Pedro is sitting on her eggs!

[Chip76]

Last year Pedro never attempted to sit on her eggs so this year after the first ten I started collecting them. (She gets very upset if all her eggs disappear.) So those original ten she is sitting on are pretty old now, over one month. Is there any chance they are still good? Alternatively, I could put some recent eggs from the fridge back in her nest. But are eggs from the fridge still viable? Will she be upset by the appearance of the new eggs?

Temps here have been around 80 at night and 105 during the day. Not sure if that comes into play.

Thanks!

 

[Nabiki]

If we're talking about coturnix quail, incubation is only 17 days, so if she's been on them for a month, they should be thrown away.

 

[Chip76]

Pedro is gambel. She just started sitting on them this week.

 

[Nabiki]

Hmmm... Gambel quail is 21-24 days, so maybe give them a few more days, but not more.

 

[Chip76]

UPDATE: Pedro has babies!!
She faithfully sat on her eggs day and night since day one. It took 24 days and now she has two adorable babies!

I'm very surprised. Most of the eggs were pretty old, but she did have two new eggs in there. It's also been super hot here last month... Up to 122. I'm surprised the babies were able to develop even with the high temps.

Strangely she is still sitting on the other eggs with her chicks now two days later. Does she think another egg will hatch? Can quail tell if there is another baby coming?

I've tried not to disturb them too much bc Pedro gets very upset when I go out there, so I don't have any good pics yet. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[FloorCandy]

My hen was still sitting on eggs after her last chick hatched, she was moving them and stuff and being very attentive, but I candled and they were all early quitters or not developed. I took them away and she moved around more with her chicks. She still didn’t lay for a while, she started back up when the chicks were maybe a week to a week and a half old. She also started plucking her chicks back feathers at about 10-12 days old, and I think she did it when they tried to get back in her feathers and she was like no way, too big! The chick who was always the first one out exploring and she was always calling it back and it ignored her, was not plucked, and I suspect it was because it had weaned itself and wasn’t bothering her.

 

[007Sean]

My hen was still sitting on eggs after her last chick hatched, she was moving them and stuff and being very attentive, but I candled and they were all early quitters or not developed. I took them away and she moved around more with her chicks. She still didn’t lay for a while, she started back up when the chicks were maybe a week to a week and a half old. She also started plucking her chicks back feathers at about 10-12 days old, and I think she did it when they tried to get back in her feathers and she was like no way, too big! The chick who was always the first one out exploring and she was always calling it back and it ignored her, was not plucked, and I suspect it was because it had weaned itself and wasn’t bothering her.

Yep, usually about 2 weeks and the chicks become independent of the hen.

 

[FloorCandy]

Yep, usually about 2 weeks and the chicks become independent of the hen.

It’s so uncommon to find info about Coturnix brooding and raising young, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but one day, one was just bald on the back overnite, and most of the others had bare patches, I watched them and no one was plucking. She must have been pulling the chicks out of her feathers by grabbing their back feathers. I’ve given incubator chicks that started in the brooder to my adults before, but they were older (5 days) and never burrowed into the feathers like the naturally born babies did, and they never got plucked, I guess the bond is stronger when they sit on the egg for the whole time and help them hatch, those chicks didn’t want to leave their mom.

 

[Chip76]

@FloorCandy Did the babies bury themselves in the hen's feathers while she was standing? I didn't know chicks did that, but Pedro's little guys will crawl up into her feathers and disappear completely while she is standing and then they fall out when she starts walking again. It's so cute!!

I'll check the eggs soon. I've been leaving them alone so far bc Pedro is very protective.

 

[FloorCandy]

@FloorCandy Did the babies bury themselves in the hen's feathers while she was standing? I didn't know chicks did that, but Pedro's little guys will crawl up into her feathers and disappear completely while she is standing and then they fall out when she starts walking again. It's so cute!!

I'll check the eggs soon. I've been leaving them alone so far bc Pedro is very protective.

Yes, unlike chickens, quail don’t have bare undersides when they brood. The chicks were rarely under her, they all burrowed into her feathers, and she would even walk around with them in there and they would fall out sometimes and try to get back in.