enrichment/enclosure for indoor setup (plants,toys, etc)

[organicbabydolls]

Awe, I have a pair of indoor silkies, they love wandering around

 

[fat brown hen]

You just can’t do that. The males will overbreed the hens,

I can see that happening in a small cage, but you've given each one 79”x59”, presumably with lots of enrichment and hiding places. I'm not disagreeing with your setup; it's just very different from anything I've seen. Do the hens need to be isolated too?

 

[fat brown hen]

To keep this thread on track -- I've kept injured chickens indoors in a dog crate for a spell. They get plenty of enrichment watching people do stuff around the house; it's similar to the way humans sit in a chair and watch chickens all day. And having observed my own free range birds, they probably spend at least 80% of the day just sitting on the ground chillin'.

 

[WildNectarine]

I can see that happening in a small cage, but you've given each one 79”x59”, presumably with lots of enrichment and hiding places. I'm not disagreeing with your setup; it's just very different from anything I've seen. Do the hens need to be isolated too?

Of course. The Japanese quail, the wild ancestors of the coturnix, only live in groups during the winter, they never lay around other hens, and that’s why so many people have issues with hens fighting, they are only meant to be together during periods of low light, and thus low hormones. Though, we have bred them for thousands of years, so I can’t say they need exactly what their wild ancestors do, and, you could manage their light to make them think it’s winter all the time, and probably get away with it, but I try to give them the most natural, healthy life while sparing them pain, quail are brutal to each other, and though they have social need, my theory is that they simply just don’t want to be the only bird when a predator comes, and they get anxiety about it, not that they want ”friends”. They are very intelligent in many ways, they can solve many foraging puzzles, and they can read your body language and tell the difference between when you’re just going in to fix something in their enclosure, or to grab them; but they are not the smartest when it comes to social life, and if it looks like a quail, it’s enough.

 

[LyleVertigo]

I can't recommend strongly enough against raising chickens inside your home. There are so many reasons.

I learned my lesson, never again! XD

 

[fat brown hen]

need, my theory is that they simply just don’t want to be the only bird when a predator comes, and they get anxiety about it, not that they want ”friends”.

Sure, I agree with that. I'm curious -- when you give your quail a plush friend, does the quail see it as male or female? Do your roosters offer treats to it, or attack it? Do the females chirp at it?

My male turkey attempts to mount some humans, and challenge others. I have yet to figure out how birds make a mental determination of male/female when judging members of another species.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Sure, I agree with that. I'm curious -- when you give your quail a plush friend, does the quail see it as male or female? Do your roosters offer treats to it, or attack it? Do the females chirp at it?

My male turkey attempts to mount some humans, and challenge others. I have yet to figure out how birds make a mental determination of male/female when judging members of another species.

This is not about quail and I realize I’m butting in a bit here but there was a thread a few weeks ago where someone gave their roosters stuffed chickens to reduce the attention they gave to the hens. I asked if the roosters actually used them that way and was told yes, very much so. If I could remember what the thread was about I could find it and provide a link but I can’t remember. Butting out now.

 

[WildNectarine]

Sure, I agree with that. I'm curious -- when you give your quail a plush friend, does the quail see it as male or female? Do your roosters offer treats to it, or attack it? Do the females chirp at it?

My male turkey attempts to mount some humans, and challenge others. I have yet to figure out how birds make a mental determination of male/female when judging members of another species.

I don’t think gender matters much to them, hens can mount, too. My roosters will tidbit for a while when they get treats, even though it never comes over. Sometimes when I’m picking it up to wash it, they’ll beat it up, while also trying to beat me up for taking it, so I really don’t know. I have been working on getting some to go in their crates, what I put them in when I clean every day or other day, willingly, by putting their plush mate in there, because they will follow wherever I put it.

 

[fat brown hen]

Sometimes when I’m picking it up to wash it, they’ll beat it up, while also trying to beat me up for taking it, so I really don’t know.

My turkeys do that too. Birds will attack any flock member that is behaving strangely, and a levitating friend looks very strange indeed. And your hand just looks like an extension of the "friend".

I wonder if (chicken) roosters could be kept the same way, solitary confinement with a stuffed animal. If they end up as quiet and well-behaved as your quail, that would help a lot of people.

 

[WildNectarine]

My turkeys do that too. Birds will attack any flock member that is behaving strangely, and a levitating friend looks very strange indeed. And your hand just looks like an extension of the "friend".

I wonder if (chicken) roosters could be kept the same way, solitary confinement with a stuffed animal. If they end up as quiet and well-behaved as your quail, that would help a lot of people.

I wonder that, too, and that’s why I try to suggest it now on any rooster behavioral post I see lately, it’s unorthodox, and I do get backlash, but if it works, it works. I think people have a hard time not anthropomorphizing, putting themselves in the bird’s shoes and feeling bad for them, which is noble, but the truth is is that just because an animal is “social” doesn’t make it social the same way as other things, like us, it’s like you said, the moment a flock member acts strange, it’s not a friend anymore, and they’ll attack. That was my biggest fear with my birds, was anything happening to them, and I just kept reading and reading all these stories with coturnix quail just going nuts and attacking each other, but then being stressed when isolated, and I didn’t know what to do, none of it made sense, I think there was actually a post here on the site somewhere where someone was asking about pet quail behavioral issues, they had a few pet hens who were fighting, and eventually said something along the lines of “So they want friends, but they also want to kill their friends?!” in complete exasperation and despair, and everyone’s answer was just “Yeah, they do that”, and it was about the same level of advice for when roosters scalped hens overbreeding them, it was always “Get more to distract him”, but then sometime’s they’d just play favorites anyway; I just could never accept any of this for my beloved pets! The quail who started the whole plush thing was my first rooster, and I’ll admit I did everything wrong the first time, but I was trying so hard with all the conflicting information to do right. When I was in the petstore one day, I saw this little bed made for guinea pigs, and I bought it as a joke, but nothing could’ve prepared me for how much he loved that bed, every second he wasn’t begging for mealworms he was sleeping in that bed, like a tiny dog, using the sides as a headrest, and of course it was also his “mate”, but he still always crowed, was always looking for other quail; he passed before he even reached a year to a genetic issue, and I miss him every day, I could let him out of his cage and he would just skitter along the floor, always so friendly, would never run away or flush, or try to fight you, all he ever wanted was treats. But it was him and his bed that later gave me the idea of what if the roosters got dedicated plushes, and it all went from there.