My incredibly tame coturnix quail enjoying a massage 😍

[Ligeia Black]

Hy guys,

I wrote on this forum some time ago when I was raising my very first pet coturnix quail, I had 5 chicks and 2 of them turned out to be females... they became my beautiful house pets! For anyone that would like to know if coturnix quail make good pets and if they can be tamed... well I can clearly say that I've never owned a pet as amazing as these two ladies, they are the sweetest things ever!

I wanted to share with you a video where they let me massage them it's a pretty weird video as it is meant for an asmr audience (people that enjoy listening to sounds, in this case the bird's feathers) but I thought it would be funny to share it here since it is about quails.

I hope you like it haha

 

[maycwindu]

#quailgoals lol

I'd love to form a friendship like this with my quail. I got mine at 2.5 weeks, now they're 8 weeks, they really dislike being held. They're very tame, though; they like to hang out by my boots (because they know my boots can't grab 'em), accept treats, and are trained to run into the kitty carrier when it's time to go into the tractor. They just haaaaate being handled or touched. I can only get away with a few pats while they eat lol.

Maybe only Coturnix handled from chicks are super tame like yours. Perhaps one of these days mine will come around after some more work and patience. I just want to pet quail on my lap while I enjoy morning coffee...

 

[Ligeia Black]

#quailgoals lol

I'd love to form a friendship like this with my quail. I got mine at 2.5 weeks, now they're 8 weeks, they really dislike being held. They're very tame, though; they like to hang out by my boots (because they know my boots can't grab 'em), accept treats, and are trained to run into the kitty carrier when it's time to go into the tractor. They just haaaaate being handled or touched. I can only get away with a few pats while they eat lol.

Maybe only Coturnix handled from chicks are super tame like yours. Perhaps one of these days mine will come around after some more work and patience. I just want to pet quail on my lap while I enjoy morning coffee...

Hey there

Your quail sound lovely despite not wanting to be touched, it is pretty amazing that you managed to train them to run into the kitty carrier, I don't think mine would be smart enough to understand how to do that but they do love me indeed!
Especially Mimosa (the golden one), she is always looking for attentions, on the other hand Rosa is more independent and can be moody, especially when she is about to lay an egg and does not enjoy being touched until the egg mission is over haha.

Mimosa one time was so relaxed that she laid in my lap!!! I was really surprised haha. Anyway, I do believe that the reason why they are so tame is because I raised them from the moment they hatched, the first two weeks of their lives is the most important moment for imprinting, I handled them pretty much non-stop, fed them from my hands ect. I also taught Rosa to lay on her back and fall asleep which she continues to do in her adulthood. That being said I am sure that with time and patience your qual will become more tame, it does also come down to their own personality, out of the 5 chicks I raised 2 of them did not enjoy being handled (they were roos) and one little guy absolutely loved to be touched.

They are just like tiny people with their own personalities I guess

 

[Ravenlover]

Hy guys,

I wrote on this forum some time ago when I was raising my very first pet coturnix quail, I had 5 chicks and 2 of them turned out to be females... they became my beautiful house pets! For anyone that would like to know if coturnix quail make good pets and if they can be tamed... well I can clearly say that I've never owned a pet as amazing as these two ladies, they are the sweetest things ever!

I wanted to share with you a video where they let me massage them it's a pretty weird video as it is meant for an asmr audience (people that enjoy listening to sounds, in this case the bird's feathers) but I thought it would be funny to share it here since it is about quails.

I hope you like it haha

Finally more ppl who do this lol Anubis is our free roaming house quail (coturnix) male though , and he loves all this and is trained

 

[maycwindu]

Hey there

Your quail sound lovely despite not wanting to be touched, it is pretty amazing that you managed to train them to run into the kitty carrier, I don't think mine would be smart enough to understand how to do that but they do love me indeed!
Especially Mimosa (the golden one), she is always looking for attentions, on the other hand Rosa is more independent and can be moody, especially when she is about to lay an egg and does not enjoy being touched until the egg mission is over haha.

Mimosa one time was so relaxed that she laid in my lap!!! I was really surprised haha. Anyway, I do believe that the reason why they are so tame is because I raised them from the moment they hatched, the first two weeks of their lives is the most important moment for imprinting, I handled them pretty much non-stop, fed them from my hands ect. I also taught Rosa to lay on her back and fall asleep which she continues to do in her adulthood. That being said I am sure that with time and patience your qual will become more tame, it does also come down to their own personality, out of the 5 chicks I raised 2 of them did not enjoy being handled (they were roos) and one little guy absolutely loved to be touched.

They are just like tiny people with their own personalities I guess

While I was doing gobs of research on various methods of keeping quail, a lot of folks said the quail don't have developed personalities like chickens do. I've developed strong bonds with my chickens so I was disappointed to learn this about quail (I can't have chickens where I live currently so was hoping that quail could be like mini chickens for me). I've found for myself that the quail do have personalities but the differences are subtle and harder to spot to the untrained eye, especially among folks who don't spend much time bonding with their birds.

I think imprinting is key to unlocking cuddles with quail, and next batch I may try to raise as chicks. But for now I look forward to building a good relationship with my birds even if it'll never entail lap pets. Might move on to clicker training in the next couple of weeks.

edit: also I'm surprised the kitty carrier works as well as it does. I think because when they were smoll they spent a lot of their time in it, so it's their safe place. A few weeks ago a quail, my spazziest one, flushed from the tractor and all I had to do was put the carrier down and he went into it on his own. To move them from aviary/coop to tractor, I take their feeder away for about half an hour. They lure to the feeder like crazy even when they're not hungry, they're obsessed with it. Then I put the kitty carrier down and even before putting the feeder inside I already have quail running in expecting to be fed. It's super cute and makes moving them to and fro very easy.

 

[Poppetfeathers]

What lovely quail! I’m hoping to get some quail chicks this year and really want them as tame as possible. Hopefully with enough love and attention I’ll get one or two cuddly ones!

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Hy guys,

I wrote on this forum some time ago when I was raising my very first pet coturnix quail, I had 5 chicks and 2 of them turned out to be females... they became my beautiful house pets! For anyone that would like to know if coturnix quail make good pets and if they can be tamed... well I can clearly say that I've never owned a pet as amazing as these two ladies, they are the sweetest things ever!

I wanted to share with you a video where they let me massage them it's a pretty weird video as it is meant for an asmr audience (people that enjoy listening to sounds, in this case the bird's feathers) but I thought it would be funny to share it here since it is about quails.

I hope you like it haha

I had a Coturnix Roo who I would take outside with me on a harness. He was quite the attraction with the neighborhood kids He seems to enjoy being petted and fussed over, though he did kick like a horse when he was unhappy.

 

[Blue Penguin]

I'm slowly learning the personalities of my new quails, but there is one that isn't bothered at all by me holding her often. Maybe I can give her a nice massage one day too haha