I have started raising quail and have run out of room for the eggs in the incubator so I put some quial eggs with a hen that is sitting on her own eggs so far she seems to be taking care of the eggs.Do you think when the quail eggs hatch she'd notice any difference between her own and the quail babies? And after they hatch would it be safe to put them back in with the other quail when they got bigger or would they think they were chickens and would the other quail except them?
2006-07-14 16:42:22 · 7 answers · asked by hootinfun 1 in Pets ➔ Birds
One year we lost our power for three days, and I had a silky hen take care of chicks, pheasants, and ducks. She didn't care and kept them all warm.
Quail eggs are very small, and sometimes a fat hen can crush the eggs.
Chicken eggs will hatch out in 21 days, and I don't remember how long the quail eggs take. The problem with having different kind of eggs hatching out under a hen is that she will get up within a day to take care of the babies that hatched out. The other eggs will get cold and die.
Candle your eggs when they are a week old by using a flashlight when it is dark out. If the egg is clear or you can only see a shadow, it is the yolk and is infertile. A baby bird will have a dark spot where the heart start beating and will also have blood vessels developing. Maybe this can give you room in the incubator when the hen's chick hatch out.
Because quail are so tiny when they hatch out, you might want to keep just quail together. They can drown in a chick's waterer.
Keep similar sized quail together. It doesn't matter if they came out of different incubators or from a mother hen. They are very cannibalistic, so keep a close eye on them. That is why you have to keep similar sizes together.
The mother hen will probably try to take care of all of the babies, but sometimes the chicks don't recognize their different looking mom, and won't stay with her.
It is far better to try to get a hen to set on the eggs, then have them rot from being too old to set. Go for it and good luck!!!!
2006-07-14 17:10:46 · answer #1 · answered by Amanda J 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first off great idea improvising like that. Many Quail breeders have tried your method. The hen will raise the chickas as her own as they have a strong maternal instinct. The babies when you remove them will live and breed with other quail in the future, their insticts will take over.
2006-07-15 07:19:36 · answer #2 · answered by fatwhale90 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've heard of all sorts of critters that were placed under broody hens- from ducks, pheasants, geese to even a kitten and puppy. It appears chickens are diligent incubators and they'll watch over the babies no matter the species. I wouldn't worry. :-)
2006-07-14 17:15:34 · answer #3 · answered by white_ravens_white_crows 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The hen will take care of them , I don't know about giving them back you may have to be tricky and only give her 1 or 2 then watch and see .
2006-07-14 16:48:07 · answer #4 · answered by endofthetailbunnies 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have a broody hen, go for it.
And I don't think they'll have too much of a species confusion.
I would not leave them with the chickens, though. They're smaller, they may be abuse by the bigger birds as the grow.
2006-07-14 16:47:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The hen will probably be OK, but keep them away from other chickens and chicks. They might be likely to see them as weak and to small and thus attack them!
2006-07-18 07:40:54 · answer #6 · answered by heather k 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
had a friend who put a duck egg in with his chickens once. the mother hen thought the duck was hers.
2006-07-14 16:45:44 · answer #7 · answered by kaykib320 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋