I keep chickens. I always have. I love the mix of pet and produce. The joy of hatching them, watching them grow and then interacting with them. The morning ritual of letting them loose, the call of "chick chick chick" and my Morning Coffee with them. They are just all round good animal friends.
Lately, however, I was inspired to try my hand at quail. This was brought on by a wild pair of Bobwhite that entertained us this Summer. A hen and rooster would circle the pen where my young chicks were growing out and I'd leave some scratch for them. Then we had some issues with a red-tailed hawk, and after a while we noticed only the little quail rooster survived.
I now free range my chickens, as they are almost mature, and when I do I leave the door to their run open for their return at the end of the day. This has lead to our little wild quail hopping inside and eating and drinking and just generally hanging out in the chicken run. It's rather funny as my domestic birds are off enjoying freedom and the wild bird is basking in the idea of captivity, plenty of water, food, and a protective barrier. Probably one, if he could puzzle it out, that would have saved his wife. The grass is always greener they say.
But, I digress, this interest in the quail got me looking into getting some quail eggs to hatch. I found, with research, that the Coturnix quail were the right way to go. They have the coloring of the bobwhite, but are a bit bigger, lay a larger egg and were bred for captivity.
The Coturnix Eggs are so beautiful and speckled and are the eggs you get if you pay top dollar at high end groceries.
Coturnix quail are actually a genus of six types of quail. I believe I have hatched either the harlequin or the Japanese. They four that hatched are still feathering out but we shall see. I was able to get a dozen of the native bob white quail eggs. They are smaller, white, and take 24 days to hatch as opposed to the mere 17 days for the Coturnix.
I am not sure if my incubator was not humid enough but after setting all the eggs only 4 of the coturnix hatched (i lost one the next day). And today, as it takes longer, only one little Bob white made it out of his shell. Here are the Coturnix hatching and you can see the unhatched still incubating white Bob White eggs in there.
I was happy today to see that one of the Bob White made it. He seems to be the only one. I feel rather bad as I am not sure how he will blend with the others, but I am hoping it turns out to be a female and I can raise her and let her go to possibly meet up with our sad little wild rooster quail. I don't know if they would come together or not.
As I had such a bad hatch I actually have another 24 Coturnix in the incubator now hoping to get a few more chicks as I would like a good 15 or so quail. They say the Coturnix quail can begin laying eggs as early as 6 weeks. If this is so it is amazing when one considers the months it can take for chickens to begin. Espeically the bantams, as I have, can take up to 9 months to begin laying. So it is funny to think the little quail I have just hatched might be laying before my Chickens I hatched this Summer.
Well, I will keep you posted and here is the little Bob White today, still a bit damp from his hatch. Being the only one, I have a feeling she will be spoiled as a pet, we shall see.
