Quail hatch. Follow along.

[Oob Child]

When I was hand feeding the quail today (the eldest ones) I noticed rusty brown feather growth on 7 of the 10. I think I have confirmed that I only have 2-3 females. Also I noticed a weird behavior today. I put the youngest chicks outside with the eldest chicks today for a short period of time, and one of the males started acting like their father. (They were following him around, he even made a little nest like hole out of the pine needles for them, he even charged me when I got to close) I'm so confused he is only 5 weeks old and the chicks just turned 1 week.

Baby quail just follow anything they see as a mother figure. I bet if you put a teddy bear in with some baby quail without a mum they'd imprint on it. But the 5 week old male.. now that confuses me.

 

[Mallards and Quail]

Baby quail just follow anything they see as a mother figure. I bet if you put a teddy bear in with some baby quail without a mum they'd imprint on it. But the 5 week old male.. now that confuses me.

I've seen quail imprint on anything before (I had one imprint on toy car before idk how but it happened) the thing that confused me the most was the fact they started following him 2 minutes after I put them in. I've seen them imprint but not that fast. (Especially with how many other quail are in the enclosure)

 

[Mallards and Quail]

I also forgot to mention he chased off another male that pecked one of the babies.

 

[Oob Child]

I also forgot to mention he chased off another male that pecked one of the babies.

I'm getting quite a few rare quail eggs in about 4 weeks, and currently have multiple quail, 2 female, one male, all about 5 weeks old. How would I go about getting them to imprint on one?

 

[Mallards and Quail]

I'm getting quite a few rare quail eggs in about 4 weeks, and currently have multiple quail, 2 female, one male, all about 5 weeks old. How would I go about getting them to imprint on one?

I would pick your calmest female, and after your eggs hatch it would help for her to be around in their brooder for at least maybe an hour or more each day until they get at least 1.5 weeks old where you can make the decision to take them outside with her for a little every day. (Honestly I've put quail 2 weeks old outside full time and never lost one) I do live in one of the hottest areas of Texas though so that could be the reason they did good.

 

[Mallards and Quail]

@Nabiki @CloverTheRabbit @007Sean @Somewhere_In_The_Clouds @Gigachad poultry @eddie_van_quailen what do you all think is going on with "father quail"

 

[Oob Child]

I would pick your calmest female, and after your eggs hatch it would help for her to be around in their brooder for at least maybe an hour or more each day until they get at least 1.5 weeks old where you can make the decision to take them outside with her for a little every day. (Honestly I've put quail 2 weeks old outside full time and never lost one) I do live in one of the hottest areas of Texas though so that could be the reason they did good.

Thanks!

 

[Mallards and Quail]

Thanks!

Ofc!

 

[Prince and Pavo]

@Nabiki @CloverTheRabbit @007Sean @Somewhere_In_The_Clouds @eddie_van_quailen what do you all think is going on with "father quail"

That’s pretty funny! I’m not sure why it’s happening, but animals do have strange behaviors at times, and it could just be that the older quail will make a great dad in the future! Maybe the chicks sensed that he wanted to take care of them and decided to let him… who knows? Keep us updated on their behavior and let us know if anything new happens!

 

[Nabiki]

@Nabiki @CloverTheRabbit @007Sean @Somewhere_In_The_Clouds @Gigachad poultry @eddie_van_quailen what do you all think is going on with "father quail"

It sounds like he's just a good parent in the making. Each bird has a different personality, and some mature earlier than others.

Makes me think of how some older brothers are great with younger kids, while others... aren't.