How long does it take a quail to lay a clutch of eggs, and other breeding questions.

[kingmt]

Thanks for the chuckle. Reminds me at one time we didn't know the simple things ether. & how easy it is to misunderstand our language.

I've heard buttons are quite broody. It is the Coturnix that aren't supposed to be broody but to tell the truth I never gave one the chance. I'd snatch then while they were still hot & before the paint dried. Coturnix aren't the brightest & they would beak the egg of left for very long. They liked like they were trying to play football with them anyhow.

 

[GrandmaBird]

Yes they will lay about 7-12 eggs, one a day for 7 to 11 days in a row then become broody. The hen will fluff out her breast feathers and gather the eggs in the nest. Once you see one being broody you will know what I'm talking about. A clutch of eggs is not all laid in one day but over a week or so even chickens lay like this one or sometime 2 per day. oh and if you want to incubate them in an incubator they will be best if stored at 70 degrees F for up to 7 days then the chance of hatch is going down. DO NOT store in the fridge for hatching. But do enjoy eating them if you like, or feed them back to the birds after hard boiling them, crush shell and all. Good luck.

 

[CuriousCreature]

Thanks for the info, GrandmaBird. Yes, I figured the ones in the fridge were write-offs, so my partner and I ate them with our salad the other day.

In other news, my other hen suddenly decided to start laying today, so there are now three presumably fertile eggs in the cage now. I'm looking forward to seeing that happens over the next week or so.

That brings me to something else I meant to ask. When it comes to cleaning out the cage, will it be okay to disturb the eggs, particularly if the hen is nesting? They live in a big 'indoor rabbit' cage, so on cleaning day I have to catch the quails and put them in a spare cage while I tip the dirty substrate away and replace it. With the eggs, would it be okay to scoop them out and put them in the spare cage with the quails while I'm cleaning? Or is there a risk of the eggs cooling if the hen is too agitated to sit on them? I guess I could try cleaning up around the quails instead, but I'd have thought that would be more stressful for them.

 

[chiques chicks]

I would clean lightly around them, not a full cleaning. I would try not to disturb them as much as possible, they see humans as predators. Just my opinion, I'd risk the dirty pen.

 

[CuriousCreature]

On further reflection I don't know if that would work. I would have to take the lid off even for a partial clean which means the quails are just going to fly out and hurt themselves - it's happened before. The quails live in our dining room and my partner has allergies so I can't simply leave the cage alone to get filthy for weeks. They're pretty stinky after just one week so any longer could become unpleasant.

Yes, I think I'm going to have to remove the quails for cleaning. But I will leave the eggs and nest area undisturbed. One care guide said that if removed from their nest the hens would come back to it afterwards, so hopefully mine will be the same. If not, I have an incubator on standby.

I realise I've probably just answered my own question, but it's good to talk.

 

[CuriousCreature]

There's been a rather unpleasant development. You know that hen that started laying yesterday? Well just today, after laying her egg, she started incessantly pecking at the rumps (I think the preen gland area) of the males. Within a few hours both males are already bloody and raw either side of their tails. Their feathers are littering the cage - in fact as I was watching the hen yanked a feather out of the nearest male who was jumping and flapping to get away from her. Her personality seems to have suddenly changed too. Previously she was the most nervous of me out of the four, always hiding, but now she's standing her ground whenever I put my hand in the cage, she hardly moves when I try to shoo her away from the males.

Meanwhile the other hen who has been laying for longer is still her usual self and is being left alone for the most part.

In response, so far I've opened up all the windows to get more cool air blowing through (it's a hot day) and given them some crickets to chase around. Currently I'm thinking of other ways to relieve frustration, though in all fairness they already have a pretty plush set-up and have never pecked at each other until now. I will separate her from the others if needs be. Brief squabbles are one thing but drawing blood is unacceptable.

This is an extremely sudden personality switch and the only thing that's changed in her situation recently is that she's started laying, and those eggs are being left in the cage.

Any thoughts?

 

[GrandmaBird]

One of the many downfalls of having more then one pair in an enclosure. Sometimes the females get more aggressive then the males do. If you have them in single pairs the smell will not be bad after a week or so and a light cleaning will work for the time she is sitting and raising the chicks which will be 6 to 8 weeks total. Good luck.

 

[CuriousCreature]

Yes, I tried keeping them as single pairs initially, but the males just constantly pined for each other, as explained in the other thread I posted. They've all been living harmoniously together in one big cage until this female suddenly started pecking.

I guess I could try pairing them off again and see if the males are less attached to each other now that the hens are laying. But I most certainly do not have the space for two indoor rabbit cages, so one pair would have to live in something less than half the size, which seems more like a downgrade than a life improvement.

Currently the bullying hen is in a small cage by herself, and not liking it one bit. I couldn't think of what else to do - she just wouldn't stop pecking. It wasn't even notably aggressive behaviour - she was just slowly following the exhausted males around, idly pecking at the same spot over and over. I thought it was mutual preening until I saw the blood!

I feel really sad about it, listening to them cry to each other, but I don't know how the males will get a chance to heal their wounds otherwise.

 

[GrandmaBird]

If she gets a taste of the blood you may never stop her and she will need to be culled. Silly birds, I am starting to think it is from boredom that they get these strange behaviors. Whatever it is it sure makes it hard to have happy healthy birds. Mine do fine alone but then again I just have them as pets, wither or not you call them that they are pets if I keep them in my home and provide all their care and food. So my pets do just fine. Good luck.

 

[DK newbie]

I'm thinking she might lack protein now that she is laying, and this could cause her apparent taste for blood? I don't remember whether you've told what you are feeding them, but if it's not high in protein, you might want to try to do something about that.