Quail staying inside the coop all day?

[txpeach100]

I have only been a quail mama for 1 week today. Yes,, 2 of my sons gave the coop & quail to me for Christmas. It was a shock! I have been reading this site almost constantly and have learned a great deal. Thank you!

I live in Houston, Texas and the quail are in a ground run with coop attached outside. It is currently 67 degrees outside and slightly humid. I have noticed that the last 2 days, the quail are all staying in the coop almost all day. One or two will venture out and I will see 1 or 2 resting under the coop section. The first several days they were here, hardly any of them went into the coop and mostly they ran around outside. Granted, it was 80 degrees Christmas day and didn't get cooler until Friday. I'm just wondering if there is something wrong and should I be concerned?

Thanks!

 

[redsoxs]

They might have received a scare....a cat walking by....a loud noise....a hawk flying over head....something that made them feel threatened. That might explain their reluctance. It would sure seem warm enough....but how old are they? If they don't have their adult feathers, 80 may have been okay, but 67 may seem cool to them if they are still in the chick stage.

 

[txpeach100]

My sons said they range in age from 3 to 6 weeks. I have no idea how to tell which ones are what age. Is there a way to do this?

I was wondering about a scare too. Do you think they'd feel safer if they were off the ground?

 

[Binki]

Hello and congratulations on your quail what a nice present!!

Quail are ground birds and feel most comfortable on the ground. Does the run have anything for them to hide in/around like logs or potted (safe) plants, etc?

They're pretty young and this may be their first venture outside so they'll probably have to get used to it

You could try covering the top of the run to make them feel safer

It's funny because usually the problem is that the quails WON'T take shelter/use the coop most times

For example, if it were cold and rainy, even with cover available, pretty much all coturnix quail will just suffer instead of getting out of the wind/rain you can't trust them to take care of themselves in bad weather hehe.

 

[txpeach100]

Could it be the fireworks? Though we live in a suburban neighborhood, we are in an unincorporated area of the county and fireworks are permitted. Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights were filled with booms of them going off.

There is nothing for them to hide under in the run and no real room to put stuff.. I think I need to extend the run to allow more room for them to move and put some cover in for them.

It rained on and off Saturday and we awoke this morning to tons of thunder and lightening. Not much rain yet. Should I cover the run?

I really appreciate all the advise!

 

[Dani xxx]

Hey I have a cover over mine but it is not full so I have made another cover with a clear tarp that over hangs the run to stop the rain dripping in to the run I also have x 2 grasses that they love to sit under and hide and I have x2 guniea pig igloo that they also love I fill them with wood shavings and bird seed and meal worms for them to find and make sure you have a sand bath for them they love it so much spend ages in there