5 year old male quail

[TwoCrows]

Your birds sure are adorable!! And I love the "bed quail". Ha! She is too cute!

I will get a pic of Simon tomorrow. He is a bit shabbier this year. His fall molt was rough on him and he looks more disheveled. But he is still hyper and has a lot of spunk! I think he feels vulnerable at his age and doesnt come outside as much anymore. He does not like to be handled and has always considered himself above me in the pecking order. So he bites me sometimes. LOL He used to fly up in my face in the walk in aviary. Ha! He is a fun character to have around and I still love him even if he thinks he is bigger than me. LOL I am going to miss him greatly when he passes and hope he makes it another year.

 

[ashlierami]

Thank you! The bed bird is pooter. I'm not sure why I named her that but anyways. They all have such grand personalities. Simon is adorable I love any bird especially quail. I hope my 5 year old Texas baby makes it sseveral more years as well. He's my favorite and my pet. All of my quail are gentle and don't mind being handled. My Texas one will sit with you and "make a bed" and do what he would do if he was dusting. I have only had my other 4 for about 7 or 8 months on average so they aren't at that stage but they are friendly. My hens will eat from my hand. When mine were molting it looked like someone had a pillow fight in their area. Their feathers improved with their molt my hens were looking a bit rough due to the roo mating with them and pulling their feathers out. I look forward to seeing simon! He's so sweet.

 

[TwoCrows]

Pooter sounds so adorable! All your babies sound like fun quail!

How are your babies this morning?

I need a "bed quail". LOL I used to keep parrots here in the house and wow, they DID take over my bed! Ha! Bobwhites aren't as friendly, or should I say as tame as Coturnix quail can be. Bobs are a bit more stand offish for the most part and don't care to be handled much. But that is not to say had I made a house pet out of one or more of them they wouldn't have minded snuggling and touching. I had a hen once that loved to sit on my lap! She did not liked to be touched, but she always came running to see me and hopped up on my lap to see what kinds of goodies I was packing. LOL All of my Bobs readily eat from my hands and are not at all afraid of me but they don't like to be handled. Sometimes Simon gets to be too aggressive with me and I will grab him and hold him as I am cleaning out his area or something. LOL But I do love keeping them. I am letting them live out their lives and aren't planning on keeping any more after Simon is gone. I can say I am going to miss them horribly!! I started keeping quail about 11 years ago and it has been a wonderful journey with all of them!

I got some Simon pics this morning! He was NOT cooperating for the most part, scared of the camera. LOL He could use a claw trimming too. LOL...



He built a bowl nest back there yesterday, he was always a master nest builder and I have a pic of a huge monstrosity of a nest he and his mate put together a few years ago, I can show you later....

 

[ashlierami]

Simon is to cute. He looks unique to me since im used to coturnix quail. All of my babies are doing grand today. My hens always wait for me to bring them a treat. They love boiled eggs. I have also decided that after this crew that i have dies, then it will be the last for me. I find it more difficult to let them go once they pass than i thought. Considering their short life span it is very heartbreaking if they only live 2 or 3 years. I have been lucky that my texas elder has made it to 5 and i hope he has many more. My texas elder loves being held and loved on and often sits on the couch. My other 4 are friendly but are not to that point yet they would rather walk around and be nosey.

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh I too hope your old boy keeps on going for a few more years! It is possible, but we never do know. I keep chickens too and I have to say that my quail are far more healthier than my chickens?! Seems like every year a chicken is sick with something or dies. But my quail are SO hardy. I had one sickness in all my years with quail which I cleared up with antibiotics. And it was really my fault, I had added birds from a local guy up the road that had a big quail farm and the birds I added must have and Enteritis and my flock became ill. But I did save them all and it was the ONLY illness I ever had to deal with! Well, I did have one hen that contracted WEE from a mosquito bite. Wow, round the clock care for that bird but she made it! But over all, quail are pretty darn hardy!!

They sure are fun to keep especially when they are friendly. Simon checks out my hands every time I peek in on him, he is looking for any kinds of goodies I might be packing. LOL He eats ANYTHING. LOL I gave him a raspberry yesterday and he was completely beside himself, carrying it around in his coop, going outside with it, back inside, LOL. Eventually he did eat it. Ha! (I think he is still used to running from others that might steal it from him or he wants to feed his mate, which he no longer has one.

 

[ashlierami]

I honestly would not know what to do besides get on here and ask if my quail were to become sick. I have never had a suck one. My elder is very picky he will only eat his feed, seed, and occasionally mealworms. I refer to him as a city boy because he is picky and won't won't even eat bugs. My hens are always like a pregnant woman as I call it. They eat constantly and always want to know what I got to offer as a treat. I guess egg making does that to them. I provide my hens wil crushed oyster shell. How do the males know not to eat that? Also does Simon have a mate or is he living the Bachelor life?

 

[TwoCrows]

Quail are pretty hardy birds so you may never have a sick bird. Enclosed flocks usually stay healthy enough to the end. (they can briefly become sick in the end, but most of mine have just keeled over quick) Either they die of old age or some genetic issue which can take them earlier than expected. And of course egg binding is common in quail. I have never had any deaths from egg binding. (most egg binding stems from lack of water or becoming dehydrated, too much protein in the diet, lighting during the winter and or not enough oyster shell to put a hard shell and the contractions to push the egg out)

Spoiled birds are picky eaters. LOL Simon has begun to refuse all quail feed. I guess at his age, he is allowed. LOL He does love his greens, cabbage, seeds, mealworms, corn, veggies, fruits, bread, etc... He still eats well and is fat as a christmas goose! But some are very picky eaters and will only eat certain things. Males don't need much protein, especially if they are not mating much with the hens. If they are heavy maters, they will need a bit more protein as semen uses some protein. Hens use a LOT of protein in their eggs and a lot of calories as well. So the hens will be hungry all the time and will crave bugs and protein foods. Males not so much. When hens stop laying in their older age, they won't need as much protein nor the calories either. All the building blocks of life are in an egg. So to do this every day take a lot of water, protein and good food.

Birds have built in sensors on what to eat and what not to eat. Males do need a bit of calcium and will occasionally eat oyster shell, but not all that often. They just know. They also can tell if a plant is poisonous or not and generally won't eat anything poisonous unless they are starving to death. They just know.

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh and yes Simon is officially a bachelor now. I keep a radio on during the day for company and he really enjoys this. If the temp is due to go down below zero, I leave a heat lamp on since he doesnt have anyone to snuggle with.

 

[ashlierami]

I'm sure you can tell I am fairly new to this. I have only had quail for about 6 years. I started with a pair, then they died and I got another 3. When I got that 3 I wasn't and wware that the female would need so much calcium so the female of those 3 died and I was left with 2 boys. One of which was the elder I have now. His brother died so I got the ones I have now so that he wouldn't be lonely.Ilearn from them each day. This may sound weird but I do give them baths. It may not be recommended but I have been doing it to my elder for 5 years and he's fine. Maybe that is the secret to his youth.lol The jumbo brown hen I have is actually JUMBO she is so plump I don't know how she walks. My quail do drink alot of water I have to change it and refill it daily.I understand what you mean about chickens getting sick easier . When I did have chickens tthey were always sick in the winter and alot would die because it would spread faster than it could be treated. I have never had an issue out of my quails. It might have alot to do with their controlled environment and the fact that they aren't around any other birds.

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh I am so sorry for your losses!

Unfortunately poultry don't come with a manual. LOL So we learn as we go. I didn't know a thing about Bobwhites when I got them either and they can be a huge handful until I learned how to keep them during the breeding season. (pairs need to be separated in the summer) We can all make mistakes at first, but I am glad you kept going and have a nice flock now!

I did a lot of hatching years ago and had a couple of aviaries full of quail! It was a lot of fun over the years.

And as for the baths, maybe its like the fountain of youth?? LOL Love and attention goes a long way to keep them alive, along with quality living conditions. As long as they are happy, that is all that matters!!

Sounds you are giving your birds a very loving home!