Broody Chinese Painted Quail

Hi all!
Both Charley and Martha are doing very well now that they are getting the correct nutrition... Martha has been laying pretty much everyday as well. They're very in love
Every evening they like merge into one big quail with two heads. It's adorable to see. They use the sand bath together... Looking like they're having the time of their life!
Martha had stopped laying for a while - which I thought was normal, a bit like my bantams who only lay in the warmer weather, from March approx. So anyway I wasn't checking for eggs anymore until last Saturday when I was giving them a treat of mealworms and saw that there were at least 5 eggs in the little hut where Martha always lays her eggs. And then Sunday evening, my daughter pointed out that she'd not seen Martha all day, she'd been in her hut, looking big and in a nest like construction. There's some wood shavings, wood chips and sand in the bottom of the cage and she's made a well inside the hut. She's been sat on her eggs since then and has not come out yet... So in about 13 days, we may well have some tiny chicks... Charley has been calling her, but when he comes anywhere near the entrance she makes a strange noise, raspberries blowing like, and he goes away again. I feel a little sorry for him, as he must feel lonely. Bernard, our canary who lives in the same big cage comes often to the ground level and stays next to him, chirping away lol.
The possibility of having tiny chicks worries me a little, because I haven't got the faintest what to do! Do I need to protect them from Charley? From Bernard? How will they get fed? What do they eat?... So many questions!...

hi Sandrine, what wonderful news to start our day! They sound like a lovely pair.
If she goes on sitting you should get a small bag of chick crumb, which has tiny granules, for the babies to eat. This is perfectly suitable for the parent birds as well because it's high in protein, so even if the chicks don't eat it all you can add it to the adult rations to use it up. And keep feeding the mealworms - you can crumble them a bit for the chicks. Also a very shallow little dish of water with some pebbles in it, to avoid the danger of the weeny little chicks drowning in a deeper drinker - unless you've already fitted a cage bird drinker with a little lip that projects through the wire, which is better as it stays cleaner and keeps the babies dry. Is the cage indoors? I was just wondering about overnight temperatures, what are they like at the moment? I wouldn't worry about Charley or Bernard - it sounds as if they're well under Martha's control - just keep an eye on the family.
It is quite rare for quail to hatch in captivity, so you will be very lucky if she does actually stay the course, but we shall be waiting for developments, good luck!

Thank you Marigold for the great advice!

She came out a little this morning and did a little dance, a stretch, and a quick feed and back to the nest she went! So this day 4 at the moment.
The cage is indoors yes, so temperatures are ok - outside it goes to freezing or below freezing at night.
At the moment I use a mini drinker for them, but I do have a drinker like the one you described too. So I could switch back to this when the time comes.

Thanks again, and I will keep you updated

The main advantages of a lip drinker are that the chicks can't get wet or cold by walking in it, but also that the bedding stays dry, thus helping to prevent coccidiosis arising from wet bedding laced with quail poo in a warm environment.

Oh I see! Very interesting I will definitely make the swap over if she decides to carry on sitting,... I think I may have gotten excited a little prematurely because she has been out of the hut more often today... Either Charley's courting call was too strong for her to resist (she's not exactly played hard to get when Charley chased her) or (judging by the amount of stretching and dancing she is doing) it was like too much hard work,... She still goes back in but I doubt we will have a successful hatching day at the end of it... We will have to see...

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Ln7c0gIx83U[/youtube]

Martha is still sitting ?...

Lovely! that looks a really nice nestbox for her.

https://youtu.be/h9FvyDdOvZ8

What a fantastic video! I make that 8 eggs, is that right? Such busy little birds- and their plumage is in such good condition now. thank you for showing this.

You're welcome ?
Well Martha is still sitting... That will be 18 days now, so 2 days overdue... I really don't think anything will happen on the hatching front. I am considering getting fertile eggs for her in case the ones she's sat on weren't actually fertile (no disrespect meant ro Charley! ). Would it be a good idea?

Well, at least you know she is able and interested to stand the course!
The usual advice with hens is to remove the infertile eggs, break the bird of being broody and give her a rest from all that sitting to let her hormones return to normal and let her put the weight back on which will have been lost whilst not feeding normally and being inactive for so long. Then provide more eggs if required when she goes broody again a few weeks later. I don't know if you feel the same would apply to quail, but if you did give her a break and then she went broody again once back in lay, you could add eggs at that point. The light and warmth would be better also, as the Spring advances.

Hi Marigold,

Thank you for the advice, I think I would agree with you since this is what I would normally do with my bigger girls (the bantams), I think it's fair to say that Martha would probably benefit from the same treatment.

I waited a few more days just in case, and the eggs were definitely not going to hatch. I don't know why it didn't work, perhaps she was having too many breaks some of the days? The fact that they are so opaque that it's impossible to candle did not help as I could have stopped her a little earlier. But hey, like you said, at least I know she's willing to sit on them for as long as it takes.

It took her less than a day to be back to normal,... They are currently sat together (outside of the little huts) all cooped up together as if we have only one quail with two heads It's lovely to watch them actually. Charley was definitely happy to see her out of the nest, and he celebrated with his courting dance! I don't think Martha was all that impressed though! ahahah

So I shall now wait until she starts laying and get a few additional hatching eggs when she decides to sit again. I will be getting a small incubator next week as well, so at least I will have a back up.

I have been thinking of checking the eggs I "pinched" for fertility (i.e. just in case they were fertile but Martha's inexperience might have been the cause for the failure), but apart from cracking them,... I am not sure how else I could check them,... I might just leave it alone lol by the way, you were correct Marigold, 8 eggs!

I will try and post more photos / videos in a few days time on a different thread to show the 2-headed quail

Hi Sandrine, I'm glad she's back to normal and Charley is happy. i'll be interested to hear of any developments in their love life.

Well... It didn't take long! She stayed out with Charley a few days, not laying. They spent a few nights together looking like one quail with two heads again lol . Then Martha started laying again and after about 3 days of laying she was back in the hut, sitting on the eggs! Not 100% sure on the date when she started but I'd say at least 10 days ago. So Charley is getting clearly annoyed again, but she's putting him in his place if it's not time for her daily break lol
I will let her sit on there for as long as it takes this time. I read somewhere that it is possible for eggs to take much longer to hatch than the usual time depending on the conditions like if it's too cold, too hot, too dry / humid... It's like they're only going to hatch when the conditions are just right.. will keep you posted!

Brilliant, what a lovely pair. Please keep posting!

I'm glad to report that Charley is much more patient this time round. He calls Martha every now and then but not as frequently as last time. He goes and sits or sleeps near the nest at night and in the day he gets the company of Bernard the Canary who seem to visit him more often. Martha is much more devoted to her eggs. She's not having as many breaks as what she did the first time round. So is well at the moment and a lot more peaceful than last time!

Here's a link to a short video that shows just how peaceful parenthood is in the quail household lol

https://youtu.be/9MYAqNTkQPo

He looks very healthy and happy, doesn't he?

Well well well... I thought Charley had somehow managed to escape as I couldn't find him.... But actually he seems to have taken paternity leave... He's also sat on the 9 eggs in the hut, with Martha.... This is quite charming! Lol
I attached a photo but it had to be a screenshot of the original because it was too large. So not sure how good this will be...

Poor lad, I expect he was lonely. What a little sweetie!

or he knew something was about to happen......

https://youtu.be/G5ldptai8ss