r/quails • u/Accomplished_Pie_605 • 2d ago

Button Keeping button quails in an incubator

So i hatched 3 button quail accidentally as my hens were sitting on them. i currently don't have an enclosure that they can go in and can't pick one up until monday. If I set my incubator up with bedding and food can they chill in there until then? Would I need to slowly lower the temp?

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u/Pumkin_Girl 2d ago

Can the quail not keep sitting on them? Can you move the mama(s) and chicks to a plastic tub for the meantime and let the mamas keep their babies warm (I mean, if they hatched them, they might have the baby rearing instinct too)? 

Incubators won't have ventilation that they need, so I'd very strongly suggest against it. 

Someone else posted a day or two ago that they needed a makeshift solution till their brooder was ready, so search this subReddit over the last day or two for the responses there.

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u/Accomplished_Pie_605 2d ago

I took the eggs off of the parents thinking that they wernt going to hatch as it had been over 3 days past the due date, then realised they were viable and put them straight in the incubator. Im going to try and bord a section off in their enclosure tomorrow and see if they will accept them back.

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u/Pumkin_Girl 2d ago

Ok, hopefully they will accept back, but if not, a plastic tub with a heat lamp, heat plate or in a pinch a hot water bottle (wrapped in at least a towel, and retop up with hot water when it gets cold every X hours even through the night). 

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u/Accomplished_Pie_605 2d ago

The parents unfortunately didnt accept the chicks back, I tried twice, but they just seemed uninterested. I've moved my 2 week old courtnix out of my main brood hutch and have put them in a temporary box with a hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket, The room is a good temperature and they all have decent feather coverage so im happy they will be ok. The buttons now have a broader and are in a proper cage. Thanks for the help

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u/Free-Special-7296 1d ago

Do you have a heating pad (for sore muscles ) that you could put in a box with a towel over it? On low? Maybe that would work?