Hi, new to Quail :)

[DUCKGIRL89]

Ok, long story short, I bought my sisters male bob white quail today. She had a breeding trio, but she almost never fed them, so the 2 hens died. I wasn't gonna let her kill the male, so I said I would buy him from her, and she said "ok, $12" I couldn't let him sit there and died, so I bought the darn thing. Hes almost starving, still very active though, and a nut case!! I have game bird feed that I have been feeding him, any advice? Hes in a rabbit cage right now. Thanks!!!!

Madison!

 

[TwoCrows]

Bobwhites are pretty spastic if they have not been raised well. So this little guy is probably going to be scared for the rest of his days. On this note, when you open the rabbit cage. be very careful he does not escape as you will never see him again.

To calm him down a bit, cut off a branch or branches from a nearby tree that has leaves or pine works well also, and prop it up in the cage with him so he can feel like he can hide and feel secure. Offer him a place to get off the wire if you are not using any bedding, so he can rest his feet. Put in a pan of dirt or sand for dust bathing. Some fresh water. His feed.

Quail love greens, peas on the pod, sliced apples peaches and nectarines.

Most of all, give him time to adapt. He may be scared of you for sometime. But quail are food oriented and if he sees you bringing him treats during the day, he will get a bit more friendly. Never expect to be able to handle him, even the most tamest of Bob will never like being handled.

Good luck with your little guy!

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Great!! Thanks! I'm thinking of getting some hatching eggs, and hatching a few hens for him once I know he won't die..... I kill poultry somehow.... they just don't love me, even though I love them!!

I will slice up some veggies, give him a branch, food, dirt.... My sister barely even gave him water, he will be in HEAVEN!

So excited about my little guy. Would button quail be spazes to? Would he hurt them If I got him a few button females? hhhmmm. I want a good pet!!

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

He kinda looks like the quail in your pic, only no face stripes.

 

[TwoCrows]

Great!! Thanks! I'm thinking of getting some hatching eggs, and hatching a few hens for him once I know he won't die..... I kill poultry somehow.... they just don't love me, even though I love them!!

I will slice up some veggies, give him a branch, food, dirt.... My sister barely even gave him water, he will be in HEAVEN!

So excited about my little guy. Would button quail be spazes to? Would he hurt them If I got him a few button females? hhhmmm. I want a good pet!!

It is not recommended to mix other species of quail with Bobwhites, especially Buttons. They are way too small for a Bob. Good luck with your new boy!

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Hhhmmmm, Well maybe I will get some of both! How many females would you get for him? Is 2 enough? Or even 1? I want to have some that I can actually handle, so I'm gonna hatch the bob females. And a few buttons.

Would he be crowing if he was a male? How do they crow? Like a chicken? If so, he is NOT a male, and he is over 4 months old, wasn't getting eggs from the 2 hens before they died either.

 

[TwoCrows]

I don't know much about Buttons. So I can't give you much advise there.

As far as Bobwhites. They mature slowly so at by 16 weeks, or 4 months, you should be able to sex them. The males will look like my avatar, black and white mask on the face. The females will have a two toned brown face.

Bobwhites don't start laying until 5 or 6 months. The males won't start crowing til then either and really don't start up til the following spring. They "crow" to attract a mate only. Once he finds a mate, he never makes that typical Bobwhite call again. He will make other noises, but will be on a much quieter level.

Bobwhites are usually monogamous, in other words, only pair up male to female. If you hatch out several babies, you will want to pair them up this way or they will fight during breeding season. During the off season of breeding, males and females will live peacefully together.

 

[jbobs]

From my experience, most buttons are pretty spazzy too, I don't care for them much. I think a Bob would eat a button for breakfast lol. If he is young and has no face stripes yet, a male should still have more blackish-gray on his head stripes than a female. Here is a photo of a 9 week old male that was the only bird to hatch in his group, I kept him as a pet and he imprinted on people. We called him Cory LOL



Cory was only tame because he never saw another bird his whole life and thought he was a human being. He enjoyed riding on shoulders and sitting in laps, but he's definetly the exception to the rule. Normally raised bobwhites will naturally be scared of people even if raised in captivity. I would get some mealworms and practice coming up to the cage and dropping a couple in a few times a day and see if he learns to anticipate the treats with you approaching the cage. It would definetly help ease his fear.

BTW I highly DO NOT reccomend trying to hatch a bobwhite alone and imitate what I did with Cory. It was bad news all around. I had a dozen eggs in the bator and he happened to be the only one that hatched, but I learned the hard way that they don't make the best of pets. He was like a parrot - he had to be with me 24 hours a day and went nuts if I ever had to leave him alone. Then when he reached maturity he started to get very very aggressive and attacked everyone in sight. He was a miserable bird and we ended up putting him down.

You could try finding a young female from someone in yoru area and introducing them, that might be better than trying to hatch some because it would be several months before you could put them together, and you will likely end up with some extra males and be in the same boat as you started with.

Good for you for saving him from abuse! I hope she doesn't treat the rest of her animals that way. Some people just should not own animals :/

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Heres my Bobwhite Quail



Roo, or Hen??? Hes a beautiful boy!

He doesn't crow, but he does do his bobwhite noise when he sees me in the morning. I love him! I gave his a bowl of dirt, some cabbage in a bowl, a pint water container, and a tray FULL of gamebird food. He isn't to spazzy around me, but is still very. Just not as much as before. I love his gray feathers!!......... Will they stay like that????

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

From my experience, most buttons are pretty spazzy too, I don't care for them much. I think a Bob would eat a button for breakfast lol. If he is young and has no face stripes yet, a male should still have more blackish-gray on his head stripes than a female. Here is a photo of a 9 week old male that was the only bird to hatch in his group, I kept him as a pet and he imprinted on people. We called him Cory LOL



Cory was only tame because he never saw another bird his whole life and thought he was a human being. He enjoyed riding on shoulders and sitting in laps, but he's definetly the exception to the rule. Normally raised bobwhites will naturally be scared of people even if raised in captivity. I would get some mealworms and practice coming up to the cage and dropping a couple in a few times a day and see if he learns to anticipate the treats with you approaching the cage. It would definetly help ease his fear.

BTW I highly DO NOT reccomend trying to hatch a bobwhite alone and imitate what I did with Cory. It was bad news all around. I had a dozen eggs in the bator and he happened to be the only one that hatched, but I learned the hard way that they don't make the best of pets. He was like a parrot - he had to be with me 24 hours a day and went nuts if I ever had to leave him alone. Then when he reached maturity he started to get very very aggressive and attacked everyone in sight. He was a miserable bird and we ended up putting him down.

You could try finding a young female from someone in yoru area and introducing them, that might be better than trying to hatch some because it would be several months before you could put them together, and you will likely end up with some extra males and be in the same boat as you started with.

Good for you for saving him from abuse! I hope she doesn't treat the rest of her animals that way. Some people just should not own animals :/

Aww, I'm sorry about your baby! He was cute! :/

She has a cat. Thats it. I'm glad I bought the quail from her. He is doing better. I have a bunch of ducks, and take care of her stuff, AND mine. I hate it when she gets animals. She sometimes even forgets to feed he darn cat!

She had a rabbit, but it died to because.....well........ she didn't feed it enough, I did it half the time!