Wilma the Quail is Brooding Fertile Eggs

le_bwah

Crowing
6 Years
May 1, 2018
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Actually, she's been broody for about nine weeks, totally dedicated to clutch after clutch of infertile eggs—I couldn't break her of it no matter what I did. I read somewhere that chicken broodys respond well to actually hatching out some chicks.

So now Wilma's sitting on 14 fertile eggs. This is Day 5.

She seems the picture of a dedicated brid-mom—turns her eggs, shuffles them around, only leaves the nest to eat and drink. She's even started tidbitting for the other hens (then getting super fussy when they take her up on it :rolleyes:). I have no doubt she'll see this to day 16+ but I'm also planning on how to pull the chicks away if she or another hen gets too rough with them or each other. That's also assuming there will be chicks...

This is mostly a loosely-thought-out science experiment, I admit—there are things I could have set up for differently. I just want to see if one of my birds will hatch out quail chicks given that I've heard again and again (here and elsewhere) that it's rare or that the urge has been "bred out of them."


 
Thank you for posting! :popInquiring minds want to know. I am just getting in to coturnix quail and would love to know more!

This is definitely the right forum for that—I couldn't have gotten my own start in quail without BYC!
 
Chicks are looking more and more likely! I candled a few eggs today, and all three were dark and had mostly-ideal air cells. Wilma has been so good turning and shuffling her eggs—every time I get a peek under her, they're all moved around. She barely leaves the basket (but I caught her doing some birdy self-care in the dirt bath yesterday). I'm going to avoid filming/peeking/otherwise upsetting her until most of the chicks who can come out have come out.


I plan on separating the other hens into the smaller portion of the aviary if anyone gets fussy. But they all seem to be giving Wilma a wide berth—she makes this honking, chittering sound that has the other girls running for cover.
 
It's rained the last three evenings, but the nest is dry and the hen is thick. This is day 14, when I would normally call lockdown when using an incubator. Every egg I've checked is warm and full and alive—hope to see chicks within the next few days.

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Day 19, 6:30 AM.

Stole a warm egg from under defensive, pancaked mama and held it to my ear.

Scratching! Pecking! Somebody wants out!

Returned it to chittering, puffed hen. She must hear more of them trying, won't budge from the nest. I put the basket back. Fingers crossed for chicks by tonight!
 

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