Natural incubation in button quails

[ellieV03]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on here because I need some insight from someone more experienced than me in this "field".

I have two button quails (male and female), they are now a little over two years old, but just about 6 days ago the female became broody.
She kind of tried in the past but just for a day and then stopped completely, but now as I said before she's been broody for 6 days straight and I'm starting to wander if she'll really hatch something.

So I wanted to ask you guys what should I do.

Should I leave the chicks inside the cage with the two adults?
Should I take them out when they hatch (if they do)?
Or should I just take the eggs out and put them in the incubator for the remaining time?

I must say that I would feel really guilty taking away either the chicks or the eggs seeing how much she's committing for the first time.

Thank you for any response

 

[Karasu]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on here because I need some insight from someone more experienced than me in this "field".

I have two button quails (male and female), they are now a little over two years old, but just about 6 days ago the female became broody.
She kind of tried in the past but just for a day and then stopped completely, but now as I said before she's been broody for 6 days straight and I'm starting to wander if she'll really hatch something.

So I wanted to ask you guys what should I do.

Should I leave the chicks inside the cage with the two adults?
Should I take them out when they hatch (if they do)?
Or should I just take the eggs out and put them in the incubator for the remaining time?

I must say that I would feel really guilty taking away either the chicks or the eggs seeing how much she's committing for the first time.

Thank you for any response

When my Chinese painted quail (button quail) went broody, I ended up taking the male out because he was aggressive, but I left the mother with her chicks and she successfully hatched and brooded a good half dozen of them. Best of luck.

 

[ellieV03]

When my Chinese painted quail (button quail) went broody, I ended up taking the male out because he was aggressive, but I left the mother with her chicks and she successfully hatched and brooded a good half dozen of them. Best of luck.

At the moment the male (he's a chinese painted quail too) is sitting next to the female and near the nest most of the day every day, he's not bothering her but I'm afraid he may become aggressive with the chicks if they hatch.

 

[Karasu]

At the moment the male (he's a chinese painted quail too) is sitting next to the female and near the nest most of the day every day, he's not bothering her but I'm afraid he may become aggressive with the chicks if they hatch.

That's what happened with my birds, but if you keep an eye on them it should be fine to at least give it a try.

 

[ellieV03]

That's what happened with my birds, but if you keep an eye on them it should be fine to at least give it a try.

Sorry to bother again, but after the chicks hatched you left them with the hen for how long before removing them and reintroducing the male?
Or did you just remove them after a couple days/weeks from the hatching day?

Because I don't think mine will be able to stay separated, I had to do it a few times for health reasons but they seemed to suffer too much from being separated for too long.

 

[Karasu]

Sorry to bother again, but after the chicks hatched you left them with the hen for how long before removing them and reintroducing the male?
Or did you just remove them after a couple days/weeks from the hatching day?

Because I don't think mine will be able to stay separated, I had to do it a few times for health reasons but they seemed to suffer too much from being separated for too long.

What I did was I let the mother raise them until independent. I don't remember how long that was, perhaps a month?

They can get quite territorial, so if you remove him at all I wouldn't reintroduce to the hen until after the chicks are grown and removed - sudden introductions to more adult birds are a recipe for disaster, especially juvenile males.
I've certainly seen cases where the male was able to coexist and help raise them, so hopefully your pair would do the same.