ChelseaDagger
In the Brooder
Hello! I'm Jade, and though I'm new to BYC, BYC isn't new to me. I've been lurking here for years but never really had a lot to say. This is mostly because I don't have any chickens and I'm not really interested in getting chickens any time soon. I've already got five feathery little friends in my life to devote my time and love and effort to, and I think I'd need a bigger house and more free time if I were going to have a chicken room, too. That said, this seems like an okay place to talk about quails.
To keep my intro from being too dry, here is a fun story about some of my quails:
They have about seventeen eggs that probably won't hatch because they were laid 24 November - 26 December and no one started sitting on them regularly until 4 January. The only reason anyone started sitting on them at all is that Basil had to stay overnight at the vet when he was feeling under the weather, and I figured that since he derives such contentment from sitting in his Hello Kitty Egg Basket for five minutes at a time, that having his "security nest" and his girlfriend Ginger with him might help to reduce his stress over being ill and away from home. It really did help, because he sat diligently on his eggs for the entire day, taking breaks only for snacks and medication. When he returned home, I converted a desk into a little hospital chamber for him and put his nest in there.
Now, Pepper is Basil's ex (they were paired two summers ago) and he's always been pretty obsessed with eggs. Unlike Basil who will mount just about anything with a topknot, Pepper has never really been attracted anyone with a W chromosome, so there's very little chance he's ever going to father any eggs on his own. He's spent the last few weeks sneaking into the nest to sit on eggs, only to be chased off moments later by Basil or Ginger after being discovered. Knowing this, I tried to Pepper-proof Basil's hospital chamber, I really did. I made the doorway very small and narrow and flush with a ledge so that it needs to be flown into, and Pepper is generally too clumsy for anything like that. I really underestimated him though, and Pepper broke in three times over the next day and just sat on the edge of the nest peering at Basil and patiently awaiting his turn. He'd sit on it whenever Basil left to go eat or take his medication, and eventually Basil started feeling better and decided to just let Pepper have the nest.
I know it's a long shot to start incubating after nine days, but I want so badly for the one laid on the 26th to hatch. He's already an excellent egg father and I think he'd raise a chick into a really sweet well adjusted individual.
Or you know, maybe they'll all just end up on Quail Springer someday.
To keep my intro from being too dry, here is a fun story about some of my quails:
They have about seventeen eggs that probably won't hatch because they were laid 24 November - 26 December and no one started sitting on them regularly until 4 January. The only reason anyone started sitting on them at all is that Basil had to stay overnight at the vet when he was feeling under the weather, and I figured that since he derives such contentment from sitting in his Hello Kitty Egg Basket for five minutes at a time, that having his "security nest" and his girlfriend Ginger with him might help to reduce his stress over being ill and away from home. It really did help, because he sat diligently on his eggs for the entire day, taking breaks only for snacks and medication. When he returned home, I converted a desk into a little hospital chamber for him and put his nest in there.
Now, Pepper is Basil's ex (they were paired two summers ago) and he's always been pretty obsessed with eggs. Unlike Basil who will mount just about anything with a topknot, Pepper has never really been attracted anyone with a W chromosome, so there's very little chance he's ever going to father any eggs on his own. He's spent the last few weeks sneaking into the nest to sit on eggs, only to be chased off moments later by Basil or Ginger after being discovered. Knowing this, I tried to Pepper-proof Basil's hospital chamber, I really did. I made the doorway very small and narrow and flush with a ledge so that it needs to be flown into, and Pepper is generally too clumsy for anything like that. I really underestimated him though, and Pepper broke in three times over the next day and just sat on the edge of the nest peering at Basil and patiently awaiting his turn. He'd sit on it whenever Basil left to go eat or take his medication, and eventually Basil started feeling better and decided to just let Pepper have the nest.
I know it's a long shot to start incubating after nine days, but I want so badly for the one laid on the 26th to hatch. He's already an excellent egg father and I think he'd raise a chick into a really sweet well adjusted individual.
Or you know, maybe they'll all just end up on Quail Springer someday.
Jade 
