Emmy 528 Report post Posted March 22, 2016 Well it seems like a miracle to me but part of the miracle won't happen. (lol) I've kept Texan White Quails for a good few years now but they NEVER incubated their eggs that had to be done using the incubator. Last year I sent for some new Texan White fertile eggs to get some 'new blood line' in. All went well and a few hatched out. I put three of them in a large 'hutch' and they got on fine together until one morning I found little 'Suzy' sitting in a corner with her head covered in blood. I removed her from the other two and cleaned her head and kept her by herself until her head healed. I then introduced another quail to keep her company and I got a shock the next morning there was poor Suzy sitting there with her head bleeding again. So from then on ( a few months now) she has been in a hutch by herself . Her head is OK now and she has been laying eggs usually one a day and I have been removing the egg from the hutch every day but I hadn't collected any for three days and I noticed she had moved the eggs into a corner in the sleeping section of the hutch so I thought I'd just leave them and see if she added any more eggs to the clutch. -- (This was taken before I added the cpq eggs) YES she did lay some more and what was even more surprising she was incubating them Well one thing for sure there will definitely never be the patter of tiny feet from any of those eggs she has laid BUT what I have done is removed a few of her eggs and popped a few fertile eggs from my CPQ into her nest. So far she is still sitting on the eggs. One question I keep asking myself is WHY couldn't she have done this when her egg were fertile?? I have no idea if this was a wise thing to do but I'll keep you updated re the outcome. Emmy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SarahR 70 Report post Posted March 22, 2016 ........EGGS i sometimes have my CPQ incubate their eggs but usually give up about 10 days in instead of leaving the male in with her....why not try "section" mating.....put the male in with her for a couple of hours.....keep an eye on them and let them mate....then remove the male and repeat the process every day or every other day should provide fertile eggs and hopefully she might still incubate i'm waiting for my CPQ to lay again so i can hatch some eggs hope she hatches the fertile eggs hope to see pictures when they do Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emmy 528 Report post Posted March 22, 2016 I reckon Suzy would get killed if I did that not worth taking the chance think she has been through enough just hope if the cpq eggs hatch she wont notice the difference and after all she wont have the bother of feeding them, the chicks feed themselves all she will have to do is keep them warm. Emmy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SarahR 70 Report post Posted March 22, 2016 if it's only for a short time and supervised she should be ok but safety first haha try telling her there just miniature quail i think thats the best part of raising quail, they feed themselves Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clare L 175 Report post Posted March 22, 2016 Good Luck Emmy, hope she carries on for you Didn't know Quail chicks fed themselves, so they are self sufficient after hatching? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emmy 528 Report post Posted March 22, 2016 Yes they are Clare but if they have been hatched in the incubator you have to encourage them to eat the seed and especially to drink( I usually tap the seed dish with my finger and the same with the water which is in a shallow dish with glass beads in it to stop them from drowning. if its the adult bird that has incubated them the chicks copy the parents re the feeding (they get chick crumbs) The good thing is if the parent bird hatches them out you don't have to worry about putting them in a brooder its so comical to see them disappearing under the parents. She is still sitting on the eggs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clare L 175 Report post Posted March 22, 2016 Wow didn't know that, I was looking at Quails when I first put the aviary up, but never got them. Good job I didn't due to my rodent problems I have had, but when the new aviary eventually gets built they will be catered for. So good to know, from your experience what to do, another reason to hurry up and get it built Sadly won't be completed this year, my garden is a bog so no work can be carried out until it has dried out, need a nice hot summer And I have had an horrific quote for a base £3.5K, don't think so some how. thats almost my entire budget. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SarahR 70 Report post Posted March 23, 2016 it's funny watching them in the brooder too! sooooo many times i thought one or about 5 had died.....nope.....they were just sleeping i used to tap the food dish to trick them into eating, also repeated for the water £3.5k for a base?!?! i spent £150 on mine, hard labor on my part but got it done concrete slabs and concrete only problem i have is slugs.......but i dont feed my birds on the floor so not really a problem how big is your aviary going to be clare? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emmy 528 Report post Posted March 23, 2016 2 hours ago, SarahR said: sooooo many times i thought one or about 5 had died..... Had to laugh at that I did too think a chick had died - the chick was lying on its side head and legs stretched out and I got a fright when I went to remove it from the brooder when it suddenly jumped up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SarahR 70 Report post Posted March 23, 2016 haha, i swear they are like zombies the only bad thing about keeping them in a brooder is the mess! Who knew a bird could poop so much!!! They are great birds to hatch.....if you have the patience to clean them out about 5 times a day Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
