Quail as house pets

[Littleanimalcollector]

Hi, we are incubating some quail and I was wondering if it is possible to keep one or two of them inside. The difficult part would be that we have one dog and one cat also living the house. I've read that dogs leave the adults alone, but what about when their chicks and pullets? Also, the cat leaves our 20 chickens alone, so I'm not worried about her. Any ideas? I know this is a crazy question. Thx.

 

[Kiki]

What type of quail?

Is you cage dog and cat proof?

 

[Nabiki]

Hi, we are incubating some quail and I was wondering if it is possible to keep one or two of them inside. The difficult part would be that we have one dog and one cat also living the house. I've read that dogs leave the adults alone, but what about when their chicks and pullets? Also, the cat leaves our 20 chickens alone, so I'm not worried about her. Any ideas? I know this is a crazy question. Thx.

Keeping birds inside is generally not considered a good idea, especially if anyone in the house has any kind of respiratory issue. Quail are naturally ground birds, so they are usually happier outside on the ground.

That being said, you can keep them inside as long as they have enough space and a predator proof cage/pen to live in. You will need to clean them a lot because they poop a lot and start to stink pretty fast.

 

[Littleanimalcollector]

What type of quail?

Is you cage dog and cat proof?

They are Coturnix quail.

I can keep him/her in a dog crate until they can go outside during the day

 

[Kiki]

They are Coturnix quail.

I can keep him/her in a dog crate until they can go outside during the day

Do you plan on wrapping your dog crate in hardware cloth?

 

[Littleanimalcollector]

Do you plan on wrapping your dog crate in hardware cloth?

Probably. It is nice and big because it is from our late dog, who was rather big and we have some extra hardware cloth

 

[maadroj]

We currently have two young valley quail indoors. It's supposed to be temporary, but I've developed separation anxiety. They're adorable!

They sleep in the brooder, and we take them outside to play in the aviary several times a day. They also follow us around the house and snuggle with us during their nap times. They usually fly up to sit on my shoulder (sometimes head) while I'm standing around, like in the kitchen. When they were younger they liked to burrow in my hair. They like playing outside but cry if we leave them there. I assume as they get older their attachment to us will fade. We handled them a lot from day 1. Pandemic pets.

We don't have cats or dogs currently. I assume it depends on the animal and introducing them to each other, showing that the quail are part of the pack. I've seen other people keep quail and other pet birds with cats and/or dogs. For example:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

.

They poop a lot--that's the biggest challenge. We clean up after them all day.

 

[Littleanimalcollector]

We currently have two young valley quail indoors. It's supposed to be temporary, but I've developed separation anxiety. They're adorable!

They sleep in the brooder, and we take them outside to play in the aviary several times a day. They also follow us around the house and snuggle with us during their nap times. They usually fly up to sit on my shoulder (sometimes head) while I'm standing around, like in the kitchen. When they were younger they liked to burrow in my hair. They like playing outside but cry if we leave them there. I assume as they get older their attachment to us will fade. We handled them a lot from day 1. Pandemic pets.

We don't have cats or dogs currently. I assume it depends on the animal and introducing them to each other, showing that the quail are part of the pack. I've seen other people keep quail and other pet birds with cats and/or dogs. For example:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

.

They poop a lot--that's the biggest challenge. We clean up after them all day.

I know they are a similar size to pigeons. Will they fit in pidgeon pants by chance. They function as diapers. I also might be able to get some tiny chicken diapers.

 

[maadroj]

I don't know. Their body shape might be different from a pigeon or a bird. You could try it. Some others have had success making their own.

Edit: pigeon or chicken. I meant chicken. I know quail are birds.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I wouldn't, especially if you plan on letting it run around the house. My cats leave chickens alonw, but qauik are close to the size of wild birds and my cat has stalked one or two that get out when I'm trying to catch them.