Hatching Coturnix Quail with Broody Chicken

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JaeG said:
I have used bantam hens to hatch 2 lots of quail eggs. The first hen only hatched 2 chicks (because our quail were old and fertility wasn't good). If you are going to leave them with your hen you'll have to monitor them constantly in the first week. Our second hen we only used to hatch the chicks - we brooded the chicks because it is a lot of work to monitor a hen and ensure chicks aren't hurt or left to chill.

In the first week quail chicks are extremely delicate and needy, unlike independent chicken chicks. Some hens don't understand and act like they would for chicken chicks, moving around a lot, scratching for food. Quail chicks cannot keep up with all this and can get kicked or trampled as they try to cuddle with the hen. Outside even in a relatively small area a quail chick is at risk of chilling and dying because the hen doesn't understand that they need to be kept a lot warmer than a chicken chick. Any time the hen gets up to scratch about you need to remove her from the chicks or vice versa. By the time quail chicks are a week old they are more independent and able to keep up with the hen, but in that first week a chicken needs a lot of support to be successful raising them.

The lady whose video you saw there has lots of information about her experiences on her website. She stresses the importance of a broody who is experienced in raising chicks and who will stop and sit when necessary.
"Quail need a mother hen who has an excellent understanding of and is quick to notice changes in behaviour. Some mothers are very good at finding food but a quail 'mother' needs to be equally good at recognising the moment the quail need to go back under her for warmth and rest. She needs to stop foraging and 'sit', not all hens are good at this."

It is well worth reading through her blog: https://holistic-hen.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_27.html#.XxjPeZviuUn

Quail are very different with their chicks. I've had a lot of parent raised Button quail and they act very differently, and the two parent birds both have very different roles. The quail hen stays with the majority of the group and any quail chicks that get too far from the group are rounded up by the cock bird. He will warm up the chick/s before guiding it back to the main group. They really work as a team. There are moments of feeding, but the majority of the time the chicks cuddle with the parents.

This is our Elsa with her two quail chicks.
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:goodpost:
That's really good info. Elsa is so cute with her babies!
 
FortCluck said:
I just moved my 2 week old quail to another aviary we made. It used to be a brooder, but I’m not hatching chickens anymore till next year.

They’ll be the next breeders
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Cool! I wish there was room for me to have an aviary here. One day I'll move and have a big aviary. Lol.
How many days has Mrs. Tweedy been on them now?
 
FortCluck said:
4 so only 14 days left
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Yay! Just 2 more weeks! I'm thinking about doing another half shell attempt in my new incubator. The NR 360. I'll be able to turn the eggs by tipping them, since there's room in there for half an egg carton. It's also much more reliable and it's empty right now...
What do you think? I don't have to try it, just thought it might be cool to try again since they'd be the only eggs in there. I got so close last time.
 

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