button quails

[rosie and lucy]

I have been keeping a male and female pair of button quails since march. Last night I noticed that my female button quail was sitting in the same strange position as she was last night. When I fed them she moved and I noticed that she is actually brooding about five eggs!!! OK so I have done a little research and I know that I need to remove the male now because the female will attack him. Despite the fact that the cage really needs cleaning out (I do it every Thursday) I don't think I should because it will upset her. They live in a wire cage with news paper and wood shavings on the bottom. I don't know but I assume that this is not a good environment for tiny button quails to hatch into. I am completely lost and the internet is not very helpful. Am I right is assuming I shouldn't disturb the nest until they hatch? What do I do if they do actually hatch?

[Willard]

Try a google search, I have found tons of sites about hatching and raising button quails.

I was actually considering ordering some eggs and trying myself...  If only I could find some adults around here...

Most seem to use incubators as a hen raising an egg herself in captivity is apparently fairly rare.


Oops forgot to check the date on that post.  Oh well.  =)