping on the wire, and I gave them a little shoebox with tissue lined inside so they could let their feet relax just in case the wire was bothering them to much. Yeah, their feathers are coming in now, they're kind of in the 'teenage' days, but they're definitely still small! I think the 'tuxedo's' might be A&M's because I see brown plumage coming in, but still not sure. I'll try posting pictures soon. Alright, so I've been holding a few and so far there's one tameish Coturnix, 1 beige is one of my favorites right now, the other beige is okay, and the tuxedo's seem to be scattered with different personalities. What I mean by tame right now is that they'll sit in my hand for a bit and jump out. I hold them right inside the cage most times to make them feel more comfortable. Any other tips? Thanks!

 

[Coturnix Quail]

They don't like being held at all.

 

[JaeG]

You can try incubating the eggs yourself but I've never tried. Some pairs do seem to take longer to figure it out!

Just keep trying with the quail. They don't overly like being held at 2 weeks old. The first week of life they are cuddly as they'd be snuggling up to their mother (in a perfect world!) but then they become a lot more independent and by 3 weeks old they don't seem to need their mother anymore - that's how it seemed to go when I had a bantam hen hatch two quail chicks. Just spend time with them so they are used to your voice and actions. You could give them a little dust bath too.

 

[Coturnix Quail]

Okay! I just wished she'd sell them a little younger because they just don't like human company like my hens do. Mostly all my hens are cuddly and will come up running to me when I come to the edge of the run! When I go to close the coop door at night, the door from my house is loud, so when they hear it, they all come running out! It's kind of annyoying but at the same time very cute. I just want the quail to be comfortable in my presence and just to let me pet them a few times a day.