Lonely quail and housing different breeds

[Lexie7]

A couple weeks ago I adopted 2 quail, one (Pablo) was always skinnier than the other (Popcorn), I had just assumed that it was because Pablo was younger than Popcorn until this morning it seems she had a seizure or heart attack. Popcorn hasn’t been taking it easy and calls out for Pablo often, so earlier today I called a pet shop to see if they had any quail for sale. Pablo and Popcorn were both Japanese quail, so decently sized. The pet store said they had two quail for sale so we went to pick them up but upon arriving we found out they were both male King Quail. We still decided to get them figuring they would get along just fine but upon inspection one of the King quail seem to be harassing my other quail. I tried to wait it out but she just seemed far too stressed, I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do for them to get the acquainted. Popcorn is a female quail but I assumed that because they’re different breeds they wouldnt try to fuss with eachother. Especially because the two King Quail are significantly smaller than my other. I live in a rather suburban area so it is difficult to find someone who sells well bred quail, both Popcorn and Pablo were purchased from a zoo that is quite far away. If anyone has any feedback on how to get them acquainted and also how to get the king quails to get settled and calm around me please let me know.

 

[Kiki]

I think you need to go ahead and work on getting another cage set up today so you can seperate them.

Where about are you located? I can try to help you find some other japanese quail near you.

 

[Lexie7]

I think you need to go ahead and work on getting another cage set up today so you can seperate them.

Where about are you located? I can try to help you find some other japanese quail near you.

Thank you, I’ll work on it!

Thank you, although I think I might just go back to the zoo where I purchased them to grab another. She seems to be doing alright at the moment and she settling down alright, I’ll get a cage set up for the king quails asap and find a good partner for my girl.

 

[Susan Skylark]

These are different species, not breeds. Their housing, feed, and social requirements are different let alone the danger posed by the larger birds to the smaller. King or button quail are a tropical species and coturnix or Japanese are native to Europe and Asia (temperate regions). You can have enough social issues within a species so introducing birds of different species is really tricky (assuming you can meet all the other housing and nutritional requirements of both species). Different cages are definitely recommended and even with other quail within sight and sound, isolated birds can still get mopey. It’s a soap opera at times!