Quail and Budgies together?

[jak2002003]

I have a large flight cage (2meters X 2meters) with houses my 12 parakeets.

Would it be OK to put in some Japanese Quails? I want them as just interesting pets and to eat the eggs.

The bottom of the aviary is wire mesh grid so droppings fall though.

The budgies are all males (and so no breeding going on which means they should not be aggressive to the quails).

I have several questions which maybe you can help with....

1. How many Japanese Quails is best for a small group?
2. Can I keep just one pair... or will the male over breed the female?
3. Is clipping their wings a good idea so they don't fly up and injure their heads or startle the roosting budgies at night?
4. Do they like a nest box to go inside and sleep or hide in?
5. I want to get the pure white Japanese Quails (the only ones the pet shop has), but how can I tell male and female in the white birds. I noticed some have brown patches on their heads.

6. read about them needing high protein food. Here we are very limited to what bird foods we can get... we are only able to get chicken and duck food.

Could I feed them chicken chick starter, or chicken egg laying pellets and add hard boiled egg for extra protein? Will they also eat the parakeet seeds? Do they like any greens?


Thank you.

 

[DK newbie]

Lots of questions!
I'll try to answer most of them, but keep in mind I don't actually own japanese quail - what I know about them mostly comes from this forum.
I do however own button quail (aka Chinese blue breasted quail aka King quail), which are smaller than the japanese quail, and I keep those with budgies, so I have some idea as to how the species might interact.
With the button quail, there has been very little trouble. At one point I had a young budgie that was quite a troublemaker - occasionally he would attempt to jump on the back of a button but on the ground the buttons are faster than the budgies, so it was no real issue for them to escape.
At one point he managed to catch a newly hatched button chick in the aviary (not an issue you are likely to have as coturnix rarely hatch their own eggs). He investigated it with his beak but I found no actual holes in the chick. It was very lethargic but alive when I found it - I heated it up till it was moving more, then put it back with its parents. It seemed okay at that point, but the next day a chick was dead and I suspect it was that one.

With the japanese quail, I'm unsure whether the quail might be aggressive towards the budgies - but I'm pretty sure the budgies won't hurt the quail at least.

1)+2) 1:4-1:7 is a recommended ratio. If you don't want chicks, you could keep all girls (2+). Some people get away with just a pair, but usually that's in a natural setting (outdoor aviary with dirt floor and plants). It depends on the birds as well though - one roo might kill the hen in a day if he has just one, the other might live happily with her all their life.

3) I keep buttons and budgies together in a cage in my living room as well as in an outdoor aviary and sometimes there have been night freights in the living room (I don't know if it's been an issue in the aviary). I've ended up adding a blue LED light strip that turns on at night so they can see where they fly and find their way back to their perches if the get startled. Clipping the quail might work, if flying quail is the only reason for night freights, but the quail are actually good at jumping - they could probably get quite a bit into the air even with a severe wing clip.
With regards to injuring their head - how tall is this flight cage? In general, if you can walk upright in it, the risk of head injuries shouldn't be big.

4) Apparently coturnix quail do, yes. My buttons like tunnels but not boxes, but I've seen pictures on this forum of cots cuddling in boxes.

5) If they are mature (around 8 weeks) you can vent sex them. Turn them upside down, apply pressure beside the vent and if foam comes out, it's a male.

6) Read the lables of what you can get, and choose the one with most protein (usual recommendation is 24-30% but I'd say if it's above 20% you should be fine). If you can get gamebird feed or turkey starter, that's probably the way to go. Otherwise chick feed or duck feed will probably be okay. No matter which one you choose, give them a calcium supplement in a separate dish so they can take what they need.
If the feed is very low in protein they would benefit from hard boiled egg.
They love parakeet feed but it's very low in protein (usually around 12%) so they shouldn't be allowed to eat it - only as an occasional treat. Once they get started, they will usually eat many different greens as well.

 

[007Sean]

Lots of questions!
I'll try to answer most of them, but keep in mind I don't actually own japanese quail - what I know about them mostly comes from this forum.
I do however own button quail (aka Chinese blue breasted quail aka King quail), which are smaller than the japanese quail, and I keep those with budgies, so I have some idea as to how the species might interact.
With the button quail, there has been very little trouble. At one point I had a young budgie that was quite a troublemaker - occasionally he would attempt to jump on the back of a button but on the ground the buttons are faster than the budgies, so it was no real issue for them to escape.
At one point he managed to catch a newly hatched button chick in the aviary (not an issue you are likely to have as coturnix rarely hatch their own eggs). He investigated it with his beak but I found no actual holes in the chick. It was very lethargic but alive when I found it - I heated it up till it was moving more, then put it back with its parents. It seemed okay at that point, but the next day a chick was dead and I suspect it was that one.

With the japanese quail, I'm unsure whether the quail might be aggressive towards the budgies - but I'm pretty sure the budgies won't hurt the quail at least.

1)+2) 1:4-1:7 is a recommended ratio. If you don't want chicks, you could keep all girls (2+). Some people get away with just a pair, but usually that's in a natural setting (outdoor aviary with dirt floor and plants). It depends on the birds as well though - one roo might kill the hen in a day if he has just one, the other might live happily with her all their life.

3) I keep buttons and budgies together in a cage in my living room as well as in an outdoor aviary and sometimes there have been night freights in the living room (I don't know if it's been an issue in the aviary). I've ended up adding a blue LED light strip that turns on at night so they can see where they fly and find their way back to their perches if the get startled. Clipping the quail might work, if flying quail is the only reason for night freights, but the quail are actually good at jumping - they could probably get quite a bit into the air even with a severe wing clip.
With regards to injuring their head - how tall is this flight cage? In general, if you can walk upright in it, the risk of head injuries shouldn't be big.

4) Apparently coturnix quail do, yes. My buttons like tunnels but not boxes, but I've seen pictures on this forum of cots cuddling in boxes.

5) If they are mature (around 8 weeks) you can vent sex them. Turn them upside down, apply pressure beside the vent and if foam comes out, it's a male.

6) Read the lables of what you can get, and choose the one with most protein (usual recommendation is 24-30% but I'd say if it's above 20% you should be fine). If you can get gamebird feed or turkey starter, that's probably the way to go. Otherwise chick feed or duck feed will probably be okay. No matter which one you choose, give them a calcium supplement in a separate dish so they can take what they need.
If the feed is very low in protein they would benefit from hard boiled egg.
They love parakeet feed but it's very low in protein (usually around 12%) so they shouldn't be allowed to eat it - only as an occasional treat. Once they get started, they will usually eat many different greens as well.

Well put!

 

[Susannah4040]

I have the large Jap quails, but they are beside our budgie's cages...the Japs have a 'different' nature to the small King Quails - the Kings are housed with budgies a lot over here...so, sorry can't help you there, but great help from DK newbie.

 

[jak2002003]

Thanks DK Newbie.

I am very excited to get some... the white ones look so cute.. like snowballs with legs.

I will get 1 male and 2 females as see how they go. If the male is too aggressive with them I could swap him for another female... or just get more females to add.

The cage is taller than me.. but the base is raised about 1 foot above the ground.

Only issues I have can think of is how to stop them eating the bird seed... as the budgies have this in a tray on the floor... because otherwise they empty out any feeders in minutes (seems to be a great game to them). I might be able to hang the tray up thinking about it.

When I get some I will post some photos on here.

 

[JaeG]

As long as there are hiding places and your male isn't an overly zealous boy, a trio should do fine with all that space. You will have to change how you feed your budgies though because the quail will prefer the seed (as well as dust bathe in it) rather than eating their higher protein feed which the females need to produce eggs.

They tend to sleep rough rather than seek shelter but enjoy straw to hide in and bed down in. My girls will usually seek an enclosed, private area to lay their eggs and seem to prefer straw over shavings.

I'd give them a large dust bathing tray so that they can get off the wire sometimes, and make sure you keep the wire clean as dried poop can become sharp, causing bumblefoot.

I don't think clipping their wings will stop them from flushing upwards if startled as it's more of a leap with very little wing flapping involved. The height of your cage means you shouldn't have a problem with them injuring themselves.

White birds can only be vent sexed. That only works if they are mature (I couldn't see any difference before that). And just be aware they may poop as you are checking. Males will crow but subordinate males may keep quiet. It all depends on how old they are and how many daylight hours they are exposed to as males don't crow outside of the breeding season or before they are mature. Males will tidbit to the females if they are old enough, using a low, grunting/rumbling sound so a few dried meal worms tossed in there might cause them to reveal themselves. The ones that jump in to eat should be girls.

 

[jak2002003]

As long as there are hiding places and your male isn't an overly zealous boy, a trio should do fine with all that space. You will have to change how you feed your budgies though because the quail will prefer the seed (as well as dust bathe in it) rather than eating their higher protein feed which the females need to produce eggs.

They tend to sleep rough rather than seek shelter but enjoy straw to hide in and bed down in. My girls will usually seek an enclosed, private area to lay their eggs and seem to prefer straw over shavings.

I'd give them a large dust bathing tray so that they can get off the wire sometimes, and make sure you keep the wire clean as dried poop can become sharp, causing bumblefoot.

I don't think clipping their wings will stop them from flushing upwards if startled as it's more of a leap with very little wing flapping involved. The height of your cage means you shouldn't have a problem with them injuring themselves.

White birds can only be vent sexed. That only works if they are mature (I couldn't see any difference before that). And just be aware they may poop as you are checking. Males will crow but subordinate males may keep quiet. It all depends on how old they are and how many daylight hours they are exposed to as males don't crow outside of the breeding season or before they are mature. Males will tidbit to the females if they are old enough, using a low, grunting/rumbling sound so a few dried meal worms tossed in there might cause them to reveal themselves. The ones that jump in to eat should be girls.

Thank you so much for your reply. Very interesting and helpful. I am off the get the quails Wednesday or Thursday. Excited!!!

 

[Welshies]

1 male to 3 or 4 hens.
You don't need males for eggs just fertilization. Gently squeeze vents if birds are mature. In males, a white shaving cream like liquid will come out.
They don't need a nesting box but a place to hide is a good idea.
They need 26-30% protein, turkey or game bird starter.