My organic, hen-raised quail is now raising her own chicks. Update 3 - Mother Quail
I was amazed by the way Ginger had accepted the quail chicks and they
had instantly warmed to her. During the day she continued to keep them
close and
was worried if they went over to the other side of the box.
She was
calling to them most of the day in a voice range I have never heard in a
quail before. I have probably mentioned that quail used to be
kept as song birds but that the whole strain of singing quail were wiped out in
the Second World War. Well I reckon Ginger could start a whole new race
of them. She also started to do the typical hen-like call to food but she
could do it simultaneously whilst making the low coaxing sound, which I interpret
as her way of reassuring them that she was there. The way her voice
modulates between contralto and alto and up to soprano is quite amazing.
For the quail chicks it must have been slightly confusing, as they had been used to Snow Queen and responded to her but they certainly picked up Ginger's voice patterns pretty quickly. On her time-scale the quail chicks had just hatched and as I had also given her one of her eggs, she kept everyone well clamped down. This was really important because although it was warm enough within the house, quail chicks always seem to feel fluctuations in temperature so much more quickly than hen chicks (other than Sebrights). I was also amazed at how much she was aware of perceived danger, these were obviously totally new surroundings to her and she had no idea whether she was in a safe area or not. She made the most incredible noises if the chicks went out of sight. They could easily do this as, to make her feel more at home, I had put edible greenery in the box. As the week has progressed she has begun to jump out of the box and then realise she is parted from the quail, then her voice rises to fever pitch!
Watching them together also solved a nagging problem I have always had, with regards to past experience of raising quail with a bantam, that of quail chicks burrowing down into the chicken's feathers and getting stuck and on occasions almost strangled. Well Ginger can move around the box and I never see the chicks move because she is carrying them. They obviously hang on or somehow attach themselves to her feathers but when she stops they can quickly release themselves. On occasions I have seen them fall out as she moves but it has been rare. Perhaps my using of Frizzles helped me in this because they could not attach themselves so well. However, I am so pleased to have witnessed this as it throws a whole new light on the problem, as it is a proactive and deliberate manoeuvre by the chick rather than, as I had thought, an accidental 'sticking' to the feathers.
Later on in her first day with the chicks I gave them ant eggs and she really enjoyed offering
them. She also got them to eat greenery, which Snow Queen hadn't and
they never made a squeak all day except their happy eating sound.
Tomorrow I am taking them out to the greenhouse if the weather permits
and am hoping to hear and see some new facet of quail and quail chick
bonding. I am so pleased that Snow Queen seems happy with her eggs which
maybe will hatch in a few days time and Ginger is totally overjoyed with
her quail chicks, of which she is the biological mother. I am convinced
that Fred was monogamous for the first week until Ginger turned against
him, so the chances are that some of the quail eggs under Snow Queen
may hatch.
And now, if you'd like to, sit back and watch the film:
Update:
None of the other eggs hatched, although Andy, who checked them, did think that one of them could have been fertile. As for Ginger, it's now seven weeks after hatch and she is still very much a mother, even though she stopped communicating verbally with them except at night, around the 31st of May thus two and a half weeks after hatch. Even so, one of the quail chicks still sleeps cuddled up next to her at night and Ginger takes interest in an individual chick's activities.
This has been a most interesting experience and one I
will love to repeat when I can get hold of a suitable male quail, which
at the moment seems to be a difficult task! Thanks for dropping by and if you
have enjoyed this piece and found it useful think about sharing it and
also maybe about joining this blog. Please also feel free to ask
questions or make comments in the section below.
Thanks so much for sharing!! I found the series to be wonderfully educational! I've been hoping to get my own quail to remember they are birds and also hatch out their own babies. :)
Hi Nichole, Thanks so much for your kind comments, much appreciated. This is still an on-going series and my next project is to build a sort of wild quail-type breeding environment in the same way as we have the forest garden for the chickens and pigeons. I was so happy this year to get my quail to sit and look after her own chicks and am hoping to go forward from there to learning more about their habits. I'm still not sure whether or not coturnix are monogamous by nature and how much the wild male would be involved in brooding, certainly the guarding of the nest seems to be important but my male never attempted to sit. There is so much more to learn! All the very best, Sue
Hi Barış, In my experience it is much more likely quail will start to nest and hatch their own chicks if you make their surroundings and environment as it would be in the wild. So, I suggest you plant bushes, tall grasses and make a dedicated sheltered site where they can make a nest. I am also convinced that quail are monogamous, so one male will form a pair with a single female but this will only happen when they have space and a natural environment. The female quail responds to the male call or song, this encourages her to start building a proper nest and laying eggs in it. You could also try to encourage her by making a depression in the ground, ideally under a shady plant and placing a couple of quail eggs in it, this should attract the quail and make her believe it is a safe site and a good place to nest. You should also leave the eggs in the nest, once she has started laying, as birds can count and they will know if one is missing! She will stop laying and sit on the eggs when she reaches an optimum number. You should then make sure that none of your quail are continuing to lay in the same nest, as by adding their eggs she will have too many to cover with her wings! So that is they key, the more natural the environment, the more natural the quail will become and the more likely to raise their own chicks. Also feed them a good supply of wild invertebrates such as beetles, earwigs, compost worms... these contain a protein/amino acid called methionine which is their natural food and prevents them from being jumpy and nervous as they often are in captivity on a grain diet. Hope this helps and I will be posting an article on my new quail breeding area soon. By the way, I visited you beautiful country when I was a child, it is a wonderful memory, such kind people and such amazing architecture. All the best, Sue
Hello Sue, Unexpectedly I have a broody quail. I'm wondering if it's important to remove the mother and chicks from the rest of the flock. Will the rest of the flock harm the chicks? The quail are in an outdoor aviary, though nothing as large as yours. I tried to put a very large cage over the top of the mother and eggs in order to protect them, but she was having none of it and refused to sit on the nest until I removed it. I'm afraid that removing her and the eggs to a separate cage will have the same effect. Unfortunately she's the most skittish of all of my quail. Do you have any advice? Thank you very much.
Hi there and congratulations on belonging to a very select club of people (and coturnix) who have achieved this! So there are no rules except what you can gather from observing your individual flock dynamic because it is their behaviour that will inform on everything. However, I can tell you how mine behaved, so that could be useful but as you write: my space is different but things did happen in line with the two academic studies I read (these are the only ones I found) as to reiterate this is an extremely rare occurrence and there is very little written material. So is your broody quail pair bonded with your male and do you have just one male in your flock? I found that the male guarded the female on the nest when pair-bonded but she did start to chase him away at one point and he had no hand in bringing up the chicks. Other females of mine seemed to have a bond with the broody quail or at least with the nest, one female (a friend of the bonded male) guarded the nest too and other females seemed to have been involved in laying in the nest. My broody quail did not chase them away. In the academic studies and I can confirm from my own observation, if you have another bonded pair you should remove them as they are the ones who will cause territorial problems and thus stress in your flock. The fact that your broody quail rejects any sort of change to the nesting area I can also confirm. If you read through this article you will see how and why my experiences tell me there are absolutely 'no rules' https://holistic-hen.blogspot.com/2016/07/tips-and-strategies-for-hatching-and.html#.X0AAAncv6V5 As you will gather from this article, both ourselves and the quail are in unchartered territory. One thing though - keep everyone's invertebrate quota up because aggression and nervous behaviour, I have witnessed, time and time again, is related to amino acid, mineral and vitamin deficiencies- in which invertebrates are rich. However, a good quality home-raised hen's egg boiled will also be a good substitute. If your flock are well-nourished and emotionally stable, then they are less likely to resent newcomers, for me that is something proactive we can do - get the food and environment right. That your bird is broody, shows you have achieved this, so now it is just a matter of maintaining this for the others. Hope my ideas are of use and please make sure you write up and/or film your experience, they so help to promote natural non-caged quail keeping. This both encourages and helps the keepers and gives coturnix a much better chance with humans than they sadly usually experience. All the very best, sending a big hug to your mother-to-be quail and please do let me know if I can provide any more information and how things work out, Sue
Thanks for dropping by and if you
have enjoyed this piece and found it useful think about sharing it and
also maybe about joining this blog. Please also feel free to ask
questions or make comments in the section below.
Thanks so much for sharing!! I found the series to be wonderfully educational! I've been hoping to get my own quail to remember they are birds and also hatch out their own babies. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Nichole, Thanks so much for your kind comments, much appreciated. This is still an on-going series and my next project is to build a sort of wild quail-type breeding environment in the same way as we have the forest garden for the chickens and pigeons. I was so happy this year to get my quail to sit and look after her own chicks and am hoping to go forward from there to learning more about their habits. I'm still not sure whether or not coturnix are monogamous by nature and how much the wild male would be involved in brooding, certainly the guarding of the nest seems to be important but my male never attempted to sit. There is so much more to learn! All the very best, Sue
DeleteHello I'am Barış. I am from Turkey.I do not have my quail hatchery. My quail that I do not brood. What should I do for it
DeleteHi Barış, In my experience it is much more likely quail will start to nest and hatch their own chicks if you make their surroundings and environment as it would be in the wild. So, I suggest you plant bushes, tall grasses and make a dedicated sheltered site where they can make a nest. I am also convinced that quail are monogamous, so one male will form a pair with a single female but this will only happen when they have space and a natural environment. The female quail responds to the male call or song, this encourages her to start building a proper nest and laying eggs in it. You could also try to encourage her by making a depression in the ground, ideally under a shady plant and placing a couple of quail eggs in it, this should attract the quail and make her believe it is a safe site and a good place to nest. You should also leave the eggs in the nest, once she has started laying, as birds can count and they will know if one is missing! She will stop laying and sit on the eggs when she reaches an optimum number. You should then make sure that none of your quail are continuing to lay in the same nest, as by adding their eggs she will have too many to cover with her wings! So that is they key, the more natural the environment, the more natural the quail will become and the more likely to raise their own chicks. Also feed them a good supply of wild invertebrates such as beetles, earwigs, compost worms... these contain a protein/amino acid called methionine which is their natural food and prevents them from being jumpy and nervous as they often are in captivity on a grain diet. Hope this helps and I will be posting an article on my new quail breeding area soon. By the way, I visited you beautiful country when I was a child, it is a wonderful memory, such kind people and such amazing architecture. All the best, Sue
DeleteThank you
ReplyDeleteHello Sue,
ReplyDeleteUnexpectedly I have a broody quail. I'm wondering if it's important to remove the mother and chicks from the rest of the flock. Will the rest of the flock harm the chicks? The quail are in an outdoor aviary, though nothing as large as yours. I tried to put a very large cage over the top of the mother and eggs in order to protect them, but she was having none of it and refused to sit on the nest until I removed it. I'm afraid that removing her and the eggs to a separate cage will have the same effect. Unfortunately she's the most skittish of all of my quail. Do you have any advice? Thank you very much.
Hi there and congratulations on belonging to a very select club of people (and coturnix) who have achieved this! So there are no rules except what you can gather from observing your individual flock dynamic because it is their behaviour that will inform on everything. However, I can tell you how mine behaved, so that could be useful but as you write: my space is different but things did happen in line with the two academic studies I read (these are the only ones I found) as to reiterate this is an extremely rare occurrence and there is very little written material. So is your broody quail pair bonded with your male and do you have just one male in your flock? I found that the male guarded the female on the nest when pair-bonded but she did start to chase him away at one point and he had no hand in bringing up the chicks. Other females of mine seemed to have a bond with the broody quail or at least with the nest, one female (a friend of the bonded male) guarded the nest too and other females seemed to have been involved in laying in the nest. My broody quail did not chase them away. In the academic studies and I can confirm from my own observation, if you have another bonded pair you should remove them as they are the ones who will cause territorial problems and thus stress in your flock. The fact that your broody quail rejects any sort of change to the nesting area I can also confirm. If you read through this article you will see how and why my experiences tell me there are absolutely 'no rules' https://holistic-hen.blogspot.com/2016/07/tips-and-strategies-for-hatching-and.html#.X0AAAncv6V5 As you will gather from this article, both ourselves and the quail are in unchartered territory. One thing though - keep everyone's invertebrate quota up because aggression and nervous behaviour, I have witnessed, time and time again, is related to amino acid, mineral and vitamin deficiencies- in which invertebrates are rich. However, a good quality home-raised hen's egg boiled will also be a good substitute. If your flock are well-nourished and emotionally stable, then they are less likely to resent newcomers, for me that is something proactive we can do - get the food and environment right. That your bird is broody, shows you have achieved this, so now it is just a matter of maintaining this for the others. Hope my ideas are of use and please make sure you write up and/or film your experience, they so help to promote natural non-caged quail keeping. This both encourages and helps the keepers and gives coturnix a much better chance with humans than they sadly usually experience. All the very best, sending a big hug to your mother-to-be quail and please do let me know if I can provide any more information and how things work out, Sue
Delete