Can a single quail live alone ~ happily?

[Fishkeeper]

Care is going to depend on what kind of quail it is. Can you post some pictures here?
You shouldn't keep it alone unless you absolutely have to. Quail are social. If you keep it with no other quail, it's going to need a lot of interaction from a human to be happy, and even then it might be lonely.

 

[oxymoron71]

It's hard to know what goes on inside these little birds heads. I posted this 8 years ago, let me tell you what transpired over the years.

This particular bird, who I had named Simon, was quite an intelligent bird who must have retained that "wild" gene because I believe his need for freedom caused him to be so aggressive with the females. I kept him within sight of the hens because complete isolation seemed to cruel. As with your boy, I felt sorry for Simon, but I had no other solution at the time.

However about a year later, at his age of 2, I had a lone female that needed a mate. I set them up each in their own cages within the aviary, side by side and left them this way for about 2 months. At first the hen was scared of Simon and he continued with his evil eye toward this hen. But eventually she must have gotten lonely because she began court him a bit from the other side of the cage. I let this go on for another month, (I let each of these birds out alone in a smaller aviary several times a week so they weren't stuck in small cages all this time), and then decided it was time to SEE if it was possible that this crazy male could actually have a normal relationship with a hen!! LOL Long story short, it worked! He was SO gentle with her, she was the boss and Simon was in love!!

Unfortunately being that she was 2 years older than him, she passed away a couple of years later leaving Simon all alone again. He mourned for 4 weeks, hiding under the brush pile, not uttering a word, not coming out for food, I was sure he was going to die under there. LOL But he came out of it one day, meaner than ever!! OMG, if he were a chicken rooster, he would have flogged me to death! Simon was horrible, flying up into my face, attacking my pant legs in the aviary, rushing me when ever he had the chance. LOL He was a very strong willed bird and would have made a wonderful wild bird, passing on wonderful genes of power.

Well, over the years, all my quail passed on, one by one. I had decided not to continue with quail and focus on chickens. Simon ended up being the sole survivor! And wouldn't you know, he got super friendly in the end, he was sitting on my lap, following me around like a drooling puppy looking for goodies, calling for me, coming when called, just sweet! He finally passed away in the fall of 2017, he was 7 years, 5 months and 11 days old. Hatched him myself. Sad day.

Good luck with your quail!

 

[oxymoron71]

oxymoron71Hatching
NewOh my what a story!!! I’m laughing and crying Bless Simon & his complicated psyche. I didn’t realise the post was so old when I replied to it , but how fantastic to get the whole story!! I will tell all to my son (who did the hatching) tonight.
My son has spent the last 2 weeks making an amazing run for them all...however I think Strip (my Simon ) will be in his guinea pig cage for a while yet. Maybe when his hormones have stopped raging & he’s matured into a lovely young man-quail I’ll give him another chance. But for now he’s just staring through the bars like a stalker

 

[TwoCrows]

oxymoron71Hatching
NewOh my what a story!!! I’m laughing and crying Bless Simon & his complicated psyche. I didn’t realise the post was so old when I replied to it , but how fantastic to get the whole story!! I will tell all to my son (who did the hatching) tonight.
My son has spent the last 2 weeks making an amazing run for them all...however I think Strip (my Simon ) will be in his guinea pig cage for a while yet. Maybe when his hormones have stopped raging & he’s matured into a lovely young man-quail I’ll give him another chance. But for now he’s just staring through the bars like a stalker

Great! Its definitely a hormone thing. Young birds are just loaded with them and when flooded, the bird can become aggressive. As the bird ages, he should calm down a bit, hopefully. LOL Do your best and good luck!!

 

[oxymoron71]

Care is going to depend on what kind of quail it is. Can you post some pictures here?
You shouldn't keep it alone unless you absolutely have to. Quail are social. If you keep it with no other quail, it's going to need a lot of interaction from a human to be happy, and even then it might be lonely.

 

[TwoCrows]

 

[oxymoron71]

Great! Its definitely a hormone thing. Young birds are just loaded with them and when flooded, the bird can become aggressive. As the bird ages, he should calm down a bit, hopefully. LOL Do your best and good luck!!

Thank you. And just an aside....have just come in and found our first egg!! At just 5 weeks. It was so warm!! I think the 4 of us will share it for tea

 

[TwoCrows]

Thank you. And just an aside....have just come in and found our first egg!! At just 5 weeks. It was so warm!! I think the 4 of us will share it for tea

Aww...congrats on that first egg!! Always egg-citing!

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

I enjoyed reading that alot! I've never had bob whites, just gambels (wild so-n-so's) and coturnix.

It's hard to know what goes on inside these little birds heads. I posted this 8 years ago, let me tell you what transpired over the years.....

 

[TwoCrows]

I enjoyed reading that alot! I've never had bob whites, just gambels (wild so-n-so's) and coturnix.

Quail sure are fun little birds, aren't they? Big personality in a tiny package!