Quail just showed up, not acting wild...

[StupidBird]

About 3 weeks ago a pair of quail showed up outside my chicken coop. The male was rather skittish, but the female almost came right up to me. She felt the need to spend twenty minutes scolding my cat. The pair hung around, showing up nearby whenever I have been in the garden. Once even walked up to my truck when I pulled in, then wandered off as if not seeing who they expected. I've thrown scratch feed out, just a half a handful.

Something happened to the male last week, it's gone. The female really hangs around, I can hear her call in the brush. When I go to the coop she shows up looking for handouts, today just inches from my fingers. She even hung around during a party and everyone saw her up close.

So, is this typical for a wild bobwhite/quail or did some one lose a pair? They weren't banded. Not afraid of hopping in a cage, only got upset when DH tried to catch them in his hands. And, she is afraid of hats.

Opinions? Ideas? Any risk to my chickens?

 

[JJMR794]

Definately Not Wild Bobs... While Wild Bobs May Come By To Mooch You Certainly Wouldnt Find Them Cooperative With Capture And They Would Be Very Skittish And Stand Offish In Nature... Would Flee At Any Sign Of A Perceived Threat. Likely Your Girl Has Escaped/ Been Released/ Abandoned, Etc...

As Always Any New Bird Is A Threat To Your Flock Biologically, But The Greatest Biological Threat Is To The Quail From Your Chickens

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
Sounds very much like what happened with me about 8-10 years ago. A bobwhite showed up where I worked at the time, a garden center, and hung around. It was extremely tame, and enjoyed handouts. After a few days, I picked it up and put it in a box and took it home, because a number of the employees fed semi-feral cats, which were NOT sterilized, and I figured it was just doomed. I had it for about 3 years. I think it was a male, but I'm not sure (it never laid eggs, I know that much), and I either thought I was a parent or a mate. It lived very happily in a cage in my family room, and enjoyed coming out for some quality time when I watched TV on the sofa, that sort of thing. It finally died of old age, I think, it got very slow in the last few months and didn't do much.

No risk to the chickens. The risk from diseases is the other way around, from chickens to quail.

It's up to you what you do. Technically probably illegal to capture it IF it's a native species in your area, but OTOH, it's probably NOT a wild quail, most like a lost domestic bird.

 

[KenK]

Lots of quail "plantations" scattered all over Georgia. Maybe birds that were released to shoot? Whereabouts in Georgia are you; generally, if you don't want to say exactly?

 

[StupidBird]

Was thinking about the quail plantation thing, but we're just a bit too close to Atlanta. Horse and hobby farms, some commercial chicken houses, nothing close enough that I know about. But even after 20 years here, I still get surprises.

I'll just keep feeding her and enjoy the company. Thanks for the input, glad to know the hens aren't at risk.