I love to hear a Bobwhite Quail in the evening, but it has been years since I have heard them. So I recently purchased some Bobwhite Quail eggs and put them in our incubator. I’ll say early on that quail are not easy to raise – the hatch rate is low and so is the survival rate.
This batch of quail has been no exception. The hatch rate was barely higher than 50% and I’ve lost close to half of the chicks in their first six days of life. A baby quail is so tiny. Its body, not counting the fluffy feathers, is smaller than the first joint of my thumb. The eggs aren’t much bigger than a marble. I thought I was going to lose one more chick today as I found it lying on its side and kicking. It couldn’t get up and walk. I decided to try something different to help this chick.
Wow! I am amazed at the difference a little bit of time made in this tiny chick’s life. It seemed to me that this little chick needed help in strengthening the right muscles and getting a better grasp for how it feels to walk. So I held the little chick in my hand for a while forcing it to stand on its feet. After about 15 minutes or so, I put it by itself in our older incubator with the straight sides and wooden base and watched to see what might happen. I was amazed to see the chick stand for a little while and take a few steps before it toppled over. I helped it get back on its feet several times and made sure it found the water, as I’m sure it was probably dehydrated from not being able to get around. The chick then leaned against the wooden sides of the incubator to help it stand, and it followed it around from side to side.
The tiny chick peeped constantly. I believe it was lonely for the other chicks, as quail like many of our feathered friends thrive in flocks. I put one other chick with it so it wouldn’t be alone. The first one I put with it pecked at it, so I put that one back and got another one. When I checked back later, I was happy to see both chicks moving around quite well. If the previously lame chick hadn’t been pecked on earlier by the other chicks, I doubt I could tell which chick had been lame.
I can imagine many parallels between my little chick and a child with a disability or with low self esteem. What can we do to help our children get a glimpse of what success feels like?
Encouraging words are so needed by many children. I know because I was one who grew up with very low self-esteem. I remember the rejection of classmates at an early age. I even had a teacher who made me sit in her lap and called me a baby quite often. I was a prime target for that thanks to un-diagnosed A.D.D. Living in a family with two working parents and little parental supervision and intervention meant my siblings and I picked on one another with seldom a thought of building one another up.
We need to be intentional in choosing to reach out to children and youth, even adults sometimes, who have problems in building healthy relationships with others.
Of course, the ultimate goal is to introduce them to Christ, the great healer. But before they will listen to what we want to say about Spiritual matters, they have to know we genuinely care about them. Who needs your encouragement today?
wow I own quails myself, me and my brother put 6 quail eggs in the incubater but only two hatched 1 boy 1 girl both english white cotournix they were both happy qails untill 1 got attacked by 3 magpies after that we kept the quail that survived inside btw she wasnt injured at all but the male quail had passed away :(. after a week we bought her some new companions one male quail and two other female quails but one day one of the female quails (that we bought) attacked the male quail (that we bought) and his head got sevierly innjured we brang him inside and treated him and to my surprise he actually healed so we put him outside again but separated from the two female quails we bought but we kept the quail we hatched ourselfs with him a few days went by and we realised he wasnt looking so good and his poo had gone green too (bacteria had entered into his body bc of his injury) we kept him inside and we fed him he gained some weight but suddenly he started loosing weight although we fed him and sometimes he would try to eat and drink him self some times he would make little squeeky noises as if he was sneezing and bubbly spit would come out and sometimes he would puke out some of his food we tried everything we could but his time had ended he first puked out some of his food his legs stoped working all of a sudden we tried feeding him then he started panting for air then he passed away 🙁 now ie kept the quail we kept with him inside with me and we are looking to buy a new mate for her
Whew! You’ve had some tough experiences with your quail. I hope your flock settles down and all will accept each other.
When raising quail always start with game bird chick starter and run through a blender to make the crumbles to pretty much powder. Spread the powder for newly hatched chicks to peck on. Change bottom paper in brooder out every couple of days. Do not use newspaper, as it’s too slick for chicks to stand on. I personally use paper towels, but I think puppy pads would work as well. My set up is small scale, but I’ve been very successful and mortality rate after birth is at least 99% to no losses after learning to make started into powder until birds are feathered.
Thank you for this helpful information. I’m no longer raising quail, but it may help someone else who finds this post.