I had a hen bobwhite to go broody around the very end of July. I was so excited! I've been raising quail, small scale, for about four years now. I've never had one to go broody and everybody that i have talked to say that they won't go broody in captivity or at least they have never seen or heard of it. She is in a pen approximately 16' x 16' and there are 3 other females and 4 males. I was scared that with all of them in there, and me going in and out of the pen on a daily basis to feed and water, that she would be spooked off the nest. But, she maintained! On Wednesday, 8/20, she had four baby chicks to hatch. And as of about an hour ago (8/22), all four are still alive and seem to be doing great. They get a lot further away from mama than i thought they would, exploring the pen. What made it even more amazing that mama stayed on the eggs is that i thought she was only setting on 4 - 6 eggs. However, sometime around 8/16, she got off the nest to eat and i saw a nest-full of eggs. So apparently, the other hens were climbing in the nest with her to lay their eggs. I have put all of those eggs into an incubator just in case they hatch and if any hatch in the next day or two, i'll attempt to unite them with the original four. Hopefully, mama will accept them.
I am so proud of my girl!!!!!!!!!
I am so proud of my girl!!!!!!!!!
