imprinting

[Weirdness555]

They went out into the aviary as adults to live as nature intended away from my evil clutches XD

 

[TheWeeBee]

The only luck I've had with imprinting on buttons are when they've been rejected by the parents and I've had to raise them by hand. I have a tame pair, and four adults who freak out when I come near the pens. You have to handle them a LOT, get them to associate you with food and safety.

The tame pair raised a chick who, despite his parents having zero fear of me, turned out to be fearful. Hens wind up less tame than cocks because when they go broody their instincts override what they've "learned" (ie, human is good) and is temporarily replaced with "OMG PROTECT THE EGGS". My tame hen is funny, she recognizes the sight and sound of the bag of dried mealworms and will come running at full speed from across the room, or jump out of her pen, to come get them. All I have to do is shake the bag lol. She'll also play with an elastic hair tie by flipping it over her head.



My tame male is quite a character. He likes to play a game of what I call the wee-wee dance, where he'll crouch down as I wiggle my fingers at him and blow on him, and he'll mock-attack my hands by lunging and scooting away and then coming back for more. He never pecks at me or gets aggressive, it's all play to him. He's also very snuggly.

Apparently thinks there's something interesting in my shirt


Took this pic while he was in mid-crow

 

[Urucubaca]

I have a quartet of 'Button Quail'. We call them King Quails. The normal blue male, one standard female, one silver female and one fawn female.

They are still young, but so fearful of their lives.

I'm working on building a little unique enclosure for them wrapped around a tree so that they don't flutter and carry on so close to the door/entrance of the hutch when I open it.