Quail Vid and Pix

Here are some pictures I just took of the quail. It appears we have 2 different kinds. Two (a girl and a boy, we think) have some dark/black markings on their chest. The third (a girl, we think) has mostly a brushed-brown chest. That brown one has an injured brown eye, which I don't remember seeing yesterday. I noticed she was scratching her head so she probably did it to herself.

Above is a picture of the two eggs. The white speckled egg showed up at 9 p.m. yesterday (they'd been here for about 4 hours by that time). The brown one was there this morning at 5:30 when I went out to pack Hubby's lunch box. Wonder which girl produced which egg?

The above pic is the brown girl (we are pretty sure it's a girl). She's the one with the injured left eye. You can see the right eye here ... she's trying to sleep! Look how plump she is, and how her chest looks like brushed-brown feathers.

This next pic is the other girl (like I said... we think!). She has darker markings on her chest, almost like quills on a porcupine. She looks nice and fat, doesn't she. The 3rd quail looks like this one, but thinner. From what we understand, thinner means male. He's very active, which is why there's no pic.

The above pic is the two girls.... the brown one on the left, and the darker porcupine-like on the right. See her black markings on the chest? It should be more obvious on the video.

Here's the video I took today ... wanted to run it through youtube first! To view with my typed comments, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjQw1dDFkGo

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I have a comment. I've spent the last 24 hours or so researching online, trying to get enough information about quail so that I don't kill these critters. When do they sleep? Are they nocturnal? What sounds do they make? How do they mate? Will a bobwhite mate with a jumbo brown (two different "sub-breeds")? Can I grow enough food to feed them without buying stuff at the store? How can I get them to hatch their own eggs? What color eggs go with what sub-breed? Why do they pop-up flying even if they see a low ceiling on their cage and know they will bonk their heads and possibly die? Can the quail be butchered in a kitchen and dressed (prepared for cooking, getting rid of the guts and feathers, etc.) without making a mess? What's the best stuff (hay, newspaper, etc) to put on their slide-out poop pan? How often should the poop-pan lining be changed? What kind of a nesting box would encourage brooding, and if I can make it, what size and out of what materials? What's the best way to hold them? Catch them? Examine them? How can they be sexed? Do they peck people with their beaks? Can they be trained to sit on a finger (Kid question)? Can they be taught anything (same)? What's the average incubation time? Temp? Method? After hatching, what then? How long do we have to get the egg in the fridge or incubator from the time we find it? Why shouldn't quail be moved a lot? Should they stay in the same cage where they were hatched? How can I tell if an egg is fertilized? What temperatures do they flourish at? Can they handle drafts and freezing temps? Can they handle the heat of a loafing shed or barn? Why do they lay eggs just anywhere? How can I devise a system for them to roll forward to be caught to be collected twice a day? Why do some breeders take fertile eggs, place in room temp for 4 days, then place in the incubator on the fifth day? What is a wet bulb?

See? So many questions and so few answers.

I'm going to continue to research, by reading and observing, and I'll write up my findings. Meanwhile, if you have questions OR answers, please post them here! I'll give you credit in the final writing/work. Thanks. Vikki