Looking for an extremely broody, small breed to sit on and hatch out quail eggs

[pionnier]

For several reasons (namely the fact that they start laying eggs at 6 weeks and are ready to eat at 8 weeks, as opposed to several months for other birds) our family thinks that it's smarter to raise quail over chicken. There is only one big problem, over the last few centuries of domestication quail have forgotten how to be broody! We no longer have an egg incubator and when we did and were raising chickens a few years ago we weren't very good at it.


My question is, is there a breed of chicken that is broody enough to sit on and hatch out our quail eggs without crushing them? We can take care of the chicks, we just want them hatched: is there any breed that can do this?

 

[PouleNoire]

Cochins are known to be very broody, and I can vouch for that, mine has been. Cochins come in bantam too so I would recommend those! Plus they're very sweet!

 

[Farmgal101]

Welcome to BYC!!We are happy to help you with questions you might have!
I have Easter eggers that went broody and I love my easter eggers because they have so many colors and are just full of surprises

 

[Rubysword]

SILKIES. Silkies only come in bantam size and are amazing mothers, plus they are very docile towards humans.

 

[PouleNoire]

Agreed, I have never had silkies but they sound like they would be great fro your situation!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Plenty of quail still go broody... it's a matter of providing the right situation. And no matter how many times I hear certain chicken breeds had the broodiness bred out... still see them broody! Yep, even Leghorns and sex links.

My Silkies are literally broody every 3 weeks from the time they start laying, like clock work!

However.. I think it's quite crude to let a mama sit, lose condition and steal her babies away like a predator. I might suggest letting her raise them in an enclosed situation (for the quails flightiness), where she can naturally break them and then you eat. Then you both get your payoff. Even if your own incubation stunk... seems like you could still hatch far more than a Silkie (or other bantam) can in a reasonable amount of time, with intention of meat for your family. Broody's only come out once or twice per day to eat, drink, and stretch. They lose weight, become shaky, and are royal meanies.... Oh but it's still a sight to behold!

Also those egg amount claims are under lit conditions, not natural lighting according to the research I did.

If quick turn around time is your need... why not raise Cornish cross and have your freezer filled with chicken that will feed your whole family with left overs and in the SAME 6-8 weeks? While it's true that my heritage breed birds take 16 weeks or so before processing... they will still feed a lot more people than a single quail. And processing more smaller birds doesn't SEEM easier to me. Though we do eat our extra Silkie cockerels.

That being said... We all have different goals and thought processes... and I am here to learn, not to judge!

I also considered quail for the same reasons you mention. However, I have not had quail meat yet and don't even know if my family will enjoy it or how well it goes into other dishes. Plus my birds only get natural lighting. And I think you can sell quail eggs for more value than chicken eggs because even though they are small they are a specialty AND allergen free!

SILKIES. Silkies only come in bantam size and are amazing mothers, plus they are very docile towards humans.

That's true in the US. But in the UK they have 2 sizes.

Docile is actually varied by individual and have a pullet named black mama because she would strike very fast. A boy named dynamite because he's got explosive personality in a small package putting some of my Marans boys on the run inside the stag pen that I keep. 2 Silkie boys that were growing out, decided they would go after me one day when it was time to put them up. It was kinda funny watching them try to run under me. But they went to freezer camp the next day. Silkie's are still chickens. Though many will conform to the stereotype, many others will not. I've had calm, flighty, docile, fighter, broody, broodier, slightly smart, really dumb, ALL are stubborn and determined. They are chihuahuas of the chicken world, They don't know they aren't pit bulls!