Found a Quail This Morning

[The Chickens' Maid]

It's been an interesting morning. We found a little female quail in our back yard. We put her in our parakeet cage for the time being. She seems to be somewhat used to humans, and she settled down a little bit. We made a sort of cave out of the left over perches and an old t-shirt, and she seems to like it. We gave her some water and some wet dog food; she hasn't eaten or drank anything yet, though. I'll try to get some pictures.
Does anyone have any advice/information about quail/how do we care for this thing?

Thanks!

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

Here are the pictures:

 

[Denninmi]

I had the same thing happen years ago. I found a large, obviously tame bobwhite at work, out in the perennial greenhouse. It must have been someone's pet, it was not at all afraid of people. I took it home, because the garden center had a lot of semi-feral cats, plus all kinds of wildlife, and it wouldn't have made it very long.

I kept it for 3 years, it eventually died of old age from what I could tell, it slowed down more and more as time went on, but I think I gave it a good life overall. It was quite tame and friendly, enough that is would sit on my lap, hand, or shoulder at times when I sat on the couch.

If the quail you found not wild enough to survive, it could be kept as a pet. Feed it finch seed/wild bird seed, gamebird mash or chicken layer mash, give it grit or oyster shell, plus greens, fruit, mashed boiled egg, mealworms and crickets are good treats. They love to have a bowl of sand to take a dust bath. They don't perch, so you don't need perches, and long term, it probably needs a bigger cage than the one in the picture, more low and squat, but what it's in will work for a while anyway.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Aw, it looks happy in that cage!!!!!

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

That is actually a male Bobwhite quail... if that helps anything?

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

Thanks for the replies! I gave him some cooked egg and took the dog food out. He is actually pretty content. He is not running from us, but he is walking away when we touch him. We haven't seen any quail around here, but it's possible that he could have come from a field trial area close to us where they hunt with dogs. Is there any chance that a quail could survive on its own through the winter, or do they need a covey? We are in central CT.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Bobs are native to the US, there are a lot in Michigan (and it gets pretty cold!

) So yes, they do survive through the winter, they don't migrate like other birds. Are you planning on letting him go then?

Also, I don't think he would need a covey, but he might like company.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
They used to be common here in Oakland County when I was a child back in the 1970's. I haven't seen or heard one for probably 10 or 12 years now. I used to love hearing them.

 

[jimmythechicken]

if you decide to keep him you can shot me a pm an i can give you a guys number that sells them an you can get him a girl.i have a pair of bobwhite right now an i have53 eggs in bator i can give you a few when they hatch if you want we would have to wait till we could sex them the males will fight so you just want girls. we have let go quail when traning dogs at my house an the ones that got away stuck around for serveral years an there were only a few of them if there is a hunting area i am sure there are more out there for him to covey up with goodluck we live in mansfield ct.

 

[Stellar]

I love bobwhites. They are so beautiful and their calls are adorable.