Funny sleeping position, normal? (flat lying down legs straight out like a corgi puppy...)

[geminihc]

sorry for low quality photo.. had to zoom in

 

[MGG]

Yup, that's normal. It scared me the first time I saw it. It just means the chick is content and comfortable.

 

[Nabiki]

Yep, normal. Like everyone else, the first time I saw it I freaked out. It can mean that they're hot, so keep an eye on temperature.

 

[Quailobsessed]

That's normal. Quail can be quite strange.

 

[Chip76]

Pedro likes to stretch out, but on her side.
Here she is trying to help me work.

 

[Anorakei]

@Chip76 Do you just let them run around freely like a house pet? Wouldn't they poop everywhere? Or have you found a way to "potty train" them like a cat with a litter box?

Most of mine aren't super tame - probably because I mostly left them alone when they were small, didn't want to stress them out - except for the one male I pick up daily. If I could let his group roam in my room that'd be neat, but poop everywhere would be a deal breaker.

 

[Chip76]

@Anorakei

More than one quail roaming around the house would indeed produce an unmanageable amount of poo everywhere! However, one isn't quite as bad.

Most of my quail grew up in a pen either in my kitchen or outside. However, because the boys picked on Pedro from the moment she hatched, I had to keep her separate. Since she was alone, I hung out with her anytime I was home. She only went in her pen when I was gone, which wasn't too often, since I usually work from home. She followed me everywhere, napped on or near me, and enjoyed pecking on my keyboard (which was adorable until she got big enough to send people messages in slack and mess up my code ).

But even one quail does produce a lot of poo. When she is living in the house I cover all my furniture in blankets or sheets and put towels down wherever she hangs out. I walk around the house with a wet cloth and Resolve every evening to clean up any messes I missed during the day. Right now she's living on a screened patio since its nice outside, and we spend a lot of time with her there. When it gets hot (I'm in Phoenix), I'm planning to move her back into the house. She's happiest when she's with people. I've tried to introduce her to some different quail studs, but she just doesn't seem interested. She seems scared of other birds. But she is absolutely adorable and fun, and I love spending time with her. So it's worth it.

I have seen some posts from someone with a quail named Hugo who made a diaper for him to wear around the house. That might be a possibility. I sure wish potty training were possible, but no luck there. It's just too frequent..

 

[Green Bean Quail]

I’m late to this but my quails do that when I clean their cage and have the fresh dirt piles all stacked up. They look funny, thought they were sporadically dying at first but it just means they’re comfy

 

[Momto6kiddos]

Mine live in a ground enclosure on dirt and Spanish moss with a little bit of "grass". Their favorite thing to do is dig holes and lay in them like that. Sometimes when it's hot they bury themselves a little. If I see them doing that I put the screen up to block the direct sunlight. We're in FL so it already gets pretty hot midday.

 

[Keribabi]

Yup, that's normal. It scared me the first time I saw it. It just means the chick is content and comfortable.

Thank you , I was so worried about my new little quail and 2 of them do this .