crimsonmama
Chirping
- Jan 2, 2017
- 97
- 16
- 76
This post is just a self indulgent rambling about my Japanese quail. Hope you don't mind! I hope new people thinking about keeping quail will see how special they can be 
They definitely have their own personalities and can like or dislike each other just like people! I never realised though how tame they can be once they trust you!
I started off with a pair, full grown. The female named Molly and the male Romeo. They got on well and Romeo didn't seem to overly demand attention from Molly but I decided to get some more females just incase. I didn't want Molly getting hurt or stressed.
At the same time as I began to incubate some eggs (as there were no quail for sale near me) Molly decided to brood her own eggs!
Anyways... To fast forward. My incubated chicks are now adult and incredibly placid. Quail don't like feeling trapped or grabbed so will struggle but my quail are very easy to catch and pick up. Molly's chicks on the other hand are much more wild and fidgety to catch or hold! I imagine Molly's instincts were to teach them to be scared of anything bigger that moves!
However since hatching her own eggs Molly has become a lot more tame? She will stay still whilst you hand feed her and stroke her tummy feathers. As the oldest she is the big mama and likes to get her own way with dominating the sand bath or hay box!
Romeo remains less tame. He only cares about getting his females lol. But I guess he didn't have to put his trust in me as much as Molly did when she was sitting on her eggs!
The chicks we hatched that we are keeping are:
Speckles. A brown female. A little shy but sweet. She likes to stretch her wings and have a little flap then running back into the aviary.
Pecky. A golden female with speckles on her breast. She is a bit of a bully and picks on Chi Chi for some reason.
Chi Chi is incredibly sweet and loves been held and will snuggle and relax on your lap with her legs stretched out. She lets you stroke and tickle her right under her fluffed up feathers. Even our pet Budgie wouldn't let us do that!
Goldy. A golden female with a pale cream breast. A quiet gal who likes to come over to be hand fed.
Cookie. Another brown female. Likes to snuggle in the hay. Seems quite close to Goldy. Also likes sitting on your lap but not so much with the strokes.
Then in a bachelor pad we have Sunny and Tan. Two boys. Sunny is a white quail. He feels too big for cuddles now! He likes to fly and is eager to explore. But he will hand feed.
Tan is a golden with a lot of rusty brown on his whole breast and tummy. He is super gentle and placid. He loves soft things like blankets or towel to snuggle on and like Chi Chi will let you stroke and tickle under his fluffed up feathers as he stretches out relaxing. He's a big soft dope far too lazy to want to follow Sunny and fly. But they get on well and will crow when not together.
Lastly is Angel. Another white from Molly's chicks. It's too early to tell if Angel is boy or girl. If boy then will have to try to join the brotherhood with Sunny and Tan. If girl then Romeo gets another girly the lucky devil!! Lol
And lastly some pics of Chi Chi relaxing!
They definitely have their own personalities and can like or dislike each other just like people! I never realised though how tame they can be once they trust you!
I started off with a pair, full grown. The female named Molly and the male Romeo. They got on well and Romeo didn't seem to overly demand attention from Molly but I decided to get some more females just incase. I didn't want Molly getting hurt or stressed.
At the same time as I began to incubate some eggs (as there were no quail for sale near me) Molly decided to brood her own eggs!
Anyways... To fast forward. My incubated chicks are now adult and incredibly placid. Quail don't like feeling trapped or grabbed so will struggle but my quail are very easy to catch and pick up. Molly's chicks on the other hand are much more wild and fidgety to catch or hold! I imagine Molly's instincts were to teach them to be scared of anything bigger that moves!
However since hatching her own eggs Molly has become a lot more tame? She will stay still whilst you hand feed her and stroke her tummy feathers. As the oldest she is the big mama and likes to get her own way with dominating the sand bath or hay box!
Romeo remains less tame. He only cares about getting his females lol. But I guess he didn't have to put his trust in me as much as Molly did when she was sitting on her eggs!
The chicks we hatched that we are keeping are:
Speckles. A brown female. A little shy but sweet. She likes to stretch her wings and have a little flap then running back into the aviary.
Pecky. A golden female with speckles on her breast. She is a bit of a bully and picks on Chi Chi for some reason.
Chi Chi is incredibly sweet and loves been held and will snuggle and relax on your lap with her legs stretched out. She lets you stroke and tickle her right under her fluffed up feathers. Even our pet Budgie wouldn't let us do that!
Goldy. A golden female with a pale cream breast. A quiet gal who likes to come over to be hand fed.
Cookie. Another brown female. Likes to snuggle in the hay. Seems quite close to Goldy. Also likes sitting on your lap but not so much with the strokes.
Then in a bachelor pad we have Sunny and Tan. Two boys. Sunny is a white quail. He feels too big for cuddles now! He likes to fly and is eager to explore. But he will hand feed.
Tan is a golden with a lot of rusty brown on his whole breast and tummy. He is super gentle and placid. He loves soft things like blankets or towel to snuggle on and like Chi Chi will let you stroke and tickle under his fluffed up feathers as he stretches out relaxing. He's a big soft dope far too lazy to want to follow Sunny and fly. But they get on well and will crow when not together.
Lastly is Angel. Another white from Molly's chicks. It's too early to tell if Angel is boy or girl. If boy then will have to try to join the brotherhood with Sunny and Tan. If girl then Romeo gets another girly the lucky devil!! Lol
And lastly some pics of Chi Chi relaxing!
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