Recent content by Anorakei
-
Quail looking sick, suspecting eggbound or worms, any tips?
One of my coturnix japonica hens, Bean, has been acting kinda sick recently. I'd say 3 days ago is when I first noticed something might be wrong. Mostly she's standing around somewhere fairly fluffed up, neck retracted or tucked in like she's trying to sleep. She's drinking fine, seems to be... -
Coturnix nail clipping?
So the nails of my coturnixes have gotten too long. Two of them broke off a nail and that can't be good. I tried to cut them but the nail bled both times, even cutting more than 2/3rds of the way. Is bleeding normal or do you have to cut near the very tip? I'm not sure if cutting just the tip... -
Induced molting without fasting?
I live in Switzerland, so our seasons should line up. Do you know when in october? Daylight during that month ranges all the way from 11h to 9h, so if you're not sure I'll just go with 10h. Do you by chance live close to Switzerland and want an extra male? XD -
Induced molting without fasting?
The outside females have grown back quite a few feathers. At least one of them is still laying eggs, so not a proper molt, but at least they're finally regaining some feathers. Those two lost far too many in the past, their flight feathers are also quite worn down. Really hoping that won't... -
Induced molting without fasting?
I put two females outside where it's a bit colder. No molting yet, maybe they need both temperature and day length? They seem to be enjoying the sun during the day at least. I could turn up the heat in here and not cover them until pretty late, might trigger a summer molt. Missing out on... -
Induced molting without fasting?
Where do I get these molt helpers? Where I live it gets too cold in the winter to leave them outside on the balcony. Now in the summer I've put the two most in need of molting on my balcony, maybe it'll get them to molt. The ones inside don't have a fixed day/night since it kinda follows mine... -
Induced molting without fasting?
Does anyone know of a method of inducing molting in coturnix quail that doesn't involve fasting? So far all methods I've found involved not giving them any food for 2-3 days, which seems kinda rough. I'm also not interested in laying efficiency, just letting them properly renew their feathers... -
Mating stress, should I rehome one of my males?
Some background: When I originally got quail I kept them in three pairs. One worked out, the other two ended up with stressed females losing feathers from mating. By the time I managed to get more females those two had lost a lot of feathers on their back. Anyway once I had more females I... -
Sooo...How many eggs are Coturnix quail supposed to lay a day?
IIRC their maximum lay rate is 1 egg every 18h so if 36h passed between cleaning the cage and discovering the eggs the next day it's theoretically possible for one hen to have produced 3 eggs. Probably some kind of fluke. -
Funny sleeping position, normal? (flat lying down legs straight out like a corgi puppy...)
@Chip76 Do you just let them run around freely like a house pet? Wouldn't they poop everywhere? Or have you found a way to "potty train" them like a cat with a litter box? Most of mine aren't super tame - probably because I mostly left them alone when they were small, didn't want to stress them... -
How much balding is acceptable and how to counteract it?
Breaking up line of sight definitely helps, it's what I've already been doing. At one point one of my males was stressing out his female (they're in pairs), simply re-arranging some bendy hides into "walls" to give them more room to get away from each other instantly fixed the problem. Hadn't... -
How much balding is acceptable and how to counteract it?
Sometimes female quail will go "bald" on the backs of their heads/necks as a result of mating, especially if they are kept with a very active male and/or with just a male and no other females. Since mating is unavoidable, some feather loss is inevitable. The question is how much feather... -
Emergency- Bloody Stool and Eggs without Shells- Acting Sick
Aww, poor girl! Haven't had any experience with bloody stool, but one of mine would occasionally lay "failed eggs" (i.e. without shells) when she first started laying. I eventually figured out that her male was stressing her out, which I fixed by changing the cage's setup to give her more space... -
Quail variant and sex identification help?
I live in Switzerland, which makes stuff like this much more difficult because most people on places like BYC are in America. Craigslist is also an American thing. -
Quail variant and sex identification help?
Having the two males together didn't work out. They fought frequently even without any females in sight. Back to lone male. Even after putting him somewhere where he can't see any of the others, the lone male still calls frequently and generally seems unhappy. Maybe once I can move him to a...