It was April 2006, I was having a rough day, I do not know why, I just was. I did not want to get out of bed first of all. I have been wanting to sleep all day lately. It must be the gloomy Oregon weather we have been having. Raining everyday, cool days but wet. Walking to class was wet rat mess because I would just get up, get dressed and by the time I get to class, wet and soaked. The umbrella didn't help much. If I rode my bike, the wind and rain got me. Oregon weather was a musty rain as usual but walkable from the apartment. I was heading towards my Avian Embryology Lab at Dryden.
Now, Dryden Hall is an old building, the old Poultry building actually. Sadly there is no new poultry building. James Dryden was the head of the Poultry Department at the Oregon Agricultural College, which was renamed Oregon State University, for 14 years. He came to the college in 1908, having been selected by Dr. W. J. Kerr to head this department. There is another building called the Kerr Administration Building. It's actually quite entertaining how names come into play. James Dryden was renowned for his research which laid the foundation of modern poultry breeding science. He produced a the world's first 300-egg (a year) hen and the first hen to lay 1000 eggs in a life-time. One he named Lady McDuff but I do not remember how many eggs that hen laid. Dryden was credited in Oregon with starting the escalated commercial egg industry. This building has a lot of history behind it, however I have only been to a couple rooms. The Vet school offices are located there, the poultry lab, an egg storage room, and a room with some ancient cabinet incubators (they worked very well though :))
I sat down at my lab bench, exhausted as ever. thank goodness it was another hatch day so I got to play with chicks. I also got to break open eggs once again for the ones that didn't hatch. My professor, who is now a dear friend of mine, brought out a surprise. He took out a hatcher full of tiny tiny birds. They were Japanese Coturnix chicks, day olds, stripped little bumble bees (this was before I saw a button quail chick). They were so tiny! There were hundreds of them. They looked like mice moving around in the hatcher. My professor picked one up and tossed me one. I was not expecting this so I frantically stumbled across the lab bench, almost falling off the end catching this little thing. My professor told the class that it looks like I have a new pet. I sure did because I fell in love with this little one.
I texted my friend, who was at work at the time, telling her the news. She texted back "You've got to be kidding me!" She was worried I was going to get kicked out of the apartment as I already accumulated many pets as is. Plus a quail would be considered a farm animal. It all worked out though.
When Lab was over, I stuck the little bird in my sweatshirt pocket, the pocket in front where you can stick your hands in when cold. I also had my cell phone in there.
I walked over to the vet school where my friend worked as well as myself. My co-workers stared at me as each step I took "chirped." I showed my friend the bird and she was still not happy. I tried to ignore the situation and grabbed my pharmacy cart (I was the stocker), and started stocking. I forgot the the phone was in the pocket and it moved and I no longer heard chirping.
I was pretty sure I squished my little bird with the phone. Now I should have gone through the thought process...take phone out and then stick bird in pocket...I walked back to my friend and was about to cry because I thought I killed the bird. I took out the bird. My friend showed me the bird was ok. He was just getting cold in actuality. I finished work and walked outside and called my parents to tell them about the bird. They were psyched as usual as I always wanted quail.
I was planning to walk to the feed store to get my baby his/her food but my friend got off work so she took me. We got my baby his Gamebird starter 30% protein in a 5 pound back at Denson's Feed Store. We then drove to petco and got him/her a 10 gallon tank, heat lamp, bedding, little dishes. I was all ready to raise my little baby.
Now I needed a name. I was watching Gilmore Girls at the time on DVD. There was an episode when Rory brings home a science project which was a chick. Her mom, Lorelei names it Stella. While Rory was out of the town, the chick got loose. Lorelei tears the house apart and shouts out "STELLA!!!" No use, so she calls her "friend" Luke to help her find her chick. Under different intentions he comes over and they enventually gets Stella back in the cage. It was a funny episode and definitely fits my bird, as I did later on have those moments with my Stella, I still do.
Now, Dryden Hall is an old building, the old Poultry building actually. Sadly there is no new poultry building. James Dryden was the head of the Poultry Department at the Oregon Agricultural College, which was renamed Oregon State University, for 14 years. He came to the college in 1908, having been selected by Dr. W. J. Kerr to head this department. There is another building called the Kerr Administration Building. It's actually quite entertaining how names come into play. James Dryden was renowned for his research which laid the foundation of modern poultry breeding science. He produced a the world's first 300-egg (a year) hen and the first hen to lay 1000 eggs in a life-time. One he named Lady McDuff but I do not remember how many eggs that hen laid. Dryden was credited in Oregon with starting the escalated commercial egg industry. This building has a lot of history behind it, however I have only been to a couple rooms. The Vet school offices are located there, the poultry lab, an egg storage room, and a room with some ancient cabinet incubators (they worked very well though :))
I sat down at my lab bench, exhausted as ever. thank goodness it was another hatch day so I got to play with chicks. I also got to break open eggs once again for the ones that didn't hatch. My professor, who is now a dear friend of mine, brought out a surprise. He took out a hatcher full of tiny tiny birds. They were Japanese Coturnix chicks, day olds, stripped little bumble bees (this was before I saw a button quail chick). They were so tiny! There were hundreds of them. They looked like mice moving around in the hatcher. My professor picked one up and tossed me one. I was not expecting this so I frantically stumbled across the lab bench, almost falling off the end catching this little thing. My professor told the class that it looks like I have a new pet. I sure did because I fell in love with this little one.
I texted my friend, who was at work at the time, telling her the news. She texted back "You've got to be kidding me!" She was worried I was going to get kicked out of the apartment as I already accumulated many pets as is. Plus a quail would be considered a farm animal. It all worked out though.
When Lab was over, I stuck the little bird in my sweatshirt pocket, the pocket in front where you can stick your hands in when cold. I also had my cell phone in there.
I walked over to the vet school where my friend worked as well as myself. My co-workers stared at me as each step I took "chirped." I showed my friend the bird and she was still not happy. I tried to ignore the situation and grabbed my pharmacy cart (I was the stocker), and started stocking. I forgot the the phone was in the pocket and it moved and I no longer heard chirping.
I was pretty sure I squished my little bird with the phone. Now I should have gone through the thought process...take phone out and then stick bird in pocket...I walked back to my friend and was about to cry because I thought I killed the bird. I took out the bird. My friend showed me the bird was ok. He was just getting cold in actuality. I finished work and walked outside and called my parents to tell them about the bird. They were psyched as usual as I always wanted quail.
I was planning to walk to the feed store to get my baby his/her food but my friend got off work so she took me. We got my baby his Gamebird starter 30% protein in a 5 pound back at Denson's Feed Store. We then drove to petco and got him/her a 10 gallon tank, heat lamp, bedding, little dishes. I was all ready to raise my little baby.
Now I needed a name. I was watching Gilmore Girls at the time on DVD. There was an episode when Rory brings home a science project which was a chick. Her mom, Lorelei names it Stella. While Rory was out of the town, the chick got loose. Lorelei tears the house apart and shouts out "STELLA!!!" No use, so she calls her "friend" Luke to help her find her chick. Under different intentions he comes over and they enventually gets Stella back in the cage. It was a funny episode and definitely fits my bird, as I did later on have those moments with my Stella, I still do.
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| Stella April 26, 2006 |
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| One Day Old |
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| 2 days |
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| 8 grams!!! 2 Days old |
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| 3 Days Old |
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| 4 Days |
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| Brutus and Stella |
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| 6 Days |
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| 9 Days...Stella also started crowing...sounds like a Klingon |
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| I got Stella a playpen so he can run around and not get stepped on. |
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| Stella Dustbathing |
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| Stella on his throne. 12 Days old |
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| Stella fractured his distal tibia and would have to be in a cast for awhile...My poor 13 day old quail |
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13 days Old and resting :(     Stella was growing larger and larger by the day. At 6 weeks of age he was fully mature and started courting everything in his path: feet, dogs, dog toys, you name it :) It was time to build him something to live in. My mom shipped me from Illinois my guinea pig's old cage. I bought some chloroplast and made him a little castle. I admit, I spoiled the bird.  I introduced a female to Stella as well. She was also a wild. Her name was already given to her, Tara. They were were a happy couple. I added some enrichment to their castle.  Tara  Stella and Tara (Stella on right) After graduation, my parents and I drove from Oregon to Illinois and then Illinois to Florida with all the animals, including the quail. It was a very stinky drive, especially since it was summer. The males (I was traveling with 5 quail along with other pets) were crowing on the road, females making their laying sounds. It was an interesting trip.  All of the caged animals packed up in Illinois  Because I wanted to raise quail, I decided to house the Coturnix quail outdoors. My mistakes however were that the pens had too big holes and racoons killed my coturnix. Tara was a victim. The birds that survived were moved into the garage. Stella was a survivor but he was horribly injured. I thought I lost him. His wing was completely pulled off. My mom and I had to devise a simple solution to keep him secure. We brought him inside. He has been inside ever since.  Stella is 4 years old now, still strong and kicking. Still breeding INDOORS. He actually lives in my bedroom with a girlfriend named Cinderella. I am working on a project with those two since I got some nifty quail chicks from them. Stella limps, has a crooked toe, and only has one wing, but he is a survivor.    The white area is a feather, he has no wing on this side. It's a stump if you feel it. Poor thing :(   |
Even though Stella is a bit disadvantaged, I still have to act out the scene from Gilmore Girls at times. Of course he will always respond with a crow somewhere....when in doubt shout out "STELLA!!!!!!!!!"
He knows his name for sure!!! (I am the friend she was mentioning!) I remember sitting in your living room and shouting "STELLA!" and he would crow like "I'm in my cage... DUH!"
ReplyDeleteI also remember him making love to the stuffed dog!
Please share the make and model of the hatcher you use. Thank you.
ReplyDelete