What do I have to do to get button quail to hatch there own eggs?

[pringle]

HI, im getting some button quail soon and I would like to learn how to make an enviroment in which they can live in to hatch out there own eggs.I will not be having them in colony's,My brother is gonna give me a huge fish tank which im gonna split up into about 2 spaces for 2 pairs.I just want to know what I can do have them hatch out there own eggs becouse I dont have and egg turner and I dont want to hatch them out myself.

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
THEY SAY MIRACLES DO HAPPEN IF YOU PREY HARD ENOUGH.....

THEY ARE THE MOST LIKELY TO PULL IT OFF AS FAR AS QUAIL SPECES GO, BUT USUALLY THEY DO SO IN A VERY NATURAL ENVIRONMENT SUCH AS A PLANTED AND LANDSCAPED NATURAL LOOKING AVIARY, DOUBTFUL YOU'LL PULL THAT 1 OFF IN A FISH TANK?? ALL YOU CAN DO IS TRY, BUT I WOULDNT HOLD MY BREATH, AND I WOULD HAVE THE BATOR STANDING BY JUST AS A BACKUP PLAN.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

You can give them a small box or enclosure in which to lay their eggs. That may prompt them to be broody, but won't guarantee it. I had a hen sitting on eggs for about a week. Then she got bored and got up never to return again. i have heard that Buttons aren't very good moms.

 

[Rozzie]

Heck, I've got some who want nothing more than to brood eggs. I have to constantly watch or I'll catch them at it.

Some things I can think of about my cages that might play a role -- or at least the cages where this has occurred.

1.) Space. The birds that have gone broody have been in large areas. The smallest of these has been maybe four square feet. The biggest was a sixteen square foot cage.

2.) They like an area where they feel sheltered. This might be a screen of potted plants. It might be a dark nesting box. It might be a rug hanging over the door of the cage. They don't want to be visible to predators, though (whether those predators are real or imagined!)

3.) They don't want to be disturbed. Leave them alone and don't collect the eggs. You may want to mark them with a sharpie, though so you know what eggs are old. Just switch sharpie colors every few days, reach in and dab the eggs. Remove them when they are about five days old. They will still be okay to eat at that point if they haven't been sitting on them.

 

[shelleyd2008]

There's not much you need to 'do' to get them to hatch their eggs, either they will or they won't. It's in their genes, not their environment. However, the items mentioned above would help if you happen to have a button that is broody, though they are few and far between. But they are the most broody of the domestic quail species, so at least there's that.

 

[Sushi]

I have a pair that were broody in a 2 x2 ft box. They had a lot of hiding places, and the cage was well sheltered from view. I think it might have more to do with whether they are able to see you than whether you are able to see them. I hardy ever disturbed that pair. I had a screened top that I could pour food and water through so I hardly ever had to open the cage.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I had a hen start brooding in a colony cage with another female and 4 or 5 males. The cage itself was about 18" by 24" and she was sitting right in the front of the cage in a corner. I cleaned the cage and everything, taking the eggs out, and she'd go right back to the nest when I was done. It is genetic, not environmental.

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
When my button's came to me, they were in a colony. This is how they'd been reared. It has taken me some time to transition them all to pairs. My first buttons that went broody shared the duty. I had three hens & a roo all broody at once. I swear the roo was broody, too.

There were six birds in that colony & four of them sat on eggs the whole time. I gradually caught and removed the extras toward the end when I could snatch them quietly in the dark.