Are your coturnix chicks wild?

[sniper338]

My chicks freak out when I reach into the brooder... or walk in and stad by the brooder... I grab them and pet them to try to tame them down... but they act like a bobwhite!

My adults arent very tame either though...

 

[kazoo1111]

Did you buy the chickens or did the hens hatch them? Also if you want them to calm down, gently approach them and because they are apparently afraid of people if you have kids or anyone else in your house don't let them by the chicks until they get used to you first. Don't pick them up first just give them lots of treats such as corn and that just might do it. But if they were treated badly they may always be afraid of people. I bought some ducks of of a guy that scooped the poor guys up in a fish net to catch them! Even though they were young when I got them and treated them well, they were always scared of people because of how that man treated them.

 

[sniper338]

I hatched these out... been taking care of them ever since. They just dont like to be touched snd run all around...

Quite the opposite of chickens that i had when I was a kid... chicken chicks were tame and didnt mind sitting in you hand or lap...

 

[TwoCrows]

Quail babies are pretty stressed out and while you can tame them down somewhat, they will never tame up like chickens. Just keep handling them while they are young and in a few weeks, you should notice them a bit calmer. BUT...if their parents are wigged out, this wigged gene is passed down to the babies as well! LOL If you tame these babies down a bit, and breed the calmest hen to the calmest roo, their offspring will be calmer than the grand parents. If you then breed this offspring, these will be calmer yet. The calm gene will continue to be passed down if you breed the calmest females to the calmest males. I did this with my Bobs for years and my birds are so laid back, you might swear they are NOT bobs at all. LOL

 

[1000yearoldeggs]

The chicks I hatched were like that, but they got better. As adults, they tolerate being handled, more than I thought they ever would. I'm used to having cuddly pets like hamsters, so I started handling them a lot, probably more than most people, haha.

They stay pretty calm while I hold them, actually much calmer than any hamster I ever had. Treats help too, but don't give them any until they are a little older, I can't remember why, but I read it somewhere on this site. Enjoy them, they won't stay young for very long.

 

[sniper338]

Sounds like a plan if they ever lay!

 

[GD91]

Mine must be strange. They have never "popped" & run upto the door of their pen when you open it. They let you handle them easily. We didn't even handle them much as chicks because they were so fragile.
Ours were hatched from an incubator though.

Other strange behaviors they exhibit is greeting the chickens first thing i.e when the chickens flap out of their shed across the garden towards the quail pen the quail all start flying across the pen to press their faces against the wire at the chickens. They also do this to people.
Then the chickens & the quail spend a good few minutes flapping around together until everyone gets breakfast.

On top of that they will start shouting when their feed runs out which sounds so pathetic....

& they greet you with other noises to.

Mine are jumbo's, don't know if their size makes them more confident.

 

[TwoCrows]

If you spend enough time with them, they can become quite friendly. There are several people here in the quail section that keep Coturnix as house pets and some of these birds are extremely docile. They will snuggle under blankets, crawl around under your shirt and scream for you when you leave.

It depends on each individual bird, how they were raised and their environment. I had a Bobhwite hen that for years got on my lap when I patted on my leg. She was incredibly laid back. But you couldn't touch her without sheer panic! Then I have some males that I can reach down and pick up with no stress on their part, but they would never get on my lap.

Quail can learn their names and even be trained to do things. They are quite intelligent and learn quickly.

You have to move slowly around them, work with them, and hope for the best. Of course it helps to start with babies from calm parents.

 

[GD91]

I've found when handling that they like to be held firmly, but gently close to your body in your hand. They do not like being away from body contact. Also they like to have some grip with their feet.

I have to say, at ours you just open the pen door, stick your hand in & pick them up, they don't try to escape 9x out of 10. I was really surprised since I read they couldn't be handled. Love my birds