Quail project: Week One!

A few weeks ago I decided to try something new for me: to raise quail under a broody hen! I decided to write a weekly report of the project, and post it on the blog if it worked out. I suppose you could say this is a new turning point for the blog: from now on it will be about quail also (although still mostly about chickens)! There are going to be at least 7 weeks in total, and I will be publishing a post a week so you can follow the project! Here is the report from week one:

Week One

So Nutmeg has gone broody again (see the post about broodies)!

I finally decided to hatch something... but it couldn't be chickens because I haven't got the space for cockerels.. or more hens for that matter (I currently have 6).

Quail?

I have been wanting to keep quail for years, I just never got round to it. I think they would be great birds for the garden, costing less to keep than chickens but laying nearly as many eggs (although the eggs are considerably smaller!). I did some research and discovered it really was possible to hatch Coturnix Quail under a bantam hen. After a lot of research, planning and thought, I decided to go for it!

The only species of quail I know you can hatch under bantam hens are Coturnix or Japanese Quail. These quail have been selectively bred into many different colours. These colours include:

• Standard (the wild, brown colour)
• Red Coturnix 
• Black Tuxedo
• Red Tuxedo
• Tibetan
• Texas A & M
• English
• Golden
• Italian

Settling my broody

Quail should not be kept in the same pen as chickens because quail are so small and delicate, so Nutmeg could not hatch and raise them in the normal coop. I decided to move her to a separate place where the quail could be safe from the other hens. In the end, I decided to use a cardboard box inside! I wasn't sure if she would take to this, so I gave her a week to settle in, and to check she was happy with it before ordering the eggs. It's now the end of the week and she is more broody than ever before! The eggs are meant to arrive tomorrow. Her broody box contains a thick layer of equinola bedding, and in one corner a big pile of hay, where she has made her nest. She is currently sitting on four infertile chicken eggs, and these will be changed when the quail eggs arrive. If you've got your hen outside I do not recommend using hay because this can get damp and can harbour dangerous fungi and bacteria. However, because she is indoors and it is dry, hay is fine.

Nutmeg sitting on her nest.
Credit: birdbrain99 (author)

It's extra important at this time to be sure she has no lice or mites. A good dusting of a suitable mite powder should do the trick, but also sprinkle some in the dust bath so she will do it herself.  Mites and lice can tell when a hen has gone into broody condition, and they will prepare so that they are ready to infest the chicks when they hatch. Mites on a chick can be fatal, so really make sure the mother has absolutely no mites or lice!

Nutmeg in her broody box.
Credit: birdbrain99 (author)

Advice on how to care for quail eggs is different from how to care for chicken eggs, so I will write about that next week. The advice about caring for chicken eggs on the posts about broody hens and eggs may not be relevant to quail eggs.