My organically raised coturnix quail is broody and sitting eggs - Update

I should have remembered that nothing is ever that simple when keeping birds and in particular with our quail. Although I was very optimistic, I did have a nagging doubt about Ginger's choice of nest and nesting site,  seemingly rather makeshift, cramped and exposed. However, what eventually happened was totally unexpected.

Three freshly hatched eggs from Ginger's first nest!

On the eighth day of sitting, Ginger came out from behind the pallet shelving looking like she'd had a bad night, her feathers were ruffled and she seemed worried. If you have kept birds for any period of time and observed them closely, you will know that they are sentient beings and portray emotion vocally, facially, in body language and by behaviour. She ate her breakfast and remained out in the main area of the greenhouse and did not return to her nest after the usual 15 - 20 minutes. I decided to remain working in the greenhouse and observe her. After 30 minutes, I reached into the nest and removed four of the (presumed) remaining six eggs from the nest and put them under the Snow Queen. This, if you remember from my previous post, is the bantam Cochin I had prepared as back-up and who was already sitting some more of the other quail's eggs. Ginger did not return to the nest that morning, nor as far as I can tell, at any time later. So I was a bit miffed but pleased she had even made a first attempt and without a specially prepared safe nesting area! Furthermore I was so happy nothing had actually broken into the greenhouse, although, on checking, I found one of the original eggs was missing.

Then three days later I discovered a much more defined nest, it is actually called a scrape. This is made up of a shallow depression dug out in the soil, similar to that the quail make for sleeping but in addition, has bits of dried grass and straw pulled together from the surrounding area. I also noticed that the eggs were 'stored' pointed end downwards and partly buried in the soil. This nest had just three eggs and was hidden under the rosemary bush in exactly the same place as I had found a nest the year before. It seemed a very professional job! Rather than collect the eggs I left them and I am very glad I did as a couple of days later I decided to film them for my photo records and found a whole lot more..

 

..and not only that but as I was filming, this happened - pretty much a friendly but proprietary gesture by one of my other quail

..and then two days later, Ginger took charge and began to sit.

There are now thirteen eggs in all and Ginger only gets off the nest for a few minutes each day, just when she hears me open the door to bring some extra food. She is also well clamped down onto the nest, this is no mean feat as it is a large clutch, (most papers quoting an average coturnix clutch of 8 to 10 eggs).

Meanwhile, last night, the 13th of May, I was awoken and heard Snow Queen calling to chicks, it is a very obvious call. I went back to sleep almost instantly but this morning when I took her off the nest....

At the moment there are three chicks and my feelings are that these are from the four eggs I took from Ginger's first abandoned nest, as she was sitting a full two days before Snow Queen and we are now on the nineteenth day of what would have been Ginger's incubation. The chicks look like an English White and two Tuxedos but it is rather early to be certain.

I now have several questions and musings.

- the second nest (under the rosemary) is obviously a communal one, it filled up very quickly and there was that 'guarding' gesture by one of my other quail. According to research carried out by Orcutt and Orcutt*, domestic coturnix quail were observed to pair off and become monogamous during courtship, laying and brooding. Therefore, will all these eggs in the nest be fertile?

- the eggs I collected after Ginger had began to sit and put under Snow Queen, were also from quail other than Ginger, so ditto to the above.

- my understanding is female birds remain fertile from one male for at least ten days after mating. This is why, if I want to breed pure Polish, for example, I have to take my hens out of the communal forest garden and keep them away for nearly two weeks before pairing them with one of my Polish roosters/cockerels. It is now the tenth day since Fred went back home! 

- technically, even if Fred was monogamous and/or if some of the eggs in the second nest are Ginger's, we could still be expecting a further pattering of tiny claws?  

In the event that we have more chicks, I may decide to finesse them under Ginger and let another hen sit the clutch she is now incubating.

Stay tuned.

Now if you'd like to, after all the serious stuff, watch the film in super fluffy vision!

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.

All the very best,
Sue



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©  Sue Cross 2015


*

Orcutt Scott Jr, F. and Orcutt, A. B. (1976) 'Nesting and Parental Behavior in Domestic Common Quail', The Auk, Vol. 93, No. 1, January, pp. 135-141

Understanding Broodiness in Hens & How this helps in raising quail. Hatchng Quail Organically Part 4

Last year I raised another brood of quail chicks with a mother hen and although I made some films of the different stages of development and the joys, trials and tribulations, I have not yet found time to sit down and put the experience onto paper. I'm doing this now in the hope that it will be of use to those amongst you who have contacted me via this blog or my youtube site and others too, who like me would like to raise quail outside the convention of the incubator, wire cage and a cultivated grain diet. I'm going to try and share as much detail as possible but please do write and ask if you need any further information. 

Worth their weight in gold - organic quail eggs, our own.

Starting with the basics

Eggs

The two main factors contributing to the success of your hatch and the relative carefree nature of the experience are the quality of the hatching eggs and the nature of the broody. Let's take the eggs first. These, if possible should be from organic stock, a non-existent option in my case and I guess in that of many others, there being no such hatching eggs, or even quail available. Once you have built up enough bloodlines you will be able to breed from your own stock, a position I would have been in, if we had not suffered a bad predator attack the year before. The next best thing, is to find eggs from birds, who have been allowed some outside recreation, or are barn-bred and who have been raised on a non-medicated and non-GMO feed. If you can get organic quail eggs then you are very lucky and should not experience any of the nutritional deficiencies which will be dealt with in a later chapter.

Chicken

Mad                                                      Bad                           and Dangerous to Know

Bubble throwing herself whole-heartedly into the part. An interpretation unlikely to put her in a strong position for the role of Mummy quail.


The idea of 'a' broody hen is a simplified human interpretation of what is a complex and recurring phase in a bird's life. From all my observations of hens in various stages and states of broodiness, I have come to the conclusion that there is, in fact, no such creature as the above. This is of tantamount importance when choosing the right hen for the job and so in the following paragraphs I'm going to try and break-down exactly what I have observed and I will follow it up with a film showing various examples of broodiness and how this impacts upon and informs my choice. Firstly though, I would like to stress that if you are embarking on raising quail or chicks for the first time you should furnish yourself with a back-up broody in case of problems. That said, in my first ever quail hatch some 12+ years ago I did not  have that option and I did manage to get around the problem but then with quail flexibility is all.

Why do hens go broody?   

Understanding even just part of this is the key to not making mistakes in hatching and brooding quail. There are, according to my own observations and I can have eight to ten broodies at any one time in my flock, many reasons for a hen to go broody. I'm sure I haven't figured out all of them but the following are to me the obvious ones. 

It might seem logical that because of the precocial nature of quail and their high level of activity, a younger mother might be the best suited but a young broody may have ulterior motives...

To a young hen, or one low in the pecking order, being broody gives status, which it may otherwise take her months or even years to attain. The broody hen and even more so, the mother of chicks, is revered by the whole flock. She has priority at the food bowl and in the case of a garden with several flocks, like our own, has a right of passage through all territories. Her protective and often aggressive behaviour seems to instil fear into the heart of all but the most self-possessed of cockerels or perhaps it is the instinct poultry seem to have that these chicks are their future. In all my years keeping poultry, I have only had one cockerel, an Ardenner, who has ever challenged the dominant position of a hen with chickens. Motherhood brings out the monogamy in many cockerels and in particular if they have an inkling that the chicks could be theirs.

Although a young hen will go broody for improved status, that does not mean she will actually want to carry it through to full motherhood. You should be aware that her thinking may also be influenced by another reason for sitting eggs and that is to get away from the attention of cockerels.

In Spring a young cockerel's fancy turns to chickens...

Having a forest garden setting for my hens and with a rather laisser faire attitude to my birds, I can end up in Spring with a few unplanned chicks, some of which will by the law of averages and I believe, the influence of seasonal temperatures, may be male. I have four flocks in the garden and a good spattering of males, these live in harmony with each other and the hens but the arrival of new cockerels at maturity can cause some problems. Even if you do not have a similar establishment, the influence of any type of aggressive behaviour, whether from a male or female in the flock, can have a tendency to promote broodiness as a way of physical and mental escape.

Older males within the flock have a côterie of females or a favourite hen and in general all the hens and cockerels in my garden are paired off. This means that any new intake of cockerels finds itself marginalised as far as l'amour is concerned and spends a lot of time running after mostly younger females. The latter are targeted because, unlike older and more experienced hens, they are often for whatever reasons, unprepared to fight for their honour. This can trigger a rash of broodiness among a younger flock, which can however exacerbate the problems. The cockerels become opportunists, jumping on the sitting hens but a good dominant cockerel soon puts a stop to that!

Broodiness, like dust-bathing or yawning in humans, seems to be something which tends to 'go  through' a flock, so with the younger hens you really need to be sure it isn't just a passing fad.

For the older hens, the two above reasons should also be considered when choosing a broody. However, in addition some of them are serial sitters, after all if you are sitting you are not expected to do much else. Over the years my comportment has taught my hens that I'll bring breakfast and dinner 'in bed', take them indoors to a nice cool room in the heat of Summer and install them in an individual hay-filled cardboard box. Hens aren't stupid and they have good memories. This does not matter if they are intent on seeing the thing through but some hens are actually just keen on sitting. They do not under any circumstances intend to or expect to have the onerous task of bringing up chicks. Only experience of the individual hen sitting full-term and coping with a hatch and the aftermath of many weeks of hard work will tell you this about your hen... and for quail this is going to be extra, extra hard work.

Next time I will look at the types of hen I have chosen to raise quail and the specific characteristics needed, with five individual case studies. Until then I leave you with this film I made about broodiness and which will introduce you to some more of my flock. To access Part 5 of hatching and Raising Quail Organically with a Mother Hen click here

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to comment, ask questions and/or share your own experience of broodies.

All the best, Sue
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© 2014 Sue Cross