moving quail eggs???

[coco23]

Can i move the quail eggs that have been laid randomly across the aviary floor into the nest where the rest have been laid so that i can clean the floor n move around without squashing eggs??
I have read that if you make sure your hands are warm and clean its not an issue since they roll the eggs around anyway for the first week or so until they are finished laying then put them all together and that people remove them to raise in incubatiors or by anohter hen. I really cant wait another week or so to clean or Im risking infection in my finches that are housed with them..
PLEASE HELP ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

[Jayburd]

sorry coco, but it'll have to drive you nuts a bit longer...
touching eggs is about the worst thing to do, especially i they are first-time parents. Later, if they trust you you can move later clutches, but not first ones... and if they don't like you, don't touch!
They will roll them there eventually themselves. If incubation starts and they haven't, then you can remove the eggs.

[Jayburd]

as for aviary cleaning, how long has it been?how dirty is it? I understand what you're talking about, but if it can wait 2 or3 days...
I also would NEVER promote the use of a spare hen or in particular an incubator for quails, already most jap quails have lost the instinct to sit on their eggs, and many king quails in Europe and the US too... please don't ;et it start here too!

[coco23]

Thanks heaps jayburd! the aviary isn't too bad so I'll leave it for a while longer and it looks like they are finally moving the eggs around so fingers crossed.. I've got 3 eggs in 4 days and they are being very busy in the nest so fingers crossed the rest of the eggs male it in there coz I'm a bit of a neat freak n don't like dirty cages lol

[Jayburd]

cool let's hope they do it quickly then
Glad you're a neat freak, too many backyard aviculturists clean their aviaries once a year... went to one of these people's place in november once (a month before the clean) and there were MOUNDS of poo...

[monotwine]

Interesting read. I have never experienced quails laying eggs randomly around the aviary. All the types and pairs I have kept make a nest and lay in the nest directly. Never knew they would roll eggs to a nest at a later stage (if I understand correctly).
When I first got quails I was advised to keep one pair alone without any extra hens as it would encourage them to settle, nest and not randomly lay. I followed the advice and have only ever had a pair.

[coco23]

Interesting read. I have never experienced quails laying eggs randomly around the aviary. All the types and pairs I have kept make a nest and lay in the nest directly. Never knew they would roll eggs to a nest at a later stage (if I understand correctly).
When I first got quails I was advised to keep one pair alone without any extra hens as it would encourage them to settle, nest and not randomly lay. I followed the advice and have only ever had a pair.

Apparently this is quite common for them to do and then when they are ready to start sitting they will roll them all together.. I honestly don't know though because I'm only new to quails as they aren't very easy to get up here but I'm learning alot from this forum and just from watching them for hours on end..

UPDATE: the male is moving them in the cover if darkness! Lol I just went out for a smoke n there he is trying to be so sly about it.. He and the female have spent the last 2 nights actually sleeping in the nest so I'm taking that as a good sign

[coco23]

Here's a new one... One of our quail breeders says even if the female doesn't sit the eggs will more than likely hatch as we have a nice constant temp of around 34 degrees and it's nice and humid so no different to an incubator as such.... I just don't believe it sorry... Any input? Lol

[Jayburd]

nup sounds unlikely to me.
good coco! they're getting there
Monique, king quails do not start their incubation until the last egg is laid.Often they also will not gather the rest of their eggs until the last egg is about to be laid either. I have not found any difference between pairs and trios except that trios make cock/hen fighting serious injuries/deaths much less likely.

[finchbreeder]

Have had King Quail for yearsssssssssssss. Think I have only ever had 1 who nest laid. Usual to spread them like confetti. Then roll them to the chosen nest. And not always all of them at that. Think the story about hatching with out sitting cause of your nice warm climate can be safely discarded as a furfy. Temp would not be sufficently uniform. Oh and I move mine when they are in too inconvenient a spot without a problem. So just clear the dirtiest 1/4 of the avairy. And that lets you have a bet each way. Don't put them in the nest just closer to it.
LML