Indoor button quail nesting

[Happy Novogens]

It looks like my hen quail decided that the sand bath would be suitable for a nest!

Many years ago I had a pair that successfully hatched 12 baby button quail indoors. Looks like I may be in for another round...

 

[FarmerGirl101]

CUTE!

 

[007Sean]

Wow, that's cool. Congrats! Keep us posted.

 

[Kiki]

I hope she hatches them ALL!

 

[JaeG]

How exciting! Fingers crossed they are fabulous parents and hatch a bunch of cuties for you. (We love cute little chick photos - just so you know)!

 

[Happy Novogens]

She is sitting on her eggs. Am preparing in the meantime just in case she succeeds.

Question though...
Can she raise them herself? Last time I had button quail surprisingly succeed in hatching a dozen baby quail, they were in a large indoor cage that had in it the male button along with finches. The male was running over the first one that hatched (over and over) so I ended up taking all the hatchlings out and raising them under a heated lamp in a glass tank.

I assumed I was going to do this again. But it is just the two parent buttons in the indoor cage. Anyone know if that can work, or if it can work if I take the male out?

This was the set up I used 10 years ago.

 

[JaeG]

I'd be more inclined to put the female and chicks in a very small, contained area (like your lovely set-up there) as chicks can wander off and be unable to find their way back, especially in the dark. The male takes on the role of retrieving lost chicks, while the female takes care of the majority. If one wanders off in a large-ish area she will not go and retrieve it if she's a lone parent.

Once the chicks are about 7 days old they should be strong enough to get back to their parent without worry that they will chill before they get there and you could give them a bigger space. You could add a heatlamp just in case as well if they are being dippy and not staying with their mother. You may have to ensure the male can still see his mate or he will drive you bonkers with his calling. I'd wait and see how he does before making the decision to separate them though.

 

[Happy Novogens]

^ thank you for the advice! I'll look forward to seeing how they do before making any changes.

 

[Happy Novogens]

Just an update. It looks like she's given up on her eggs. She stopped laying on them for days so I finally took them out. Now they have their sand bath back anyway.

 

[JaeG]

That's a shame. How many days did she sit on them? They may not have been fertile. Hopefully they'll have better luck next time around. Sometimes it takes them awhile to get it right.