Indoor Quail?

[Ksane]

I've got 2 baby Coturnix Quail I've raised from tiny chicks, they're about 8 wks old now. Both are male & get along fine. Can I expect them to continue getting along if there's no female added to the mix? They're the sweetest little things and shake their heads and chatter at me constantly. One in particular is my favorite and sits on the table by by computer watching me and chattering.
I see where most people keep these guys outside in huge groups, has anyone kept one or 2 of this species inside? I use wood pellets as bedding and it works perfect and even smells good. When I was using pine shavings the smell wasn't near so pleasant. I would like to build a little Quail habitat here in this room for them, would that be cruel to keep them inside? Otherwise I've got an 8' x 30' covered & secured run for the chickens 1 or both could go into. Any opinions?
Here's the extra sweet one.

 

[yinepu]

When i had quail before i kept them outside in rabbit hutches.. this time around I'm keeping them in the house. I'll be using wire rabbit cages.. was going to go with 4 (1 male 3 females) in 24 X 24 inch cages.. but have decided to go with the 30 X 30 inch instead (1 male and 5 females assuming my math is correct)... I'm thinking of 6 cages total stacked 3 high.. lol.. should be enough breeders to keep me in quail eggs for a while
right now the babies are still in the brooder.

 

[chrishel]

Shh...don't tell anyone (especially my husband). I keep mine inside.

I had 3, the females died after 2 1/2 years, I was left with one male. The male has always been kept separated since he severely injured one of the females. I kept him in a spare parakeet cage. Very small. That was probably cruel, but it was that or Camp Kenmore. Now he's got a huge cage.

I recently hatched 6 chicks. Everyone has and still lives inside. The original hatch lived in our living room (which we never used). Now everyone has their own bird room.

My older male still lives alone. The six chicks (now adults) live together in a rabbit hutch. They all get let out to roam around the room everyday for 1-2 hours. It all depends how much I feel like cleaning up after them when they are done. The room is hardwood floor, and I usually clean up with a paper towel or a Lysol wipe. I watch them very closely to make sure the older male is behaving. I would like to keep them altogether but I'm afraid to come home again to bloodshed.

The only problem is that 6 chicks can be smelly. 3 roos can be noisy, so I keep the door closed at night. When I open it in the morning, the smell can be quite strong.

With only 2 males, I would think that they might get along if they are already doing so. I would just watch them closely and be prepared that they might need to be separated. You might be lucky and they might get along the whole time.

It sounds like your coturnix have imprinted very nicely to you. I say, keep them as pets! It's very rewarding to have them. Birds (gamebirds or cage birds) are not like cats or dogs. They aren't domesticated and because of that, any interaction or connection to them makes it all that more special. (OK, I admit, I'm a crazy bird lady

).

Definitely do not put them with the chickens for disease sake.

 

[Stellar]

I have my eldest coturnix in my bedroom. Stella is my buddy. Recently gave him a retirement present because he was crowing too much so I put a female in a separate cage next to him... Well I needed the cage so Stella has Gloria now

 

[Ksane]

Yinepu, a rabbit cage might be an idea....except I want to put a couple bushes or something in there, too. But I could design a cage based on a rabbit cage. I like how rabbit cages have the pullout underneath.
Chrishel, you make me feel so sane all of a sudden lol Try wood pellets as their bedding. When it gets wet it just turns into sawdust, smells really good. Although I know Quail are smellier than other birds and with 6 or 7 I'm not sure if anything can be done. The Glade air fresheners that are cone shaped help though! I think they'd be better off inside than outside with less attention. They're certainly not the greatest flyers, are they? lol Mine consistently ends up in the wastebasket trying to make it to the counter

 

[Ksane]

Quote:
By crowing do you mean that chattering-like noise they make? I love that sound. You guys pretty much sealed the deal here, my 2 are staying IN!

 

[chrishel]

It's hard to explain what the crow sounds like. We say at our house Pokey sounds like he's saying, "Buck-A-Brat!" The two other males sound similar. They sound different, but I haven't been able to identify quail by crow yet. (I know, my craziness is showing

).

It's loud, maybe about as loud as a dog bark. Not loud like it will bother the neighbors. I can't hear them outside the house unless I really strain. But loud enough that if I'm sleeping, I will wake up (hence, the door is closed at night). But, my husband doesn't hear them, so that's really all that counts!

Guests at our house comment that they think they are visiting a jungle. But I've got 3 roos, 3 male budgies, and a male Lovebird, so when it's singing time, it's singing time. I find the singing and crowing to mean that everyone is happy. Other people just find it to be noise. Again, it's personal preference.

I've thought about fake plants and things, but for me, less cleaning is better.

Right now, they are on wire from the rabbit cage, and I put newspaper in the tray and I clean it everyday. I do like the Carefresh stuff (I use it in the brooder and it keeps the smell down). I thought about using it, but it's expensive and if I still change the tray out everyday, it's going to start adding up.

Quail don't really fly. They flush, so they pop straight up like popcorn. Again, not very bright, so I can totally see when they want to fly. They crouch down and launch. I've had the older roo try to fly away from me and instead fly at me and I've caught him in my hands. He got a talking to about being a crazy roo, and then I put him back down. They aren't very fast (on hard wood), so getting them back in isn't a problem. They all tend to feel more "safe" and comfortable in their cage, so sometimes I'll come back and everyone will be in there, and I'll say, "Thank you!" and close the door.

When I was younger I had quail outdoors and I have had a few escape. They don't fly, but they can glide far. And they hide and blend and stay still, so trying to find them is nearly impossible.

I've clipped their wings (like cage birds, not pinioned), in the past, but I've found it to be pretty useless since they don't really want to fly.

 

[Ksane]

Yea, it sounds like what I call 'chattering' is what you're calling 'crowing'. My Doves coo and makes a laughing noise all the time and I like that also. Other people would probably go nuts listening to it all the time. But I've also got lots of dogs, the chickens, sheep and a donkey who make noise, too

So the birds seem quiet to me. "Popping" definitely describes what they do when they're trying to fly lol!

 

[FenDruadin]

Quail make GREAT indoor pets! Girls will even gift you with eggs regularly, but yup, the boys make good pets too. We had one indoors for about a year. He was in a parakeet cage for a while, then moved to a small rabbit cage. Eventually, we moved him outdoors to a large pen and added some girls because we got tired of the crowing and also had the space to give him an outdoors life. But they can be very friendly and interactive, and if the cage is kept clean, they're no smellier than any other type of bird kept indoors.

I want to write an article about raising eggs indoors--you know, an urban homesteading type piece--but so far have not succeeded in selling the idea to any of the magazines I want to carry it. Nevertheless, I think keeping one or a small group indoors is wonderful.

Congrats on yours.

 

[jfulcher]

Quote:
By crowing do you mean that chattering-like noise they make? I love that sound. You guys pretty much sealed the deal here, my 2 are staying IN!

Crowing sorta sounds like they are throwing up in my opinion... They waggle their heads side to side and kinda sounds like BLEECH!

Thats how my males sound tho lol...