Handling Quail

[Justadmin]

Hi there,

I'm completely new to Quail keeping, but this weekend I bought 4 female Japanese quails to be pets but also to give us eggs. They haven't come into lay yet, I believe they are only about 3 or 4 weeks old. They seem happy in the rabbit hutch I am using to keep them in, but my question is about handling them. I know they will (probably) never enjoy being handled but I'd like them to at least calmly tolerate it as it will make life easier when I do need to pick them up. Is there any use in holding them briefly for like 30 seconds each day to get them used to it, or am I wasting my time and also stressing out and scaring the poor things? I don't want them to be terrified of me. What have been your experiences of handling quail? Have you employed any special tips or tricks to train/calm them? Thank you in advance!

 

[The Quail Guru]

I don't think any quail really likes to be picked up because many of their bird predators grab them from above. You could try hand feeding them mealworms each day and let them know that you're their source of food. Quail are easier to tame when younger but taming them when older is possible as long as you have determination and patience. And quail start laying eggs at 8 weeks of age. Stress, lack of calcium and disturbances can affect their laying process.

 

[dc3085]

Just handle them every day. Don't take this the wrong way but these birds are incredibly stupid so they don't catch on to anything very quickly. Thousands of years of domestication with no set breeding patterns will do that to an animal.