In reply to Nikki James. Hi Liz. I’m not sure if you’ve had a chance to look at the message above yet, but our girl is still no better today. We are continuing with the regime of giving her water and food. She liked some melon seeds yesterday evening and so today I bought some sunflower seeds for her. She has had a couple of grapes, the seeds and some meal worms – having turned her nose up at the pasta and egg today! Her comb is still red but she is so wobbly on her feet and when she does walk it is more of a waddle. She is still sleeping loads. She is managing to get herself up on to the perc ..read more

Hi Liz. I’ve found your advice invaluable over the last 18 months and I’m hoping you can help again. We have a flock of 10 hens and a cock. On Wednesday I noticed that one of the girls didn’t get off the perch as usual when I opened up. We had to go out for the day and I figured she would get down when she was ready. When we came back she was out with the rest of the girls and I didn’t think any more of it. But the same happened Thursday and this time I had to make her get down. I watched her all day and she barely ate or drank and kept herself away from the others, usually hiding under a chai ..read more

In reply to Anna Rose Grandfield. Can you feel a fluid “sac” area in her abdomen? That is always the giveaway with water belly. If she doesn’t have that, it’s likely something else. Soft shell eggs can be caused by a lack of calcium so you can try offering some crushed oyster shells. If you give them a lot of treats or table scraps they could not be eating as much layer feed as they should which can also cause a calcium deficiency. The other common cause is stress – she could be sad from loosing her friend. Does you have other quail or is she alone now? They feel much better living in a group ..read more

Hi Liz, I have a quail who has lost the movement in her legs, she sits down on her tummy all day and I bring food and water to her. I am worried about water belly as I just lost another quail to it, she died while the vet was draining her. She is laying soft shell eggs but seems to be ok. Do you think she has the same does not seem to be breathing heavily ..read more

In reply to Susan Dalo. I do – but all my chickens are different breeds so the resulting chicks would be mixed breed. You can email me at liz@thecapecoop.com for more info ..read more

Hi, Do you sell fertilized chicken eggs ..read more

In reply to Liz. Thank you so much hopefully I will be successful ..read more

In reply to Luke. The only way they will take care of them is if you have a broody hen that has been broody for at least a couple weeks. If that were the case you could try to sneak the babies under her and she might think she hatched them (warning this doesn’t fool every bird, so be ready to rescue the chicks and raise inside if needed). Otherwise, they will definitely attack and possibly kill the babies. You can read more about letting a broody hen raise babies here: https://thecapecoop.com/hatching-eggs-with-a-broody-hen/ and you can read more about the safe way to introduce your new chicks ..read more

I am about to get 6 chicks and I have five fully grown hens, and wanted to know if they would raise the chicks and take care of them without harming them ..read more

In reply to Horses Alabama. I am so glad I could help ..read more