Quail being incubated by broody hen - questions

[kingmt]

Thanks. I went to sleep right after posting. Just passing along what happened to me so people understand what is at hand. The OP did say that they may pass the birds along. Carriers do more damage then those that don't show any sign of being sick. No one actually seemed to know for sure how it got started in the store I bought the rabbits from but yet there it is. I'm also sure that I wasn't the only one to but sick rabbits.

I still say it is bad practice to experiment worth this given all the documentation showing it is a bad idea. But I don't get to make that choice for others. Doesn't mean I have to agree with the practice ether.

Diseases mutate or might be common to one are but not the other. One area might adapt to something while it is in a fragile state but become a carrier then be moved to a area that has never dealt with it & be wiped out. I can't say how it got from one step to the other.

ETA: Can anyone tell me how influeneza got started?

 

[QuoVadis]

I was gone this weekend as expected and came back to seven quail chicks. She was sitting on 14, and there was one dead quail chick who looked like it did not absorb the yolk properly and was still partly in the shell (we had a rainstorm the got the nest quite wet, so I wonder if that caused some problems?), and an egg or two seem to have gone missing, and based on the stinky egg stuff on the outside of the remaining eggs I am guess they were infertile and exploded.

However, there are still four eggs left that I am unsure of what to do about. I read that sometimes quail eggs can go longer than 16 days, and we are on day 18, but I am pretty sure the other chicks only hatched yesterday (day 17).

So what should I do about the remaining eggs? Take them out or leave them a bit longer? Mama seems torn when her chicks are running around whether to stay with them or stay on the nest with the eggs.

And here is a picture to enjoy!

 

[GitaBooks]

They are so cute!

Try putting the eggs in an incubator if you can. Try candling them if you can. This will give the mother a chance to get off a dirty nest and teach her chicks how to eat.

 

[QuoVadis]

I don't have an incubator, and I have never candled eggs before, though I am aware of the general process. However I don't have a strong LED flashlight... She has actually taught them to eat already because they are in a small animal carrier and if she stretches she can reach the food I put in for them from the nest. They have all been scratching about, eating the food and drinking water all afternoon.

 

[GitaBooks]

Can you make a simple home-made incubator? You can put the eggs somewhere warm and moist for a day. Try cheeping to them, if they don't respond they likely are either not fertile or dead. I rarely candle eggs, as I can never be sure what I'm seeing

.
Eggs that don't hatch we always end up carefully opening to see if the chicks are still alive and just need help.

 

[QuoVadis]

Thanks! I think I may just leave them with mama for one more day, since I think think I really have a place I can put them where they will still have a chance to hatch. And since the carrier they are in is small enough the chicks just run out 6 inches from mama hen for food and water and then dive back under her. When you open the eggs, what end to you open?

 

[GitaBooks]

We open the eggs near the air sac, usually where the beak is. We use a needle to very carefully pick away some shell to check if the trick is moving or breathing. If they are, the opening gives them much needed air and a head-start.

A chick we helped hatch that is doing well nearly two months later!


Where we generally open the egg shell

 

[QuoVadis]

Opened up the other eggs and they had not even started developing, so I am guessing they were infertile - I didn't check before setting them.

All seven of the chicks seem to be doing great, but I have noticed an interesting development though. The broody hen Jane is extremely tame and bonded to me and has not minded if I mess with her nest at all, and even now when I go by her chicks she doesn't care like most broodies, even tame ones, do. As a result the chicks have no fear of me at all. They are extremely tame, don't run from me, will climb in my hand and don't chirp if I take them away from mom. I thought quail did not become tame typically, and even moreso I doubted they would if raised by a hen... is this normal for quail chicks to be so layed back and tame at this age, or is it because their mom is so tame?

Initially I though maybe even though Jane was a devoted mom she just didn't have a strong protective drive and that was why she didn't care if I mess with them, but when my dog came up while I was taking care of them she went totally beserk attacking her, so apparently she is intelligent and tame enough that she does not think of me as being a threat! It is so cute! When I let them out for a bit today she brought the chicks over the hangout by me and ran around chasing flies and bringing them back manically clucking for the chicks to eat them.

 

[GitaBooks]

I've heard stories of awesome, cuddly pet quail! If handled daily, whether they are momma raised or not, they can become friendly.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

I love it. Please post more pictures as they grow up!