Getting baby quail to not panic as much when picking them up?

[Jannbo]

I got my coturnix chicks when they were 5 days old and they are now 9 days old. I know quail tend to not like being picked up, but these guys have pretty major freak outs if you do anything more than gently nudge them with a finger. I've only picked them up to move them to a temporary container while I clean their brooder, but its hard to even keep them in my hands when I pick them up like that. I don't come down from above, I move my hand down the side of the brooder and pick them up from the side or pick them up with both hands from the side. I'm not trying to get them to be super snuggly or jumping into my hands as I know that's pretty much impossible without hatching them yourself and spending a ton of time with them every day. I just want to be able to pick them up without them desperately trying to escape the whole time so I can examine them a bit closer and be sure they're not having any issues or injuries. With the way they are now, there's not a chance I could do any sort of health check on any of them.

I know they don't see me fully as a predator or threat because they recognize I'm where their food and water come from, and when I'm sitting next to their brooder, they're quite curious about me and will peck at the wall till I tap back. All of them are healthy as far as I can tell and they've been eating, and drinking just fine with normal looking poops. Would just holding them more help out with it? I'm next to their brooder essentially all day long, spending probably about 2-4 hours away in total per day at the very most. I talk to them in a calm, quiet voice regularly so they'll be familiar with me hopefully, but none of that has helped in the slightest in terms of their freaking out when I need to pick them up. Anything I can do at all would be a big help, I just want to be sure I can actually handle them when I need to without the constant worry of hurting them when trying to keep the right balance between holding them firmly and also not too tightly so they don't get hurt

 

[Nabiki]

I don't think that holding them more would help, but hanging around them certainly will. If you become "that big thing that's always around making soft noises," they are less afraid and less likely to panic when you scoop them up.

When I pick mine up, I always open my hands and let them hop out on their own when they're where I want them to be. After a while they are less likely to hop off in a panic and less likely to panic when I pick them up.

 

[Jannbo]

I don't think that holding them more would help, but hanging around them certainly will. If you become "that big thing that's always around making soft noises," they are less afraid and less likely to panic when you scoop them up.

When I pick mine up, I always open my hands and let them hop out on their own when they're where I want them to be. After a while they are less likely to hop off in a panic and less likely to panic when I pick them up.

I figured picking them up more was definitely not the right move, but wanted to check before I dismissed the idea.

The odd thing is they will sit in my hand for a bit after I've lowered them into the storage tub I keep them in while I'm cleaning their brooder for a few seconds before stepping out, and same with when I put them back in their brooder after cleaning. Stranger is they've definitely become attached to me because they've thrown a fit both yesterday and today when I put the towel over the side of their brooder facing where I am so the light from screens doesn't keep them up at night. They'll calm down a bit if I talk to them, but if I lift it up so they can see me then they become much calmer. Being around them is obviously having a positive affect on them, I just hope it'll mean they don't panic as much before they start really flying. Don't need them flying out the bit I leave open when I'm moving them

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

I’ve had better luck scooping mine up from below, with their keel resting on my palm, and holding their legs between my fingers. They tend to panic a bit less than when snatched from above (which makes sense from a predator/prey predictive) but if they do flap/panic I have a decent hold on the legs and can bring my other hand over the top to hold the wings in.