Latest count: 5 hens. Roosterbator must have broken! UPDATE

[Rozzie]

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If she can eat them, that might mean that you'll end up boosting how many quail you keep, eh?

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I may boost them up just a few, but I doubt I need to keep more than 20 hens. I might have to figure out how long the eggs will store in the frig though.

If she can eat them, she'll find someone where she lives to supply their weekly eggs.

 

[Rozzie]

So, 5 pm here & no eggs from them yet today. That's okay, they are just little pullets so it will probably be a bit in between.

I did remove "Randy" and give him a bachelor's home. At a minimum, I have 3 Roos in that batch of 9, so...at least 2 have to come out. He's the roughest one, so far, so...

 

[Rozzie]

Woohoo! Up to 5 hens & 3 known roosters. That leaves one more to go to figure out.

Still only the three boys crowing. I removed Randy (the little wild) from the bunch the other day because he was just to...active and rough. That leaves the Manchurian Gold & the little English White male in there. I had 1 egg a couple of hours ago & just went out a minute ago. Between 10 & 11 pm, the girls laid FOUR MORE eggs. Yes, four more.

Oh, and those of you that say that quail just lay their eggs wherever they drop & won't use a nest? I call B.S. Ya'all must just have dumb birds.

These little girls chose one spot to lay their eggs, and so far, only one or two eggs have been "dropped" somewhere else. Otherwise, they lay them ALL in one little spot that they hollowed out in their bedding. My older girls do the same thing, though one girl occasionally lays her egg in the wrong place.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

My girls normally lay in their sand box. Where else would they lay them? You might want to keep them picked up from that hollowed out area, or one of them may start sitting on you and you'll get even more girls and boys.

Are you sure that one didn't lay 2 eggs tonight? Oh OK, that's impossible. So which one is the hold out and keeping us guessing? Oh, Boots' buddy maybe?

Man that Roosterbator must be broken to have at least 5 hens out of nine. Now, this is a good sign for your New Year.

I guess I have a dumb pullet chicken then. Cause I found a little Buttercup pullet egg by the duck pool a few days ago. She just couldn't get back to the hen house fast enough. I could just see her running around the garden and knew she wouldn't make it so tried to hide it next to their little pool.

 

[Rozzie]

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Nah, she's just learning her business still.

I just have to razz people a little who think their quail are too dumb to lay eggs in a nest. How else would their ancestors have survived in the wild? I check for eggs several times a day, and even move the fake plants at least once a day to look under them for hidden eggs. So, not much chance of them sneaking them away. The buttons keep trying, though. (And, I've had buttson manage to lay two eggs in a 24 hours before, and my big girls have a time or two, as well. (It's either that or the rooster laid an egg...I'm going to believe one of the hens laid twice in 24 hours, LOL.)

Edited: Yours are doing okay if they lay in their sandbox. One of mine did that once and promptly BROKE the egg in the sandbox by scratching around. I had to take the sandbox away until they went back to their normal spot.

 

[Rozzie]

So, I have no removed 2 roos of the original 9 birds. I took out Randy & Goldy.

Randy is the brown. He came out because he wouldn't leave the hens alone enough.

Goldy (the Manchurian) came out because the little English White roo decided he had to go. I intervened in time & got there when only a few feathers were gone & a small injury on the scalp - nothing that won't heal easily. However, Goldy is pretty upset to be by himself in a small pen. I'll give him nicer quarters tomorrow, but I wanted to watch his injury for a day to make sure it isn't worse than I thought. (So far, it seems fine.)

That leaves Spot (the EW roo) and six others...at least five of which are hens. The EW isn't tearing anyone else up yet...

I decided that the EW stayed in with the girls instead of the Manchurian because of the color genetics. If I am understanding the basics of this right, the white is recessive and the gold is dominant...so by keeping the white in with the girls, I'll get a much better assortment of colors. That, of course, is assuming I decide to hatch more. It'll be several months, at least, before I do. (I have enough for 6-7 eggs a day now, plus my button eggs. That is enough for me to have an omelet daily, or my son and I to each have an omelet every other day.) I won't hatch more until my older girls quit laying or reduce too much.

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

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White recessive - usually, but have noticed some whites lately that aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing, so don't hold your breath.

But this might mean that you have 6 Females there. That's a jump for joy,

hatch those female producing breeders you got your hands on, type of thing.

This is an utterly amazing thing for you. Gee, maybe your luck is turning and the Roosterbator did breakdown. What happened?

 

[Rozzie]

ROFL It means I either have six females or five females and a VERY quiet roo that the EW isn't worried about yet...

I am hoping it is six, ROFL.

That's DEFINITELY better than the 100% male hatch I had from my older birds!

The young'uns are laying their eggs late at night -- one lays in the "early" evening by about 7 or 8 pm. The rest lay their eggs between 10 & 11 pm. They think they are owls, I guess.