King Quails

[mrsuper]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this or not.

My King quails have been having trouble breeding

I have had 2 pairs of quails 1 pair for around 2 years. This 1 pair always laid eggs around 8 - 10 at a time but they never hatched she built a brillant nest she sat on them all day but never hatched. Then one day the hen quail died and her partner followed

So we got another pair but they are doing the same thing! they lay 8 - 10 eggs but never hatch

They live in an avairy in the back yard have plenty of nesting matierial and make good nests, they lay there eggs on concrete ground but a nest under the eggs its in plenty of shelter, i just don't know why they never hatch.

Is our avairy cursed? our have you been unlucky with getting quail pairs

I will get photos of them later.

[Rahni]

If the mother is sitting on them, it may be that they aren't fertile. Have you ever tried candling the eggs? This is where you put a torch underneath the egg in a dark room, if the egg is clear then it is infertile, if there is a dark spot or it is totally dark (this is when the baby will be close to hatching), then it means its fertile. Google "egg candling" for more info and pictures.

[mrsuper]

Oh wow we have never tried that but we arn't really experts on birds :) we just like watching them.

Dad had cleaned out a batch of the eggs she just had a few days ago as they were over a month old. So she should lay some more some enough and i will check them and get back to you

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/IMG_0113.jpg

That is where they are nesting by the way just in half a hollewed log on the bottem of the avairy

[Rahni]

That's great, they've picked the best spot for sure!

[WhiteRaven]

Hmm... that is interesting. So she is certainly sitting on them but they don't hatch? That's a really nice little place for a quail nest too. :)

With quails, they are polygamous so don't neccasarily need to be paired off. Infact, having multiple females to one male will give a single hen a break from being chased around and you will have a larger chance of having a successful clutch raised. But having just one male and female is fine too.
Just don't keep multiple males together when females are present. :)

Most females will not actually sit on their eggs, instead they will lay them everywhere, or even in one place which may look like a nest but she will have no interest in sitting on them. It is the uncommon individual who decides to nest and hatch her young (certainly not rare, just not the usual). Sometimes a female won't nest for a year or more and one day decide to raise a family.

Having plenty of hiding spots like you seem to have certainly helps encourage them. But if she is certainly sitting on them but nothing is hatching, then I'm not sure what to do about that. Sorry. >_>

They are great little birds though aren't they.

[mrsuper]

Originally Posted by WhiteRaven

Most females will not actually sit on their eggs, instead they will lay them everywhere, or even in one place which may look like a nest but she will have no interest in sitting on them.

Well in the small part of the avairy where they used to live they were laying in 2 spots, but now they are in a bigger part they seem to only lay in 1 spot

So i will ask dad if we can get another male and i will see what he thinks.

And the quails are the funniest things to watch, in the summer time when there are a lot of bugs around they will run all over the cage chasing bugs

[mrsuper]

Originally Posted by mrsuper

So i will ask dad if we can get another male and i will see what he thinks

i mean female

[WhiteRaven]

Originally Posted by mrsuper

So i will ask dad if we can get another male and i will see what he thinks.

And the quails are the funniest things to watch, in the summer time when there are a lot of bugs around they will run all over the cage chasing bugs

If you are getting another male, just make sure you don't put it with your existing male and female otherwise the males could kill each other. EDIT: Lol, just saw your edit. Nevermind. :D

My quails do they same, they run all over the place trying to catch bugs that have flown in. :D They are very cute birds. :)

[sailorkelly]

How are things going?