My first Quail. A mini blog.

[pac]

Meanwhile...

 

[pac]

I like the way they make a spot to bed down. And once in a while I'll find one or two eggs in it.

But usually they lay the eggs behind the box and towards the back (of course).

And the past couple days where there is one, there are two. Today was the first day I actually collected a warm egg. And it was laying against the other egg. Maybe the second hen thinks that's as good a place as any? Or maybe seeing one hen lay gets her in the mood to lay herself in the same spot.

Either way, maybe because there are so few at the moment, I am not seeing the random/anywhere they fall egg laying the youtubers say to expect from quail.
They have all been in the shavings and somewhere around the box.

 

[pac]

So far 4 of the 19 in the last batch have hatched. All browns.

 

[pac]

I thought I had updated this.
So out of the 19 in the incubator, only nine hatched. All healthy though.

And that is what 8-9 days in shipping will do. Nine out of 48.

I processed the three roos. I really wish I had kept the larger one, but I'm sure another large and pretty brown out of the these current two batches will appear. I hope.

Once the three roos were in the fridge, I moved the two week olds over into their hutch.

This one is basically white

I like that gray and white one in the back/middle. Very pretty. Looks like a roo though...

And here's the little one that hatched on day 20. The Pearl looking at the food. She looks like a roo, too

 

[pac]

I find it interesting how they are never all together anymore. There is always some inside, and some outside.

 

[pac]

I put my nine 3-4 wk olds in with my two older hens yesterday. This is the batch that included that runt. And also what I think is an absolutely gorgeous hen.

Anyway, the sudden change only got me one egg overnight. Up til now I have been getting 2-3 a day. Those two have been excellent layers.

But, since I'm sure at least a few of the younger ones took over the hens' favorite laying spot, one actually went into the box I've had in there to lay an egg.
They've been using the box... I see feathers in there and the wood chips moved around... but have never used it for laying before.

Everybody seems to be getting along.

 

[pac]

My gorgeous girl

 

[pac]

This one has very faint markings, but looks to be a hen as she is definitely speckled. You just can't see it so well in the pic because she is so light colored.
Also, very pretty bird in my opinion.

 

[catesquire]

Oh she is LOVELY

 

[pac]

Oh she is LOVELY

Thank you. Isn't she?
I'm glad the source had to fulfill the order with some Pearls. I'm definitely keeping some of them for breeding purposes.

Meanwhile...
My 5-1/2 week olds started laying.
A little on the small side compared to when the browns started at 6-7 weeks.

I knew it was coming soon. The Roos have been making noise for over a week now.

So now I want to transfer the hens over to the top pen, and move the few roos from the top pen downstairs.

Then I'll start paying attention to which roos I want to keep as they get larger. And you-know-what with the rest