Quails as indoor pets?

[Szulptist]

Hello everyone,

Intro:

Whenever I google questions about pigeons, doves, chickens and or fowl I usually end up reading a thread on this website. I've learned a lot from this place and I've finally decided to make an account and join your community. I currently live New York and have four birds (2 pigeons, 1 ringneck dove and 1 diamond dove) and two dogs. I love animals and have had tons of different types of pets my whole life. I am fortunate enough to know some people who own chickens, ducks, pheasants and peafowl but unfortunately I do not live in a town that is zoned to own any of those animals on my own property. I hope some day when I have my own place I can have a trio of buff orpingtons but for the moment even hens are a little to loud to keep them from going unnoticed.

The Purpose of This Thread:

Anyway, to get to the point I was wondering if I could keep one or two quails inside my home or quietly in my backyard. I love my pigeons and doves but would love to get some sort of fowl. The bird doesn't have to necessarily be a quail but I've already looked into all other game birds / fowl / poultry and it seems none are quiet enough to consider keeping except quails. Along with not being loud I would also love a bird that I can hold or gently pet. One might say "well sounds like the best indoor bird for you is a parrot or a dove", I love my ringneck dove Amelia and she enjoys being held and pet and is an amazing pet all around but I would love another type of non-parrot bird. I figured two or three quail would allow me the peace of mind that they have each other for company when I am not around, not be overly loud and be relatively low maintenance. As for the particular breed of quail, I don't know which best suits the qualities I am after. I know button quails are quiet and often kept as pets but I can't imagine them being very tame. My diamond dove is of a similar size and is absolutely 100% not tame (although I got her as an adult).

Conclusion - Start Here if you're impatient
(The Important Part)

Can Quail be kept indoors? My room has an avian bulb for my doves. Are they obnoxiously loud? I've seen videos on youtube of males calling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T3KU93FxP4) and I don't think I could tolerate that sound more than once or twice a year in my room. Button quail males seem much less annoying in small numbers (

) but then again I have to trust how well the camera picks up the audio and how frequently they make that noise is also a factor. My dove Amelia who I refer to as a girl is actually a guy, she bow coo's all day long (

) and it doesn't bother me at all, I don't even notice it. Those links and a few others online are all I know about when it come to quail noises, are females significantly quieter? Are both genders usually rather quiet year round except mating season? If I kept them outside would they have to remain in a aviary like my pigeons to keep from flying away? I know quails tend to stay on the ground but I've read that they can fly and have been known to leave unless their wings are clipped.

All feedback is welcome! If you know of a non-parrot alternative bird that is not very loud and can be interacted with I am all ears (eyes)!

Thanks,

Eric

P.S. Once a specific breed / type of bird is selected I will probably follow up with "how do I obtain this bird?"

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Lol thanks for the impatient thing.

Yes, quail can be kept indoors as pets. The females don't make much noise, and the males aren't really loud. But, they do crow quite often. Several times a day. Personally, they didn't seem very loud, nor annoying. It's like a pigeon cooing. Loud sure, but not really an annoying sound. Not like a crow or bawking of a laying hen.

You can get 2-3 hens and they'd live happily together, you just wouldn't get fertile eggs. Like I said, neither sex makes much noise, other than the males crowing. They don't really bawk or cluck throughout the day. Yes, you can keep them in an aviary. In which case you'd probably be fine with males. And yeah, I'd keep them in the aviary. They tend to just take off otherwise. But if you have a good fence they'd stay in. They'd need to be protected against predators though, and being small, they've got a *lot*

They fly, yeah, but they're ground birds, so generally they stick to the ground. Evolution has selected for instinctual behaviors that say "freeze = safe" (because they're usually in the grass, and won't be seen if just staying still), or "run = get away" (since they can go under small spaces). They don't really know that if they're in a big open space it's probably best to fly off... Of course don't rely on this, but I've lost my birds several times in the woods and they just stuck in the underbrush. And once I was chasing a chukar around in circles and he just kept running.

How to obtain bird? Well, there might be local breeders, or a local feed store. Or you can order chicks, but you need to get a min of 50 generally. Or 100. So, not advised. If you want to invest in an incubator you can get half a dozen eggs.

If you want chickens, you can get bantams. I'd recommend seramas, the hens are generally quiet and even when loud they're very small birds. They also wear diapers. But that's only if you really want a chicken lol

You can also get chukars. Not that I recommend it. But they're funny. They're really stupid. If you can keep them outdoors in an aviary they're pretty quiet. They do make noise but no crowing really. Just this odd beeping like noise. They're not really friendly though. Really funny though. Enough thoughs now, lol.

 

[Szulptist]

CochinBrahmaLover:

Thank you very much for the quick and in-depth reply!

Ramblings:

I did happen to fall upon the bantam serama breed coincidentally enough about an hour after I made this post. I was on youtube looking up the raising of quail and someone off the cuff mentioned them being ideal for similar sized enclosures. She said "you can fit two coturnix quails in this cage or maybe even a class A serama. Whenever I hear the name of a bird that I've never heard of before I immediately look it up but since I didn't know how to spell it I just hoped it'd come up again later. Fortunately one of their other videos had Serama in the title and then bam I was introduced to this tiny breed. Of course I immediately fell in love with them but after a few hours of thinking it over I don't think I am ready yet for chickens. I want a bird or pair of birds that is okay with being in a cage for most of the day and makes nearly no noise or very tiny sounds occasionally. I know that chickens will cluck a bit throughout the day and get noisy if they are by themselves and not being interacted with. I figured I can't just have one Serama, I'd have to have two of them and then that's twice the amount of clucking and occasional shrieks during egg laying. So I've decided to add them to my list of animals to eventually have and will have to go back to that idea once I have my own place.

My Situation:

I am in grad school and still live at home with my father (I'm a commuter). He is indifferent to animals at best and overall hates noise. He absolutely hates our dogs which bark their heads off all day long. I love them and so does the rest of the family so he tolerates them but he doesn't want anymore loud animals in the house. His hearing isn't amazing anymore so he doesn't really mind my ringneck dove because with the door closed in my room you can barely hear her. He tolerates the pigeons in the backyards because they also barely make any noise and you can't hear them inside the house. My diamond dove makes next to no sound so she is completely safe from ridicule. I know that the Seramas are quieter than most chickens and will probably be pretty low-key throughout most of the day but all it takes is a few angry clucks and a shriek now and then and they'll be unwelcome. Plus at some point I intend to (and hope to) move out, so I have to keep in mind that someday I might be in a small apartment with all these animals. Which is fine except I'd need to find a place for my pigeons (I have a lot of bird friends so I can probably work something out with them). Both of my doves live in my bedroom and I have a decent air purifier to help with the dust.


The Plan:

So the birds I am currently interested in are coturnix quails and I think getting two females would be the best situation for me. For a cage I can buy a large plastic storage tub and chop out most of the top cover and replace it with hardware cloth (mesh). I can also do the same thing on the sides. It should end up being about the size of a guinea pig cage with a similar amount of ventilation. I figure an aspen shaving bedding, a hamster water bottle, a food and grit bowl, and a perch and they should be all set right?

If indoors turns out to be an issue I can build a similar sized thing out of wood with half being an indoor part and half being an outdoor part (similar to a pigeon coop) and keep them outside?


Questions:

Will I be able to tame a pair of female coturnix quails if they are purchased as adults? Is it a fevered dream to hope to hold them without them trying to escape for their lives? Can time and patience turn them into enjoyable pets I can interact with or will they always fear and hate me?

Chukars:

They sound fun but I'll have to pass for now

Thanks again! If my plan sucks please let me know, I'd probably keep them in my room with me or in another room if I can't handle the noise, smell or amount of dust.

Eric

P.S. Oh and I'd call a local live poultry store or farm to see if they had any so I could go and pick them up rather than ordering a million or incubating eggs. If that doesn't work I'll try craigslist.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Sounds like a plan, just make sure they know how to drink out of the hamster bottle. Not sure what size it is, but the nipple maybe too big. I'd give them just a bowl of warer in case the first few days.

Ehh... Probably not, no. You'd be best off getting chicks and selling off the extras, ie, 6-10 chicks. There's one courtinix color that can be color sexed. If there's a feed store near you you can request chicks. Taming adult quail never really works, but you may be able to find tamed adults.

 

[dc3085]

CochinBrahmaLover:

Thank you very much for the quick and in-depth reply!

Ramblings:

I did happen to fall upon the bantam serama breed coincidentally enough about an hour after I made this post. I was on youtube looking up the raising of quail and someone off the cuff mentioned them being ideal for similar sized enclosures. She said "you can fit two coturnix quails in this cage or maybe even a class A serama. Whenever I hear the name of a bird that I've never heard of before I immediately look it up but since I didn't know how to spell it I just hoped it'd come up again later. Fortunately one of their other videos had Serama in the title and then bam I was introduced to this tiny breed. Of course I immediately fell in love with them but after a few hours of thinking it over I don't think I am ready yet for chickens. I want a bird or pair of birds that is okay with being in a cage for most of the day and makes nearly no noise or very tiny sounds occasionally. I know that chickens will cluck a bit throughout the day and get noisy if they are by themselves and not being interacted with. I figured I can't just have one Serama, I'd have to have two of them and then that's twice the amount of clucking and occasional shrieks during egg laying. So I've decided to add them to my list of animals to eventually have and will have to go back to that idea once I have my own place.

My Situation:

I am in grad school and still live at home with my father (I'm a commuter). He is indifferent to animals at best and overall hates noise. He absolutely hates our dogs which bark their heads off all day long. I love them and so does the rest of the family so he tolerates them but he doesn't want anymore loud animals in the house. His hearing isn't amazing anymore so he doesn't really mind my ringneck dove because with the door closed in my room you can barely hear her. He tolerates the pigeons in the backyards because they also barely make any noise and you can't hear them inside the house. My diamond dove makes next to no sound so she is completely safe from ridicule. I know that the Seramas are quieter than most chickens and will probably be pretty low-key throughout most of the day but all it takes is a few angry clucks and a shriek now and then and they'll be unwelcome. Plus at some point I intend to (and hope to) move out, so I have to keep in mind that someday I might be in a small apartment with all these animals. Which is fine except I'd need to find a place for my pigeons (I have a lot of bird friends so I can probably work something out with them). Both of my doves live in my bedroom and I have a decent air purifier to help with the dust.


The Plan:

So the birds I am currently interested in are coturnix quails and I think getting two females would be the best situation for me. For a cage I can buy a large plastic storage tub and chop out most of the top cover and replace it with hardware cloth (mesh). I can also do the same thing on the sides. It should end up being about the size of a guinea pig cage with a similar amount of ventilation. I figure an aspen shaving bedding, a hamster water bottle, a food and grit bowl, and a perch and they should be all set right?

If you only feed them game bird food (they require 24-30% protein so you'll have to find game bird or turkey starter) they don't need grit. Crumbled feed for poultry is water soluble and dissolves in the crop when they drink. If you are feeding greens, grains, etc. you'll want to keep grit handy for them.

If indoors turns out to be an issue I can build a similar sized thing out of wood with half being an indoor part and half being an outdoor part (similar to a pigeon coop) and keep them outside?

Most people are nowhere near dedicated enough to coturnix to keep them inside. I can't count how many people I've seen do it, for a little bit anyway. The birds feces is loaded with ammonia and nitrogen and comes out pretty moist,


Questions:

Will I be able to tame a pair of female coturnix quails if they are purchased as adults? Is it a fevered dream to hope to hold them without them trying to escape for their lives? Can time and patience turn them into enjoyable pets I can interact with or will they always fear and hate me?

Depends again on your dedication. They're the only quail that are "easy" to tame. The local humane society had one they called Cricket (when coturnix hens are upset or want something thats what they sound like), who was turned in as an adult and the staff tamed her to point that she followed them around the office and would hang out on their desks.

Handle them often and greet them with some sort of treat and it shouldn't take more than a couple weeks.

Chukars:

They sound fun but I'll have to pass for now

They're neat but they come with a whole different set of rules.

Thanks again! If my plan sucks please let me know, I'd probably keep them in my room with me or in another room if I can't handle the noise, smell or amount of dust.

Eric

P.S. Oh and I'd call a local live poultry store or farm to see if they had any so I could go and pick them up rather than ordering a million or incubating eggs. If that doesn't work I'll try craigslist.

It's best to avoid buying quail from places that sell any poultry. Chickens carry many diseases that they are resistant to, but will cause mortality in quail. Not all chickens are infected but there is no way to find out which ones are and which ones aren't so it's best to practice bio security and not take the risk. Here is a thread about a quail with coryza it got from a healthy seeming chicken.

Hatching eggs are the safest but any place that doesn't have chickens or is aware of the danger and practices bio security should be just fine.

 

[Szulptist]

CochinBrahmaLover:

Sounds good, Thank you again so much for the feedback!

dc3085:

I appreciate the specifics! What will probably end up happening is that I'll have to add them to my waiting list for future pets. Thank you so much for the information though, it has helped a lot with my decision making and grasping the full extent of the responsibility that they require.

Are there any other birds that sound more appropriate for me at this time?

Thanks again!
Eric

P.S. I really do appreciate you guys giving these quick and detailed responses, even if I do not get anything anytime soon I will always reference this thread in the future.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

I'd recommend pigeons, but you already have those...

 

[Szulptist]

Pigeons are amazing, they're one of my absolute favorite animals. If they weren't so dusty I'd love to keep one in my room with me. However when I tried to keep the two I have now in my room I knew after a few weeks that it wasn't going to work. The amount of dust and stray feathers was incredible, plus they weren't very tame when I first got them and they redecorated my room whenever I let them out (knocked a lot of stuff off my shelves). I was sold the pair as a hen and a cock (non-bonded) 7 months ago and still no eggs. She is healthy, no lumps underneath her, clean mouth and eyes and regular stool but no eggs. They mate everyday but I suspect she might be a feminine male.

but yea, I love pigeons and would easily become a pigeon man with a few dozen if it weren't for the limitations and requests by others to keep my animal quota on the lower side.

Eric

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

How old where they when you got them?

It might be winter. With spring coming you might find eggs. Best of luck with them. My pair is going crazy. I need hens for my 2 loner cocks though.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

My hen

One of her squab cocks

Most recent squab

Last years squab

Her mate


Have any pics of your guys? my hen is a homer, cock is just a wild pigeon we caught.