"You" said it would never happen !

[Reeves]

Everything I've heard & read said Valley Quail will not sit in captivity.

Well, my luck with all species of Quail & Pheasants that I've raised over the years sitting.....continues !

I have one Valley hen sitting on about a dozen eggs !

Now I hope my luck holds & she goes the distance !

[aKirA]

Yea but I bet you have her in a nice big roomy flight pen. ?;)

Im happy for you!

[CharlieHorse]

That's cool!

I've noticed that you've always seemed to have good luck with birds setting. I bet that you have a really nice flight/grow/whatever you callit pen. Just makes a bird feel at ease.

Good Luck

[Reeves]

Going to take some new pictures this afternoon. Not a sunny day though !
Weather chnl calling for 80% chance of rain. Sure looks like it. But this may be good, as the sun will not reflect on the wire.....

[Reeves]

Ya, I know the grass needs to be cut  But it is raining !
I built the Quail runs on the inside of the L shaped run for my Amherst. It is 12' x 12', divided down the center, giving each pair 72 sq. ft. In one pen are Dwarf Cedars, the other Dwarf Mugo Pine. In both are red & black Currant bushes.
The small hutch is 10' x 4', divided down the center. From the left is their inside part, each have 2' x 2', then the part covered with plastic to keep food dry, then a section for grit, then a sand bath, where they can exit to the run.
She is still sitting today !

[CharlieHorse]

Very Nice Reeves!  Do you have any problems with predators, dogs, cats, etc. bothering/scaring your birds? The reason I'm asking is because I had put metal roofing (up 2') all along the bottom of mine to keep the birds from getting spooked easily by other animals, plus the protection factor. Of course mine doesn't cover as much ground as your operation there and there surely isn't anything green growning inside it. Is that hen sitting outside or inside somewhere?

[Reeves]

You can see the 6' chain link I put up this year. I also dug in 3' of chain link around the bottom. This keeps out the bigger predators like Fox, Coyotes & (so far) Badgers, etc.
Our three cats do not seem to cause concern for any of my birds. They all seem to know they belong here.
However, a big orange tom was here before the chain link went up. Not one bird here liked it ! All would sound a warning.  I do not tolerate any feral (SP?) cat: it will never bother anyone again.

The hen is sitting inside the green part of the hutch, on the far side. The trick is to not move any eggs, or to bug her while in the "house". The only time I would look at the eggs, is while she is in the run.

I one time had a male Bob that got tired of waiting for his wife to go broody. So he hatched out a bunch & raised them all on his own ! Turned out to be a very good dad/mom as well !

My pens are the size they are due to them being mainly pets. If I was raising them like some people here I'd need a thousand acres with pens my size !

[CharlieHorse]

I got cha. That's why I was asking, because I was wondering how you always seemed to get birds to set with the bottom of pens being so open and no privacy. Now I see that you've got pens inside fenced in area to keep away the pests.  I remember you speaking of the broody male.

[Britton Howe]

I had a gambel set on her eggs once and all I had her in was a rabbit hutch. also had a cortnix sit on her eggs last year the only problem was she didn't have a mate. every year I have a least one pheasant sit and hatch her own.

[Ron]

Would the birds be more likely to set their own eggs with each generation? ie a coturnix sitting on her own eggs, would her young be more likely to sit on their eggs?


Ron

[Reeves]

It is my belief that they will.

[Reeves]

She is still at it ! Good girl !

[honda2hummer]

Does bobs set on their own eggs, or will I have to incubate them myself?
They will be in cages, not flight pens, don't have that?

[Reeves]

Very unlikely they would ever sit in those tiny cages.