NewfoundMamaBird
Songster
- Nov 18, 2022
- 64
- 302
- 106
Good morning all,
Just introducing myself as a long time lurker, first day member. Currently, besides the new buttons I hatched, I share my home with 3 rescue dogs that range in size from 7lbs to 80lbs.
Moving on to how the buttons came about. My dream has always been a hobby farm where I can have a chicken coop. Seriously, I dream of a chicken coop! I currently live in a city that prohibits backyard poultry of any kind. My husband and i had always planned to move to the country in a few years after our son graduated from university, where I could then finally get my chickens. Sadly, I lost my husband to cancer at age 53 last October. It was tough. But to distract myself at night when sleep was impossible, I would plan that future chicken coop (and at this point friends, let me assure you this has become the most pimped out future chicken coop ever! Lol) so one sleepless night I wondered if the city by-law prohibited quail as well. I knew nothing about quail other than they were smaller and had a reputation of being more quiet. So I started researching quail (researching the crap out of something is a speciality of mine). Of course I found out backyard quail are also prohibited in the city, but it was that night I discovered that button quail existed and that they made great house pets! By the next morning I had read everything I could find on them, ordered an incubator, sourced someone fairly close (same province of canada) who could ship me eggs and was completely committed. That was last March. Unfortunately, my dad got sick with cancer and I had to go home and cancel my eggs. Another rough few months of back and forth between here and back home. My Dad passed away in August. Yeah, real rough 12 months for me. The thought of future baby buttons may have been the difference between a complete mental heath breakdown and being able to keep functioning day by day. Took me a while to source more eggs (original breeder gave up her buttons) but I finally got some 15 two weeks ago! I had been prepared for a 0 to 25% hatch rate with shipped eggs, a cheap incubator and zero experience. Two eggs were infertile, and 3 had not developed and made it to lockdown. So 10 eggs entered lockdown on day 13, with hopes of getting from 2 to 4 to hatch. They didn't start hatching till the day after "hatch day" but after 3 days seven had hatched. I left the other 3 for another day, light candled to see no air sack and no movement at all and figured they were dead. At last moment I decided to put them in a cup of water...I thought I saw movement. I chipped and egg and saw the completely dried out membrane around the chick and realized he had to be dead. But I decided to remove him anyway. To my amazement after a tweezers, q tip and warm water extraction, I realized he was breathing...but barely. Two more emergency extractions ensued and I ended up with 3 near lifeless chicks that I was sure would not make it. In preparation before incubating I had thankfully ordered chick electrolytes and nutri drench. After a couple of rough days of forcing the tiniest birds I have ever seen (I don't think they fully developped because they made the other chicks when they had hatched look huge) drink, suddenly all three moved from lying on their sides to lying on their tummies. Then they got up and started to stagger around! They were like little wobbly drunks for a while. But they fought. Eventually I was able to move them to a separate brooder and placed 2 of the smaller ones from the first 7 in with them. Last night I cleaned both and decided to try them all together. They are all doing amazing! I seem to have 10 healthy happy chicks of all different sizes ranging in age from about 9 to 12 days old!. After expecting no more that 4 or 5 max...I am now coming to the realization I am going to have to plan more living quarters.
Just introducing myself as a long time lurker, first day member. Currently, besides the new buttons I hatched, I share my home with 3 rescue dogs that range in size from 7lbs to 80lbs.
Moving on to how the buttons came about. My dream has always been a hobby farm where I can have a chicken coop. Seriously, I dream of a chicken coop! I currently live in a city that prohibits backyard poultry of any kind. My husband and i had always planned to move to the country in a few years after our son graduated from university, where I could then finally get my chickens. Sadly, I lost my husband to cancer at age 53 last October. It was tough. But to distract myself at night when sleep was impossible, I would plan that future chicken coop (and at this point friends, let me assure you this has become the most pimped out future chicken coop ever! Lol) so one sleepless night I wondered if the city by-law prohibited quail as well. I knew nothing about quail other than they were smaller and had a reputation of being more quiet. So I started researching quail (researching the crap out of something is a speciality of mine). Of course I found out backyard quail are also prohibited in the city, but it was that night I discovered that button quail existed and that they made great house pets! By the next morning I had read everything I could find on them, ordered an incubator, sourced someone fairly close (same province of canada) who could ship me eggs and was completely committed. That was last March. Unfortunately, my dad got sick with cancer and I had to go home and cancel my eggs. Another rough few months of back and forth between here and back home. My Dad passed away in August. Yeah, real rough 12 months for me. The thought of future baby buttons may have been the difference between a complete mental heath breakdown and being able to keep functioning day by day. Took me a while to source more eggs (original breeder gave up her buttons) but I finally got some 15 two weeks ago! I had been prepared for a 0 to 25% hatch rate with shipped eggs, a cheap incubator and zero experience. Two eggs were infertile, and 3 had not developed and made it to lockdown. So 10 eggs entered lockdown on day 13, with hopes of getting from 2 to 4 to hatch. They didn't start hatching till the day after "hatch day" but after 3 days seven had hatched. I left the other 3 for another day, light candled to see no air sack and no movement at all and figured they were dead. At last moment I decided to put them in a cup of water...I thought I saw movement. I chipped and egg and saw the completely dried out membrane around the chick and realized he had to be dead. But I decided to remove him anyway. To my amazement after a tweezers, q tip and warm water extraction, I realized he was breathing...but barely. Two more emergency extractions ensued and I ended up with 3 near lifeless chicks that I was sure would not make it. In preparation before incubating I had thankfully ordered chick electrolytes and nutri drench. After a couple of rough days of forcing the tiniest birds I have ever seen (I don't think they fully developped because they made the other chicks when they had hatched look huge) drink, suddenly all three moved from lying on their sides to lying on their tummies. Then they got up and started to stagger around! They were like little wobbly drunks for a while. But they fought. Eventually I was able to move them to a separate brooder and placed 2 of the smaller ones from the first 7 in with them. Last night I cleaned both and decided to try them all together. They are all doing amazing! I seem to have 10 healthy happy chicks of all different sizes ranging in age from about 9 to 12 days old!. After expecting no more that 4 or 5 max...I am now coming to the realization I am going to have to plan more living quarters.
Glad you joined.
