- May 7, 2014
- 56
- 5
- 31
Hi,
Out of nowhere, just within the past week, we (DH and I) are the owners now of:
1. One quail chick (Gambel's) -- 2 weeks old
2. A dozen Araucana chicks
The quail was accidental -- parents nested in my Mom's carport, there were 20 eggs. The nest was in some hay in a plastic tub that was stacked up on other plastic tubs, so it was several feet off the ground. When the babies hatched, I saw that they were at risk falling from that height (as well as it was likely they would bounce off equipment and so on next to those tubs), so I set the tub full of scrambling chicks on the ground where they had a direct line of sight to the pacing parents in the backyard. Edge of tub was too high for most to get over, so I gently scooped them out in handfuls and they ran to the parents.
One baby kept falling and flopping, and by the time I had gotten all the chicks out, this little one had only managed to go a couple of feet. And the parents and rest of the family were GONE, leaving this wee one stranded alone. Too hot in the sun, night was to be too chilly, so I adopted it. It has been in a covered glass tank on the edge of my bed ever since, with a heating pad on medium, water with little stones, and so on.
For those of you who may not know (I sure didn't), baby quail make some variety of chirps and cheeps and even warble a bit in a way similar to parakeets. It feels like a special experience to fall asleep to this little one's soft murmurs and sequences.
DH got the Araucana chicks. His family used to raise and keep chickens, so he knows about them and I don't! We've had them nearly 2 weeks and all 12 are still doing just fine.
I can't contribute much if anything because I'm a beginner at any type of poultry, but will enjoy learning from the reading here.
Many thanks for all the great sharing and help that is put forth!
Out of nowhere, just within the past week, we (DH and I) are the owners now of:
1. One quail chick (Gambel's) -- 2 weeks old
2. A dozen Araucana chicks
The quail was accidental -- parents nested in my Mom's carport, there were 20 eggs. The nest was in some hay in a plastic tub that was stacked up on other plastic tubs, so it was several feet off the ground. When the babies hatched, I saw that they were at risk falling from that height (as well as it was likely they would bounce off equipment and so on next to those tubs), so I set the tub full of scrambling chicks on the ground where they had a direct line of sight to the pacing parents in the backyard. Edge of tub was too high for most to get over, so I gently scooped them out in handfuls and they ran to the parents.
One baby kept falling and flopping, and by the time I had gotten all the chicks out, this little one had only managed to go a couple of feet. And the parents and rest of the family were GONE, leaving this wee one stranded alone. Too hot in the sun, night was to be too chilly, so I adopted it. It has been in a covered glass tank on the edge of my bed ever since, with a heating pad on medium, water with little stones, and so on.
For those of you who may not know (I sure didn't), baby quail make some variety of chirps and cheeps and even warble a bit in a way similar to parakeets. It feels like a special experience to fall asleep to this little one's soft murmurs and sequences.
DH got the Araucana chicks. His family used to raise and keep chickens, so he knows about them and I don't! We've had them nearly 2 weeks and all 12 are still doing just fine.
I can't contribute much if anything because I'm a beginner at any type of poultry, but will enjoy learning from the reading here.
Many thanks for all the great sharing and help that is put forth!
and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with the little quail!
