Quail cuddle puddles

[WolfGirlMagic]

I love how quail chicks sometimes sleep all sprawled like fluffy little passed-out drunks.

Right! Its so funny! One of my kids is also odd in she thinks she is a duck... or flamingo or something. She insists on standing in the water dish, bringimg food to the dish and spitting it in, and then PLAYING in the water until maybe she will eat a soggy piece. She is also my friendliest chick.... something strange about that one... haha

 

[MageofMist]

Me cuddling with Scrappy, my old Japanese Quail boi. Sadly he has no hens, but I hope to get some for him at some point in his life, preferably some old gals of similar age. He has a Diamond Dove named Lulu as a roommate and boyfriend, and gets plenty of cuddles and pets from me too. XP

 

[MageofMist]

Right! Its so funny! One of my kids is also odd in she thinks she is a duck... or flamingo or something. She insists on standing in the water dish, bringimg food to the dish and spitting it in, and then PLAYING in the water until maybe she will eat a soggy piece. She is also my friendliest chick.... something strange about that one... haha

Also regarding the water thing... One time Scrappy went on the back yard in the rain whilst I was distracted with cooking supper, and gave me an annoyed hum when I brought him back in upon realizing. XD
He was soaked, but wanted to stay out.

 

[Fenrisulfr]

What a taime Bird

 

[MageofMist]

What a taime Bird

He used to be a right firecracker when he was young, charging at me chattering angrily, then freaking out when I picked him up, but settled down some when I plopped him on my stomach and put my nightgown over him.
He quickly learned I wasn't some monster that wanted to eat him, but rather a big, warm and cuddly giant. And with even more handling, he grew desensitized to being picked up and moved around, and actually pushes himself under my hand to be picked up in his cage to be taken out.

 

[WolfGirlMagic]

Me cuddling with Scrappy, my old Japanese Quail boi. Sadly he has no hens, but I hope to get some for him at some point in his life, preferably some old gals of similar age. He has a Diamond Dove named Lulu as a roommate and boyfriend, and gets plenty of cuddles and pets from me too. XP
View attachment 2251898View attachment 2251901

My goal is to tame up my chicks. One of them is pretty tame, 2 are a little flighty but calm easy, and one chick basically has a heart attack if i look at her. i might just keep the 3 as house pets and put the flightier one outside with my non tame quail.

 

[MageofMist]

My goal is to tame up my chicks. One of them is pretty tame, 2 are a little flighty but calm easy, and one chick basically has a heart attack if i look at her. i might just keep the 3 as house pets and put the flightier one outside with my non tame quail.

Have you tried letting the fourth flighty chick out her pen, ofc when indoors, and just let her walk around a room for a bit with you sitting in it? I find quails are a lot jumpier/excitable in their cage, likely due to feeling more easily cornered, than when outside it in an open room, and it doesn't take long for them to figure out what is a threat or not.
Also try and get her to associate your hands with good things rather than fear by offering her treats, though it may take time until she takes it from you, just keep offering it and try dropping and picking up the food repeatedly or poking at it to get her curious enough to try eating it herself.
Just be prepared for the "ok, where's the food?" pecks.

This is why I switched from a treat based award to a petting-based award when teaching Scrappy to step-up, as he got "food brain" and it is hard to get their full attention again after that. XD

Also when she is more calmer, try picking her up gently and just put her on your stomach whilst laying down, watching TV or something, as sitting up might still seem intimidating to her, but while laying down... You are essentially a big warm bed. And quails are just as bad as cats when it comes to warmth.

 

[Trisseh]

Here’s mine. They’re hard to get a picture of, as soon as they see me coming they pop up and come to see what I've brought them. xD

 

[MageofMist]

Here’s mine. They’re hard to get a picture of, as soon as they see me coming they pop up and come to see what I've brought them. xDView attachment 2252393

I can see they are on the verge of shooting up in the pic XD
"Oi! You got food? Grated carrot? Apple? Maybe some diced cabbage or... Ooh! Maybe a few bits of cheese maybe?.."

 

[Kale the Quail]

I had one that was VERY, VERY food driven. She'd jump up at us even though I didn't have anything and peck my hand to see if I was secretly smuggling treats to the other birds that don't get any because she eats all of them first.