Quail gone broody for a second time - can I break her off? (Will she be broody again later?)

[SeptemberQuail]

My now 6 month old quail Egglantine, who I've hatched out from an incubator, went broody at the beginning of the year. She was determined, but we had to break her off because she was getting aggressive towards the other females (and she was living outside) so we moved her, and now lives with her new mate in the brooder (we removed the lights and power supply) and they're very loyal to each other (will call to each other/panic if separated).
Now she's gone broody again, I'd love for her to raise them but the thing is, its the worst time! Its almost winter, well a week away from it, and for the past month, temperature has been going to -2 degrees celsius at night to -7 in the morning, which is unnaturally cold for autumn, so winter is going to be freezing, throughout the day it gets to around 15 - 16 C.
I know quail are supposed to be alright in these temperatures, but I don't think mine are. Every morning when I let the ones in the big cage go outside, they seem fine but look cold and I think shivering as well.

So I'm worried. This afternoon I went out and saw the two sitting together, brooding the eggs and Egglantine isn't aggressive like last time. It was really cute, but I can't let them raise chicks, its just too cold to raise them. If I remove the eggs, do you think by spring (september), she'll be broody again if I leave the eggs? And will the male still be fertile? (he's still mating on her even though my other male in the cage outside is off breeding season). The male will be 1 year and a half by September, so I'm worried he might not be as fertile.


ONE MORE THING!
I bought these novelty baby chicks (easter decorations), they're around the same size as quail chicks. Do you think I could make her a little happier by putting one or two of the chicks inside the cage for a bit and see how they react? (I'm also worried about the male killing the chicks...)

Thanks in advance.

(might add pictures later, lol)

 

[Plant Lady]

I'm new and learning...could you explain what Broody means?

Thanks!
Misty

 

[SeptemberQuail]

Hi Plant Lady.
Welcome to BYC!

Broody is the term used when a hen of any bird sits on her eggs and incubates them, until they hatch, She then continues to raise the chicks (sometimes along with the father) until they're old enough to fend for themselves.
That's why when people hatch eggs in the incubator, they later place them in a compartment called a brooder, which provides enough warm temperature to help the chicks grow and develop as if a mother hen did,

 

[Nichrome]

What season is it in your area???

I believe that if female is broody and male is fertile they should be good enough at raising the young but I'm not sure.

Could you please send us pics of this broody quail?

 

[SeptemberQuail]

Its actually two months past breeding season, apparently it was supposed to end in March. Next month is winter, so its not the best time for being broody.
I broke her off yesterday, because I needed to change the bedding any who. I took them out for a dust bath and removed a few eggs that were cold and placed the ones that felt somewhat warm (they actually weren't that wam) and put them back in. She came back and looked at them but then just walked away. (Her picture is also my avatar)

Its funny because she sits down for so long, she lets out these giant poops, which don't look very pleasant.

Heres from yesterday:





She got up as soon as I opened the cage to take a picture (seen in the first picture shes standing up).
When I came home from the shops, I found the two lying next to each other, apparently button quail do this as well. When a female is broody, the male lies down next to her.
There were around 5 eggs underneath her, when she got up, you could see the eggs spread out near the rim of the nest, hence why I'm presuming that's why they weren't very warm.

---

Here's from the last time she was broody, but she got aggressive towards the other females if they approached (though I think she had an exception to one of them), and a little aggressive towards the male, so I had to remove her from the cage and moved her in with my other male who at first didn't get along but learned to love each other.
More than half of those eggs weren't even hers (there were another 3 females in the cage). She is the youngest quail and the smallest out of all of them as adults, so I'm surprised she tried to fit like 10 eggs underneath her wings.






I'm just hoping, will she be broody this spring again? And will the male still be fertile by then?

 

[Plant Lady]

Thank you for the welcome, I'm finding this site to be very helpful...looking forward to getting our Quails after a bit more research of course . Why are people worried when they go Broody then? Wouldn't this be a good thing?

Blessings,

Misty

 

[SeptemberQuail]

Quail got me addicted to quail, I just love mine so much! ^.^

The reason I'm worried are because of the factors of:
- Its too cold, the chicks will most likely die in this weather.
- The father may kill the chicks. I can't separate him into another cage because he'll get too cold with no one to huddle with at night, I gotta wait till its warmer.
- We can't bring the brooder inside because its occupied by the two. (We had the brooder inside when we raised incubated chicks before).
- It'll be hard to introduce the chicks (when they grow up) into the covey in the big cage, as I doubt they'll be accepting new members any time soon.

I had another broody female (Buttons was her name), We separated her into a smaller cage for her to have more room to herself and where its safer for potential chicks, but after 4 days of being alone, she gave up and started brushing her beak against the cage trying to get out. (Photos below)
Apparently broody quail don't always last long as their broody instinct is pretty much gone because of domestication and incubated hatches rather than natural broody quail. It is a blessing to have another quail go broody, but its just not the right time, and the chances of them hatching aren't very high either.








Oh well,
Hopefully if I leave the eggs in her nest next time, she'll go broody again this spring.

Post pics of your quail when you get them!

 

[Nichrome]

I'm a bit lost here. There is no argument about the giant poop; that is simply clear. The problem is that both the quails in the picture look like males (the zoom is not helping at all)!

 

[SeptemberQuail]

She's definitely a female, the last time I checked! Otherwise I would be disturbed as to how the eggs were appearing if there were two males. As well as that, my male Bolt hates other males. Especially the one in the big cage, once they make eye contact, they honk at each other and give death stares. (Not literally

)

Its just that she was born with light feathers. She inherited the light spots from her mother.

Here's a close up photo of her... on my leg. (Uncomfortable taking the photo, lol!)


Her mother, Caramel (below); Her spots are light, I had thoughts of her being a male as well as some males have light spots.
Sorry, I have no better pics of her chest, and she passed away..

So I can't take anymore photos.


And here's Egglantine as a chick. Around 3 - 4 week I think, if not older.



(Sorry, I love taking photos of them and sharing them... Hehe!)

 

[Nichrome]

Definitely a lady, a very nice color also! In my country we call that color "milky tea"!