Is the Quail the Right Bird for Me?

[mdees88]

You need to get them as chicks and handle them everyday. I have some adult birds I bought and they are super skiddish. I hatched out a bunch of jumbo browns and I held them daily. They are 4 weeks old now and some of them will stay in my hand. But I hatched out some Italians and they are very skiddish. After I hold them for a while they calm down but first time I get close they freak out....

 

[Papaw-John]

I am planning to get silkie eggs for my three grandsons to hatch and pen raise as pets. But they will be outside in a chicken tractor. I doubt their mother will let them keep them in the house. I believe the chickens would be happier if they can scratch around in the fresh air.
They look like they were bred to be a pet

 

[Fishkeeper]

Quail personality isn't a matter of color so much as bloodline. One person's group of silver coturnix might be chill and friendly, another person's group might be as flighty as wild quail. If you want to be sure, try asking the breeder.

 

[JaeG]

Did you do anything to make them friendly? I have coturnix that I got as adults and they are super flighty. They act like I'm going to murder them every time I open the cage. I do like watching them dust bathe and peck around. But I don't handle them because they are so against it.

They grow up indoors amid the chaos and I don't tend to pick them up but I have my hand in their cage interacting with them. My Buttons that were raised with them were pretty chilled out (for Buttons!) and a lot less flighty than the ones who are raised with only other Buttons for company.

Which colours are the more docile?

For me it's my gold/italians but you do need to find someone who breeds for temperament rather than just colour or production (meat/eggs) as their personalities are inheritable. I only let my sweetest males breed. I've had crazy quail before and it's not fun (they were ones we got at three weeks old). I think raising them yourself makes a big difference and giving them lots of exposure to people. If they only see a person once or twice a day to feed and water them because they are a few amid a hundred or more chicks they will be flighty and skittish. If they are where they can constantly see people coming and going and have people interact with them every day they will be a lot more chilled out.

 

[RosieR]

They grow up indoors amid the chaos and I don't tend to pick them up but I have my hand in their cage interacting with them. My Buttons that were raised with them were pretty chilled out (for Buttons!) and a lot less flighty than the ones who are raised with only other Buttons for company.



For me it's my gold/italians but you do need to find someone who breeds for temperament rather than just colour or production (meat/eggs) as their personalities are inheritable. I only let my sweetest males breed. I've had crazy quail before and it's not fun (they were ones we got at three weeks old). I think raising them yourself makes a big difference and giving them lots of exposure to people. If they only see a person once or twice a day to feed and water them because they are a few amid a hundred or more chicks they will be flighty and skittish. If they are where they can constantly see people coming and going and have people interact with them every day they will be a lot more chilled out.

Makes sense, I’ve already got my Breeder male picked out based on his acceptance of me interacting with him. He always runs up and pecks at my shoes lol