quail update
Jul. 16th, 2007 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kirkcudbrightRecall that we got 10 mail-order bobwhite quail eggs, and divided them between the two broody bantam hens.
Millie is a mille-fleur d'Uccle, who likes to sit in one of the two nest boxes in the coop. Unfortunately, this is the same nest box that Penelope, the big Rhode Island Red, insists on laying her eggs in. We tried to move Millie to the other nest box, but she abandoned the eggs for her familiar nest. What with one thing and another, five eggs became four, then three, then (mysteriously) two. OTOH, there haven't been any of the big RI eggs for a few days, and Penelope's usually a very consistent layer, so Millie may have been eating the big intruder eggs.
Thistle is a white silkie, who had already taken to nesting outside the coop, in the enclosed run. Her five eggs have only shrunk to four, and she's been positively devoted to them, sitting 24x7.
We candled all the eggs tonight. (Shine as bright a light as you can get through the shell, and look for signs of organization and life. Veins and opaque masses are good, especially if they're moving.) One of Thistle's four is either infertile, or otherwise failed to develop. OTOH, her three remaining eggs are more developed than Millie's, probably due to more devoted brooding.
So we should get five chicks, with Thistle's three possibly this weekend, and Millie's two several days behind.
Millie is a mille-fleur d'Uccle, who likes to sit in one of the two nest boxes in the coop. Unfortunately, this is the same nest box that Penelope, the big Rhode Island Red, insists on laying her eggs in. We tried to move Millie to the other nest box, but she abandoned the eggs for her familiar nest. What with one thing and another, five eggs became four, then three, then (mysteriously) two. OTOH, there haven't been any of the big RI eggs for a few days, and Penelope's usually a very consistent layer, so Millie may have been eating the big intruder eggs.
Thistle is a white silkie, who had already taken to nesting outside the coop, in the enclosed run. Her five eggs have only shrunk to four, and she's been positively devoted to them, sitting 24x7.
We candled all the eggs tonight. (Shine as bright a light as you can get through the shell, and look for signs of organization and life. Veins and opaque masses are good, especially if they're moving.) One of Thistle's four is either infertile, or otherwise failed to develop. OTOH, her three remaining eggs are more developed than Millie's, probably due to more devoted brooding.
So we should get five chicks, with Thistle's three possibly this weekend, and Millie's two several days behind.
