Hello! I'm new to the BYC forums, and am posting because I've got a quail dilemma. We adopted 2 coturnix quail the day after Thanksgiving. The quail were incubated in a first grade classroom, and the family that took these 2 home were having problems because their dogs were going insane with the little birds in the house. My kids are allergic to all things furry (but apparently not to feathery things, as far as I can tell) and cannot have pets of the normal variety, so the original idea was we'd put them out in a pen in the Spring. Now, they've been with us for a month and are officially the pets of my 8-year-old daughter, who loves them, of course, and frequently cried before their arrival because of her profound desire for pets in a pet-free house.
Anyhow, long story short: both quail are boys. I bought a multi-purpose cage to keep them inside until the weather got better to make an outside home for them. They did wonderfully for weeks and were delightful creatures that we couldn't get enough of, but then that magical bird-puberty kicked in and one aggressive guy was out to kill the other. We thought at least one of them was a girl, and that maybe this was mating behavior, but now they are both crowing, and seeing the awesome quail info post from monarc23 has convinced me we've just got boys.
It's not a huge disappointment to us not to have hens because eggs are not a priority here (egg allergy in the house), but it certainly has thrown me for a loop in terms of the quail raising experience. We live in a suburb that has pretty strict fowl laws (permit for each and every bird, no roosters, approval of all neighbors within 100 feet of the property line, etc.), plus a small yard, plus we don't have a basement or a garage to house the birds inside long-term. They are currently hanging out in the mudroom, which stays just a few degrees lower than the rest of the house (we keep it about 70).
So, what to do? We removed the more aggressive bird from the cage and the skittish one (a golden) calmed down immediately, which was nice. The aggressive brown one is unfortunately making do in a big rubbermaid container, while the golden is living large in a decked out cage. He is pretty mad (ETA: the brown one is mad, I mean).
We figure we have to find a new home for at least one of them, but I have many questions for you all about whether it is even conceivable to have 1 lonely little quail, let alone a male (in a community where a male bird wouldn't be allowed.)
This note is getting wordy, so I'll try to be more specific with my questions:
*Is it possible/advisable/wise to keep just one male quail? Do you think the crowing of one lone quail would attract attention? (I personally don't think so, but perhaps you all know better).
*If so, would he be able to be warm enough in an outdoor pen/coop all by his lonesome? Would a red lamp keep one bird warm enough? Should he be an indoor bird forever?
*IF we decided to keep both of them, would it be possible to construct a pen with fencing between the two of them and separate quarters, or would the boys continue to aggravate each other and be stressed? Same worries about warmth in winter if each has his own quarters.
*If we later added more quails, how many hens would be needed to keep two boys happy? (and yet, I'm not certain I want fertile eggs to deal with.)
*Am I insane?
Thanks!
Laura
Anyhow, long story short: both quail are boys. I bought a multi-purpose cage to keep them inside until the weather got better to make an outside home for them. They did wonderfully for weeks and were delightful creatures that we couldn't get enough of, but then that magical bird-puberty kicked in and one aggressive guy was out to kill the other. We thought at least one of them was a girl, and that maybe this was mating behavior, but now they are both crowing, and seeing the awesome quail info post from monarc23 has convinced me we've just got boys.
It's not a huge disappointment to us not to have hens because eggs are not a priority here (egg allergy in the house), but it certainly has thrown me for a loop in terms of the quail raising experience. We live in a suburb that has pretty strict fowl laws (permit for each and every bird, no roosters, approval of all neighbors within 100 feet of the property line, etc.), plus a small yard, plus we don't have a basement or a garage to house the birds inside long-term. They are currently hanging out in the mudroom, which stays just a few degrees lower than the rest of the house (we keep it about 70).
So, what to do? We removed the more aggressive bird from the cage and the skittish one (a golden) calmed down immediately, which was nice. The aggressive brown one is unfortunately making do in a big rubbermaid container, while the golden is living large in a decked out cage. He is pretty mad (ETA: the brown one is mad, I mean).
We figure we have to find a new home for at least one of them, but I have many questions for you all about whether it is even conceivable to have 1 lonely little quail, let alone a male (in a community where a male bird wouldn't be allowed.)
This note is getting wordy, so I'll try to be more specific with my questions:
*Is it possible/advisable/wise to keep just one male quail? Do you think the crowing of one lone quail would attract attention? (I personally don't think so, but perhaps you all know better).
*If so, would he be able to be warm enough in an outdoor pen/coop all by his lonesome? Would a red lamp keep one bird warm enough? Should he be an indoor bird forever?
*IF we decided to keep both of them, would it be possible to construct a pen with fencing between the two of them and separate quarters, or would the boys continue to aggravate each other and be stressed? Same worries about warmth in winter if each has his own quarters.
*If we later added more quails, how many hens would be needed to keep two boys happy? (and yet, I'm not certain I want fertile eggs to deal with.)
*Am I insane?
Thanks!
Laura
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