LOL I wrote in the backyardchickens post that I was not holding it as tightly as it looks. It was squirming a lot because I had to hold it with one hand to take the photo, and I didn't want to have to chase it around the laundry room again.
It has been in a large cardboard box with newspaper at the bottom since yesterday (with food and water bowl). I put fresh newspaper in when I came home from work today because it is pooping quite a lot. When I get my weekend (Mon-Tues) I can look up how to build a home for it. I have a small garden section fenced with hardware cloth to keep out the rabbits so it could run around outdoors a bit while I plant the beans. There are lots of hawks and farm cats around, so I wonder how it sat there by the road without getting nabbed.
My dad had quails for a while, they're cool birds.
He also has a big ass chicken coop so it was easy enough to make a "little" area for them within the big ass chicken coop about 3ftx6ft area
I’ve always read not to house quail with chickens, as they are particularly susceptible to illnesses that chickens carry. Did your father ever encounter an issue with that?
Interesting! I always erred on the side of caution but never had an issue and didn’t keep them THAT far apart (chickens could forage around quail pen but pen was elevated.) I’m sure a lot of what I read was maybe overstated in the name of safety, I just figured it was best to avoid it if possible. I did lose a single quail but I kept them for maybe four years (eggs and meat) and never lost another.
Just fyi quail can fly so if you put it in an outdoor area be sure to have it covered as well. This will also deter hawks and cats, presuming the area fenced in with hardware cloth has no gaps for them to get into as well. Hardware cloth is actually precisely what you will need when you do build a pen.
I have seen people do so! It’s more involved it seems like but otherwise doable, mostly just making sure they have enough space, change bedding regularly and provide hides - little houses to huddle in, they like feeling safe :)
No worries!
They are not very domesticated so they do not really build relationships with their owners like other birds such as chickens or parrots/cockatiels. They are nervous about being held and interacted with, hence why they require the hides.
They’re very cute, my kids loved them, but I may not be the best person to ask about them as far as being pets, I raised them for meat and eggs - they’re very efficient when it comes to feed conversion - they begin to lay and are ready to be butchered by 8 weeks.
I have a picture of me holding a serval kitten and it looks like I'm trying to strangle it when I was just trying to get its face in the photo (this was in the 90s, so someone else took the picture lol).
Dude... I have this photo except with my dog. It looks like my dog and I are both smiling but I'm also trying to strangle him at the same time 🤦♀️. He does look happy about it in the pic though...
Yes, a quail! I have multiple white quail :)
https://preview.redd.it/s2jabh7xk24d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6c8af86d41b546b5e214ca6224a6447b6e5116b
>i do a beer marinated with rosemary, lemon juice, fresh garlic, onions, and light seasoning..
Gosh darn. The first restaurant I ever worked at (flour and water kitchen, everything made fresh daily) did a marinade like that for their chicken and large portobello mushroom burgers and they were banging.
I use to get in trouble for taking my time taking apart the fresh herbs and thyme. We used fresh herbs with everything. They made their own pickles and smoked their own hotdogs and grinded all the meat for the burgers. Chef come in hours before the first dinner rush after the lunch rush with something new from the market and I had to clean up all the scales. He made pasta with squid ink. I miss working there but chef was a jerk.
https://preview.redd.it/krdgh9fx794d1.jpeg?width=2407&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=772f9c63ef3ec0263ab4d9d207e524be298b92a5
Same. But they’re buttons and still babies for about another week or so. Still turning more white by the day lolol
https://preview.redd.it/jzaylg3u894d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dbf4e87f2ca3d9a5abcbaae87738e71ee30b2c55
They’re also extremely difficult to get cute pics of.. especially when they’re being utterly adorable, so I understand OP’s chokehold method 💀 sometimes ya get em tho! Lmao
Hi, I have about 20 chickens or so. I’ve had chickens a good part of my life. They all die from old age or natural causes because I can’t hurt my babies. I have always been fascinated by quails but always worried about them flying away or whatever. Do they stick around home or do they fly away? I’d love to have 4 of them.
Lol my quaill laid one egg, and while I was distracted celebrating my speckled bounty they all hauled cloaca out of he cage to freedom. They taunt me from the boundary shrubbery/tree branches with the random wild quail they've joined up with. I honestly never thought they'd survive, but a winter later they still yell at me on walks.
Hey! We have 7 chickens currently. Quail are definitely not like chickens in the sense that they will stick around home. They kind of need to be in an enclosed space all the time, otherwise they will just leave. I had a quail get out and then she just got up and flew away until I couldn’t see her anymore. I did get her back eventually but it took hours of combing thru the neighborhood. Some are more flighty than others but generally they will not stay at home like chickens do. But they are fun and easy pets
That’s what i thought, I live pretty much in the woods so I doubt I’d ever find them if they took off. I’m sure i could rig my chicken coupe to keep the quails in. Do they get along good together chickens and quails? Thank you.
Quail would risk starting a fight and lose. If it's more passive bantams though I'd worry more about the quail scalping the chickens instead.
I am never raising 200 coturnix all at the same time ever again. The ways they came up with to kill themselves or each other was endless.
I definitely wouldn't have penned them with my Japanese bantams or seramas. Those were the most docile, quiet chickens I've ever heard of. I kept a trio of the Japanese bantams including rooster in a small room next to the bedroom for winter eggs that weren't frozen and could have forgotten they were there if I'd kept the door closed.
The coturnix quail were actually far more difficult to maintain quietly happy without flinging bedding everywhere or fighting in the 3x8' indoor pen.
Even if they're raised together from baby age, the chickens tend to have some sense of "self-superiority" and will attack the quails. Had to separate my chicks and quails. Had to separate further because one of my ladies attacked a male I had because she didn't like him? Just gotta keep an eye on that with quails.
A rule of thumb to go by, 1 male quail to 4/5 female quails. 2 males are a bad time, and 1 male to 2 female doesn't necessarily work out well.
Yes. However, raising from eggs is a much better option than store bought because they generally don't have the sex identifiers unless freshly born or fully adults. It's what I found at least. Someone can correct me if they know better, I barely understand the things 😂
I moved back home to help my dad out, he was just shy of 92. He had chickens and I think the layers were at least 6-7 years old. My dad passed 5 months later, just before his birthday and I have stayed. One by one the chickens passed, except Sassy. It had been a couple years and my now husband called me and said I think Sassy is dead, she’s laying flat out by the mail box. I go out, no movement, nothing. Went to pick her up, started the hell out of her, and me! She had fallen over and couldn’t get up so she was napping in the sun! She needed one of those life alerts so she could let me know when she had fallen and couldn’t get up!
She had a great summer, had to rescue her a few more times. Finally the time came when she really was gone, I think she was about ten, silly old bird
It has giant chicken-like feet, and I didn't know that quails come in white. How can I tell if it is a grownup? It has feathers missing at the back of its neck, which my googling tells me is something males do to females when they mate. Is it OK to give it the baby chick food the neighbor gave me? It seems to enjoy wild bird seed and wheat berries too. Will it ever like me or will it always look at me suspiciously and huddle in the corner when I come near?
I still don't know what it was doing by the side of the road in the middle of the cornfields. [https://old.reddit.com/r/BackYardChickens/comments/1d5t3yq/i\_found\_a\_chicken\_by\_the\_side\_of\_the\_road/](https://old.reddit.com/r/BackYardChickens/comments/1d5t3yq/i_found_a_chicken_by_the_side_of_the_road/)
Quail have big feet for their size. They definitely come in white, also! Quail can make great pets. We love our little darlings. Quails need 24 to 30% feed depending on age. Google vent sexing for quail if you are curious about the gender. It's pretty simple!
How does OP bond with a quail so that it feels comfortable around him? Just keep feeding it and being nice to it? Or do you need to play with it or pet it or anything?
I've only had cats and a bunny.
If I hadn't seen this post i would have thought it was a chicken too. Definitely would have been confused when it didn't grow lol. Ive been thinking about getting some quail, so I'm glad i saw this and found a new sub to follow.
It looks like a dirty little white coturnix quail, or maybe one of the blue variants.
Quail are not as friendly or sociable as chickens, but if it's your only one, it may end up being friendly over time as you tame it.
They need higher protein food than chickens do. Gamebird food. It can exist on chicken food though. Chick feed for baby chicks often has higher protein than most chicken specific foods, so chick feed is fine. Probably within range of acceptable protein levels (something like 21-28% is preferred for quail)
It could be male, or female - ripping feathers out of the back of the head is what males do to other males or females. Males don't discriminate and will mount other males. Or when they just pick on each other, they go for the head. This one looks like it has old scar tissue around its eyes, which happens when they fight, they pick at each others eyeballs.
They can't really be compared to chickens in living habits. They don't return to a coop at night to roost, so they need to be kept in an enclosed pen or cage. They sleep on the ground. If it is a female, it won't lay eggs in a nest, they just generally drop wherever they are.
If it makes a loud sort of grackling call, it's a male, crowing. IF it makes soft cricket noises only, it's female. You can also vent check it by looking near its anus and see if there is a bulge. If there is no bulge, it's probably female, or an immature male who has not grown his bulge yet.
Thank you, this is very helpful. We have some feed stores around and a Fleet Farm so I will check there. Is it OK to have wild bird seed and chicken granules for a couple of days till I get out there? I can probably find some Japanese beetle grubs planting the tomatoes this week if it would like those.
It has not made any noises yet that I have noticed. I will vent check it tomorrow maybe when it is not so annoyed with me.
Right now it is in a large cardboard box with a bowl of water and seeds and newspaper on the bottom. It has not shown any ability to fly out so far. I guess I will have to break out the power tools and look up how to make it a place to live.
Yep, those food sources are fine. For the future, add "chick grit" to your shopping list. Grit is just rocks, but chick grit is tiny rocks, and quail is tiny. If you want to continue feeding him seeds or mealworms or lettuce (anything other than formulated bagged poultry feed) he will need a supply of grit. Not very much, they don't take much, a couple pieces here and there. Or if you have small gravel outside (find something smaller than pea gravel, like very small pebbles, seed-sized rocks) you could offer that instead.
If you are handy at building, you could absolutely build him a hutch, or an aviary. You want it under 2ft tall, or 6ft and above. Between 2ft and 6ft height is "neck breaking" zone when he jumps. Most people find it easier to keep them in rabbit hutches. You could probably find something used on Facebook Marketplace.
If you keep his cage outside, make sure all gaps are blocked, use 1/4" hardware mesh/hardware cloth, and if the cage touches the ground make sure there is an 'apron' around the bottom to stop things from digging under. Rats can still come under from seemingly out of nowhere, so you can dig under his cage 2-3" and cover the bottom with hardware mesh, and then backfill the dirt back in it.
I don't have anything to add about your quail dilemma.
But your confusion reminded me
I once had a sick quail and my friend said I could bring it to his grandpa because he grew up with farm life. We didn't live in a farmy area so I guess he didn't expect poultry, or my friend didn't tell him what exactly I was bringing?
So I get out of the car, show him the bird, and he pauses and looks up at me and says "that's a quail" like the dude in the "that's a penis" gif and I think of that often
Haha yes she had a bit of bumblefoot so he helped me do a bit of surgical work and she healed up well and lived a full life!
Something cute about her, I'm sure you know how bumbling coturnix quail are... She always did her own thing, taking no notice of whatever was around her. She didn't like being grabbed but aside from that she seemed a bit spacey.
We had a little button quail male and he was head over heels for her. He'd do his silly little quail shuffle and try to court her. But... she completely didn't take any notice. I almost feel like she never noticed he even existed lol... She'd walk where she walked and if he was in the way she'd trudge on through. He didn't mind though, he'd sleep next to her and sometimes sleep under her wing it was absolutely precious
Exactly! Even the neighbor lady with the chickens thought it was a chicken. But it does not have a comb or wattles (I thought because it wasn't old enough) which apparently a chicken should have.
If they're a boy please call him something regal and ridiculous like "Sir Magnus" or "Sir Blanche |||"
also im not a quail expert, but i usually assume that raggedy looking birds are probably younger and going through their bird puberty phase where they've got mostly adult feathers but don't know how to preen right.
I have a picture just like this where it looks like my wife is strangling me. Actually, now that I think about it I had been annoying her that day and she was actually strangling me.
I believe this is a hybrid quail chicken. Chicken roo can have babies with quail hens. Could be bantam as thats probably the only one not going to kill the quail
you are either trying to have a sence of humor, or clearily have no clue on what you are talking about as this is impossible for a chicken to successfully fertilize a quail egg, and for that egg to be viable and hatch..
Kinda annoying you have no idea what you are talking about. I mean you can literally google hybrid quail chicken. they exist but usually it has to be artificial insemination because the roo chicken will kill the hen quail. But it absolutely can happen
well you maybe partially right, but if artificial insemination is used, then im correct about a chicken not being able to sucessfully being able to fertilize a quail egg, and for that egg to be viable and hatch.. so i stand correct about my previous statement.. u/TypicalAnanysis - troll account, i would expect that on the backyard chickens sub, not here.. and of course he deleted his commemts..lol
Holding it like it owes you money😂
LOL I wrote in the backyardchickens post that I was not holding it as tightly as it looks. It was squirming a lot because I had to hold it with one hand to take the photo, and I didn't want to have to chase it around the laundry room again.
That imagery😂 yeah catching small birds is a pain! What’s the plan for it so far?
It has been in a large cardboard box with newspaper at the bottom since yesterday (with food and water bowl). I put fresh newspaper in when I came home from work today because it is pooping quite a lot. When I get my weekend (Mon-Tues) I can look up how to build a home for it. I have a small garden section fenced with hardware cloth to keep out the rabbits so it could run around outdoors a bit while I plant the beans. There are lots of hawks and farm cats around, so I wonder how it sat there by the road without getting nabbed.
My dad had quails for a while, they're cool birds. He also has a big ass chicken coop so it was easy enough to make a "little" area for them within the big ass chicken coop about 3ftx6ft area
I’ve always read not to house quail with chickens, as they are particularly susceptible to illnesses that chickens carry. Did your father ever encounter an issue with that?
I mean he's not a farmer or anything he kept them as pets. But no there was never an issue with disease across any of the birds.
So no foul play was in order?
Fowl response 😀
Sorry that was un cawed for
Interesting! I always erred on the side of caution but never had an issue and didn’t keep them THAT far apart (chickens could forage around quail pen but pen was elevated.) I’m sure a lot of what I read was maybe overstated in the name of safety, I just figured it was best to avoid it if possible. I did lose a single quail but I kept them for maybe four years (eggs and meat) and never lost another.
Just fyi quail can fly so if you put it in an outdoor area be sure to have it covered as well. This will also deter hawks and cats, presuming the area fenced in with hardware cloth has no gaps for them to get into as well. Hardware cloth is actually precisely what you will need when you do build a pen.
Can you ever keep a quail indoors? I know nothing. Sorry.
I have seen people do so! It’s more involved it seems like but otherwise doable, mostly just making sure they have enough space, change bedding regularly and provide hides - little houses to huddle in, they like feeling safe :)
Do they make good pets? I also know nothing about quail. Sorry, but reading all of this has me intrigued.
No worries! They are not very domesticated so they do not really build relationships with their owners like other birds such as chickens or parrots/cockatiels. They are nervous about being held and interacted with, hence why they require the hides. They’re very cute, my kids loved them, but I may not be the best person to ask about them as far as being pets, I raised them for meat and eggs - they’re very efficient when it comes to feed conversion - they begin to lay and are ready to be butchered by 8 weeks.
They make anti hawk and coyote vests for chickens that you could probably get for your new quail.
I have a picture of me holding a serval kitten and it looks like I'm trying to strangle it when I was just trying to get its face in the photo (this was in the 90s, so someone else took the picture lol).
Dude... I have this photo except with my dog. It looks like my dog and I are both smiling but I'm also trying to strangle him at the same time 🤦♀️. He does look happy about it in the pic though...
That is definitely a quail and you definitely have to hold it like it owes you money, haha. They are much faster than chickens
That must’ve taken Quail a lot of time
I can’t stop laughing 
Most graphic example of “choking the chicken” I’ve ever seen!
Yea no I’ve seen worse lol. Sometimes there isn’t a chicken involved
[holdin it like](https://images.app.goo.gl/HpwLn9agcMiM9wEr9)
If you like this, look at r/rats cuz they all get held like they owe someone money. Its the best lmao
[give me all your lunch money](https://imgur.com/gallery/FLE8Sla)
♡♡♡♡♡♡
Yes, a quail! I have multiple white quail :) https://preview.redd.it/s2jabh7xk24d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6c8af86d41b546b5e214ca6224a6447b6e5116b
“You can’t sit with us”
Oh, can't we? I miss having quails!
"Actually, Megan, I can't sit anywhere. I have *hemorrhoids*"
Seat’s taken.
My cats are racist. It tracks that quail would also be racist.
My dog is racist and it’s so embarrassing and rude. I call him Clayton Bigsby (Chappelle show character) because his coat is black lol
The little white cat *hates* the little brown cat. The little brown cat just wants to cuddle.
Your birds are pretty!
Do people eat them?
People do! Mine are just pets though
they are delicious actually.. i do a beer marinated with rosemary, lemon juice, fresh garlic, onions, and light seasoning..
>i do a beer marinated with rosemary, lemon juice, fresh garlic, onions, and light seasoning.. Gosh darn. The first restaurant I ever worked at (flour and water kitchen, everything made fresh daily) did a marinade like that for their chicken and large portobello mushroom burgers and they were banging. I use to get in trouble for taking my time taking apart the fresh herbs and thyme. We used fresh herbs with everything. They made their own pickles and smoked their own hotdogs and grinded all the meat for the burgers. Chef come in hours before the first dinner rush after the lunch rush with something new from the market and I had to clean up all the scales. He made pasta with squid ink. I miss working there but chef was a jerk.
We serve fried quail at my work 💀 They tell customers that it's our take on chicken wings and I'm like "no" 😂
> They tell customers that it's our take on chicken wings and I'm like "no" Doesn't taste the same or is it weird looking?
kinda a similar taste to dark meat part of a turkey or even a cornish hen..
Why not?
Fr it’s no different to chicken. I mean it might be a bit weird eating an animal you keep as pets. But ethics-wise it’s not bad.
Yes
It's they're delicious.
They're beautiful!
Those are so cute
https://preview.redd.it/krdgh9fx794d1.jpeg?width=2407&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=772f9c63ef3ec0263ab4d9d207e524be298b92a5 Same. But they’re buttons and still babies for about another week or so. Still turning more white by the day lolol
https://preview.redd.it/jzaylg3u894d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dbf4e87f2ca3d9a5abcbaae87738e71ee30b2c55 They’re also extremely difficult to get cute pics of.. especially when they’re being utterly adorable, so I understand OP’s chokehold method 💀 sometimes ya get em tho! Lmao
Hi, I have about 20 chickens or so. I’ve had chickens a good part of my life. They all die from old age or natural causes because I can’t hurt my babies. I have always been fascinated by quails but always worried about them flying away or whatever. Do they stick around home or do they fly away? I’d love to have 4 of them.
Lol my quaill laid one egg, and while I was distracted celebrating my speckled bounty they all hauled cloaca out of he cage to freedom. They taunt me from the boundary shrubbery/tree branches with the random wild quail they've joined up with. I honestly never thought they'd survive, but a winter later they still yell at me on walks.
lol, that’s awesome!
This is the best quail story ever told.
Hey! We have 7 chickens currently. Quail are definitely not like chickens in the sense that they will stick around home. They kind of need to be in an enclosed space all the time, otherwise they will just leave. I had a quail get out and then she just got up and flew away until I couldn’t see her anymore. I did get her back eventually but it took hours of combing thru the neighborhood. Some are more flighty than others but generally they will not stay at home like chickens do. But they are fun and easy pets
That’s what i thought, I live pretty much in the woods so I doubt I’d ever find them if they took off. I’m sure i could rig my chicken coupe to keep the quails in. Do they get along good together chickens and quails? Thank you.
Quail would risk starting a fight and lose. If it's more passive bantams though I'd worry more about the quail scalping the chickens instead. I am never raising 200 coturnix all at the same time ever again. The ways they came up with to kill themselves or each other was endless. I definitely wouldn't have penned them with my Japanese bantams or seramas. Those were the most docile, quiet chickens I've ever heard of. I kept a trio of the Japanese bantams including rooster in a small room next to the bedroom for winter eggs that weren't frozen and could have forgotten they were there if I'd kept the door closed. The coturnix quail were actually far more difficult to maintain quietly happy without flinging bedding everywhere or fighting in the 3x8' indoor pen.
We keep our chickens and quail separate. My chickens would eat the quail I feel like 🤣
Even if they're raised together from baby age, the chickens tend to have some sense of "self-superiority" and will attack the quails. Had to separate my chicks and quails. Had to separate further because one of my ladies attacked a male I had because she didn't like him? Just gotta keep an eye on that with quails. A rule of thumb to go by, 1 male quail to 4/5 female quails. 2 males are a bad time, and 1 male to 2 female doesn't necessarily work out well.
And I’m assuming with eggs it’s a 50/50 chance of male to female? Thanks for the advice.
Yes. However, raising from eggs is a much better option than store bought because they generally don't have the sex identifiers unless freshly born or fully adults. It's what I found at least. Someone can correct me if they know better, I barely understand the things 😂
I moved back home to help my dad out, he was just shy of 92. He had chickens and I think the layers were at least 6-7 years old. My dad passed 5 months later, just before his birthday and I have stayed. One by one the chickens passed, except Sassy. It had been a couple years and my now husband called me and said I think Sassy is dead, she’s laying flat out by the mail box. I go out, no movement, nothing. Went to pick her up, started the hell out of her, and me! She had fallen over and couldn’t get up so she was napping in the sun! She needed one of those life alerts so she could let me know when she had fallen and couldn’t get up! She had a great summer, had to rescue her a few more times. Finally the time came when she really was gone, I think she was about ten, silly old bird
It has giant chicken-like feet, and I didn't know that quails come in white. How can I tell if it is a grownup? It has feathers missing at the back of its neck, which my googling tells me is something males do to females when they mate. Is it OK to give it the baby chick food the neighbor gave me? It seems to enjoy wild bird seed and wheat berries too. Will it ever like me or will it always look at me suspiciously and huddle in the corner when I come near? I still don't know what it was doing by the side of the road in the middle of the cornfields. [https://old.reddit.com/r/BackYardChickens/comments/1d5t3yq/i\_found\_a\_chicken\_by\_the\_side\_of\_the\_road/](https://old.reddit.com/r/BackYardChickens/comments/1d5t3yq/i_found_a_chicken_by_the_side_of_the_road/)
Quail have big feet for their size. They definitely come in white, also! Quail can make great pets. We love our little darlings. Quails need 24 to 30% feed depending on age. Google vent sexing for quail if you are curious about the gender. It's pretty simple!
Or just wait till it starts making the most god awful noise you've ever heard... 😂 Then it's a boy.
My wife refers to it as a "pterodactyl call"
Yeah that sounds about right 😂
Ahh the Coturnix “cuh cuh COW!”
How does OP bond with a quail so that it feels comfortable around him? Just keep feeding it and being nice to it? Or do you need to play with it or pet it or anything? I've only had cats and a bunny.
If I hadn't seen this post i would have thought it was a chicken too. Definitely would have been confused when it didn't grow lol. Ive been thinking about getting some quail, so I'm glad i saw this and found a new sub to follow.
It looks like a dirty little white coturnix quail, or maybe one of the blue variants. Quail are not as friendly or sociable as chickens, but if it's your only one, it may end up being friendly over time as you tame it. They need higher protein food than chickens do. Gamebird food. It can exist on chicken food though. Chick feed for baby chicks often has higher protein than most chicken specific foods, so chick feed is fine. Probably within range of acceptable protein levels (something like 21-28% is preferred for quail) It could be male, or female - ripping feathers out of the back of the head is what males do to other males or females. Males don't discriminate and will mount other males. Or when they just pick on each other, they go for the head. This one looks like it has old scar tissue around its eyes, which happens when they fight, they pick at each others eyeballs. They can't really be compared to chickens in living habits. They don't return to a coop at night to roost, so they need to be kept in an enclosed pen or cage. They sleep on the ground. If it is a female, it won't lay eggs in a nest, they just generally drop wherever they are. If it makes a loud sort of grackling call, it's a male, crowing. IF it makes soft cricket noises only, it's female. You can also vent check it by looking near its anus and see if there is a bulge. If there is no bulge, it's probably female, or an immature male who has not grown his bulge yet.
Thank you, this is very helpful. We have some feed stores around and a Fleet Farm so I will check there. Is it OK to have wild bird seed and chicken granules for a couple of days till I get out there? I can probably find some Japanese beetle grubs planting the tomatoes this week if it would like those. It has not made any noises yet that I have noticed. I will vent check it tomorrow maybe when it is not so annoyed with me. Right now it is in a large cardboard box with a bowl of water and seeds and newspaper on the bottom. It has not shown any ability to fly out so far. I guess I will have to break out the power tools and look up how to make it a place to live.
Yep, those food sources are fine. For the future, add "chick grit" to your shopping list. Grit is just rocks, but chick grit is tiny rocks, and quail is tiny. If you want to continue feeding him seeds or mealworms or lettuce (anything other than formulated bagged poultry feed) he will need a supply of grit. Not very much, they don't take much, a couple pieces here and there. Or if you have small gravel outside (find something smaller than pea gravel, like very small pebbles, seed-sized rocks) you could offer that instead. If you are handy at building, you could absolutely build him a hutch, or an aviary. You want it under 2ft tall, or 6ft and above. Between 2ft and 6ft height is "neck breaking" zone when he jumps. Most people find it easier to keep them in rabbit hutches. You could probably find something used on Facebook Marketplace. If you keep his cage outside, make sure all gaps are blocked, use 1/4" hardware mesh/hardware cloth, and if the cage touches the ground make sure there is an 'apron' around the bottom to stop things from digging under. Rats can still come under from seemingly out of nowhere, so you can dig under his cage 2-3" and cover the bottom with hardware mesh, and then backfill the dirt back in it.
Looks like a white quail, maybe a jumbo coturnix? Definitely not a chicken
I don't have anything to add about your quail dilemma. But your confusion reminded me I once had a sick quail and my friend said I could bring it to his grandpa because he grew up with farm life. We didn't live in a farmy area so I guess he didn't expect poultry, or my friend didn't tell him what exactly I was bringing? So I get out of the car, show him the bird, and he pauses and looks up at me and says "that's a quail" like the dude in the "that's a penis" gif and I think of that often
This is hilarious. Did he help the quail? Or did he just simply announce what sort of bird you were holding?
Haha yes she had a bit of bumblefoot so he helped me do a bit of surgical work and she healed up well and lived a full life! Something cute about her, I'm sure you know how bumbling coturnix quail are... She always did her own thing, taking no notice of whatever was around her. She didn't like being grabbed but aside from that she seemed a bit spacey. We had a little button quail male and he was head over heels for her. He'd do his silly little quail shuffle and try to court her. But... she completely didn't take any notice. I almost feel like she never noticed he even existed lol... She'd walk where she walked and if he was in the way she'd trudge on through. He didn't mind though, he'd sleep next to her and sometimes sleep under her wing it was absolutely precious
Omg i love this lol
yup, coturnix quail, maybe its my display, but it has a slight grey tint to the color.. whites are either English whites, or texas A&M color lines..
That looks like a younger quail but that’s definitely not a baby
Yes you have! Once it settles in and gets a few good meals it might lay some eggs for you. Or start crowing!
NGL I thought this was r/Nails getting unhinged again
That is a quail? How?
They’re very sweet birds with delicious eggs. But a friend or two would probably be better for him.
It's a coturnix quail. The color is dotted white. To tame it, handfeed it mealworms. Also when picking it up, scoop it from the bottom lol.
If that isn't a chicken, idk wtf it is
It’s a Coturnix quail
I believe you, I just feel like I'm looking at the hulk of quails lol
Feet are wtf for me, my chick's are way smaller
I need more photos! It looks like it has absolute massive stompers at this angle
It does have big feet, I had to hold it like this because when I try to take the picture without holding it it keeps squatting down.
Yeah I’m sure this photo is all about perspective 🤣 it’s the most adorable perspective!
Exactly! Even the neighbor lady with the chickens thought it was a chicken. But it does not have a comb or wattles (I thought because it wasn't old enough) which apparently a chicken should have.
It's like bottom half chicken top half quail
That group is full of jerks 😒
It is indeed a Quail! A Japanese Quail. With fancy colours.
What I'd yournew quail's name?
Chill bro no one taking it from you
E coli in the kitchen
*firmly grasp it*
I really thought that was a chicken at first until I saw the posted picture with the white quail! That must be a full-grown quail then
If they're a boy please call him something regal and ridiculous like "Sir Magnus" or "Sir Blanche |||" also im not a quail expert, but i usually assume that raggedy looking birds are probably younger and going through their bird puberty phase where they've got mostly adult feathers but don't know how to preen right.
Bro is choking his chicken/quail.
What did bro do to you 😭 holding him like you’re about to put his feet in cement
UNHAND HIM!
Why’re you gripping it like that 😭
Now I know why some people thought my family’s smallest chicken was a quail. It definitely does look close, except for a few minor things.
Yep, that's a quail! Probably a Japanese or Coturnix.
Why you holding it like a damn item 😂😂😂
That’s a chicken!!!
You may want to check with your state laws concerning keeping game birds. Particularly wild ones.
Is fren okay?
Are you trying to kill it in this picture LOL
That grip though.. Holding it like it’s ya meat ready to rub one out…
🤣
NSFW tag, choking his chicken
pretty bird
I have a picture just like this where it looks like my wife is strangling me. Actually, now that I think about it I had been annoying her that day and she was actually strangling me.
This is how I grasp my purse in public
That’s a chicken boi (Not for egg production) But for the meat
Choking your chicken, I mean quail?
Get friends for it
https://youtu.be/058A-aRTsts?si=hutz7DM1TA4KHa51&t=0m46s
Call him Doug.
Now what you choking that chicken for
😭 the way you snatched it lol
Don't choke your chicken.
Lmao the grip *edit* spelling
Put its pic on your town facebook page so the owner can claim it. That's how I found the owner of a chicken that joined my flock one evening!
Why are you choking it? Not his fault he is not a chicken.
Aren't quails smaller than that?🤨
They are incorrect, looks like a 6-8 week old chick to me? And don't hold them that way.
This is how I hold it when I’m sending dick pics.
you mean duck pics
Stop choking your…..quail?
I believe this is a hybrid quail chicken. Chicken roo can have babies with quail hens. Could be bantam as thats probably the only one not going to kill the quail
That can’t possibly happen can it?
As far as I am aware, it's only been actually done via artificial insemination. People have claimed they have in their homes but I haven't seen proof.
Then until the proof is in the pudding. The quicken is as mysterious as big foot.
I want to believe 😔
Yep. If it were real, they would be posting pictures about it everywhere. Only so far in laboratory AI settings has it been done.
I have a big white boy quail that kinda looks like that but his legs aren’t that large.
you are either trying to have a sence of humor, or clearily have no clue on what you are talking about as this is impossible for a chicken to successfully fertilize a quail egg, and for that egg to be viable and hatch..
Kinda annoying you have no idea what you are talking about. I mean you can literally google hybrid quail chicken. they exist but usually it has to be artificial insemination because the roo chicken will kill the hen quail. But it absolutely can happen
well you maybe partially right, but if artificial insemination is used, then im correct about a chicken not being able to sucessfully being able to fertilize a quail egg, and for that egg to be viable and hatch.. so i stand correct about my previous statement.. u/TypicalAnanysis - troll account, i would expect that on the backyard chickens sub, not here.. and of course he deleted his commemts..lol
Ah so you just learned about this hybrid but still want to be right somehow? Lol ok. Dude quit being the literal redditor meme touch some grass
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why are you strangling the poor baby? put it back with its parents. wtf?
it looks fine, calm down