Quail won't go in nesting boxes:(

[lisameow]

i got a pair of king quail today but it's really cold outside now. 12° celsius. Is it bc they're scared? They're sort of just standing in the middle of the hutch and wont go in the nesting box. Is that normal?

 

[TwoCrows]

If they have never been inside this enclosure, no they will not use it unless you put them in there to train them. Are these button quail? They really shouldn't be any colder than you have it there. Preferably warmer. This breed of quail is a tropical type bird and can not tolerate cold temps at all. You might bring them indoors until it warms up? Or put a heat lamp out there for them. It sounds a bit too cold for them.

 

[lisameow]

If they have never been inside this enclosure, no they will not use it unless you put them in there to train them. Are these button quail? They really shouldn't be any colder than you have it there. Preferably warmer. This breed of quail is a tropical type bird and can not tolerate cold temps at all. You might bring them indoors until it warms up? Or put a heat lamp out there for them. It sounds a bit too cold for them.

Thanks i will bring them inside. They are king quail but some people say they're are called button quail as well but others say that they are are a different type of quail..

 

[DK newbie]

If they have never been inside this enclosure, no they will not use it unless you put them in there to train them. Are these button quail? They really shouldn't be any colder than you have it there. Preferably warmer. This breed of quail is a tropical type bird and can not tolerate cold temps at all. You might bring them indoors until it warms up? Or put a heat lamp out there for them. It sounds a bit too cold for them.

People keep saying that, but I kept my buttons in an unheated building all winter and not one showed any sign of being sick. I don't actually have a thermometer out there, but I assume it's a little warmer than it was outside, so I estimate they were exposed to -10 Celsius several times. Their water froze very often.
Obviously they had been outside since summer so they got used to the drop in temp slowly. But they are all still happy and healthy and hatching their own chicks. Those little birds are hardier than you'd think.

As for not using the nesting box, I think that has to do with its design. Quail are not attracted to small dark holes. They like taking cover, but prefer being able to see their surroundings while doing so (or that's how I interpret their behavior). I have tried making small boxes with a quail sized hole for mine - they never go in there. But they like to walk through tunnels and I have a small toy barn that's about 4 by 10 inches with one of the 10 inch sides nearly all open, which I think one of my hens is actually sitting on eggs in right now (I just came home from vacation and noticed her in there and several huge poops of the kind they usually make when broody, all over the cage). I put an artificial plant in the middle of the open side to make it more private, making an opening on each side of the plant rather than one big opening.
Putting them in the box as TwoCrows suggest might work, though. I haven't tried, don't want to stress the birds.

 

[lisameow]

Thanks, I think the problem was that they were just nervous. Now they are going in