Jap incubating own eggs

[Ibuquail]

My first chick hatched today, sadly I think mum might have suffocated it as baby was lying squashed under mum. But the exciting thing is that mum incubated with no help from me. This is her second attempt. Her first clutch were laid indifferent spots then brought together and she made a nest around them. All failed. This time she made a nest then laid all the eggs in it. So it is not true that the instinct has been bred out of them, they just need the right environment, dirt floor and some long grass for cover, and some practice.

 

[Pork Pie]

Good stuff! In future, you may wish to consider collecting the eggs daily and storing them in a cool place indoors. Raising one end of the egg box on something and then swapping it around twice a day or so is the recommended way to keep eggs ready for sitting. You can also mark each egg with a date / number so you know which is the oldest. Eggs over ten days old show declining viability.

CT

 

[DK newbie]

The hen most likely won't go broody if she doesn't have enough eggs, so if they are collected they will need to be replaced by something. Also, they evolved to be able to hatch without human interference, so it should be fine to leave them in the nest. And disturbing the hen every day to collect eggs might also keep her from going broody..
I'd love to see pictures of your cage/aviary Ibuquail

 

[Pork Pie]

The hen most likely won't go broody if she doesn't have enough eggs, so if they are collected they will need to be replaced by something. Also, they evolved to be able to hatch without human interference, so it should be fine to leave them in the nest. And disturbing the hen every day to collect eggs might also keep her from going broody..
I'd love to see pictures of your cage/aviary Ibuquail

Do you mean this particular breed - if so i am happy to bow down to your superior knowledge.

If not then i beg to differ - my hens go broody sans eggs. Broodiness is hormonal, not triggered by having a clutch of eggs. Removing an egg from a hen showing the early signs of broodiness (they stop laying when they are fully broody) does not influence the process of broodiness in any way. Many people, myself included, use broody hens to hatch eggs from non-broody chicken breeds which reinforces the above.

Returning eggs that are no more than 10 days old simply gives the breeder a better chance of having the best viable hatch rate.

As mentioned, if you are referring to this specific breed then feel free to ignore the paragraph below.

CT

 

[DK newbie]

I never had Japanese quail, my post was a combination of what I have read about them and what I have experienced with other birds. You are talking about chickens, right? I have on rare occasions seen broody chickens on a nest with no eggs as well. We have tried selecting fresh eggs and letting a broody hen incubate them. But the best hatches usually come from chickens that escaped the coop, laid their own eggs in a nest of their choice with zero human interference. We recently had a hen show up with 12 chicks - chances are she laid every egg herself, but of course we can't say for sure that no other hen escaped, found her nest and helped her. With one egg a day, the oldest hatched egg could have been more than 12 days old at the start of the incubation, and still it hatched and every chicken is healthy and well. But back to the cots - yes, what I wrote was aimed at that particular species, but it is based on limited 'evidence', as very few cots seem to get broody. I tried to reflect this uncertainty by using words such as 'most likely', 'should' and 'might'.

 

[Pork Pie]

I never had Japanese quail, my post was a combination of what I have read about them and what I have experienced with other birds. You are talking about chickens, right? I have on rare occasions seen broody chickens on a nest with no eggs as well. We have tried selecting fresh eggs and letting a broody hen incubate them. But the best hatches usually come from chickens that escaped the coop, laid their own eggs in a nest of their choice with zero human interference. We recently had a hen show up with 12 chicks - chances are she laid every egg herself, but of course we can't say for sure that no other hen escaped, found her nest and helped her. With one egg a day, the oldest hatched egg could have been more than 12 days old at the start of the incubation, and still it hatched and every chicken is healthy and well. But back to the cots - yes, what I wrote was aimed at that particular species, but it is based on limited 'evidence', as very few cots seem to get broody. I tried to reflect this uncertainty by using words such as 'most likely', 'should' and 'might'.

Oh gosh, my fault totally and a thousand apologies - yep i was on about chickens and not quail. Me thinks i should look a bit closer at the forum before typing away.

Sorry once again

CT

 

[Ibuquail]

I have 3 live and active jap chicks! So out of 8 eggs in her nest she has managed to incubate 5 in total to live birth, 2 sadly got squashed after fully leaving their shells. I think the problem is that I left Dad in the pen as I only had a single breeding pair. She's turned into a psycho and keeps chasing him around which is how I think the two died. Of the remaining three eggs one had a crack and I'm not sure about the other two, am giving them another day to see if anything happens. I'm so chuffed. I guess the hard bit comes now, keeping them alive.

 

[Ibuquail]

Not sure if I've done this right. Cage is home made and just resting on the ground. The parents seem happier now there is some longish grass in there. The mum definitely nested better with some grass around her. dad is also loving the long grass as he can hide from his crazy missus.

Tried to get a photo of babies but they are all under her at the moment.

 

[DK newbie]

I would have expected that the cage needed to be larger, for her to feel safe enough to go broody. What are the measurements?
If dad is still in there and she is still chasing him, you should probably separate him.

 

[Ibuquail]

It's about 1 square metre at the base. Only housed 2 birds. It's also under the cover of a large date palm so goes unnoticed by predatory birds. I've been trying to get dad out but every time I go near the cage she goes on the rampage. He seems to be keeping a low profile and isn't troubling the chicks,