Question about indoor quail

[FloorCandy]

I wanted to add, prey animals, like quail, hamsters, Etc, are far easier to tame from a cage that has a door on the side, rather than always reaching from above. Prey animals instinctually fear anything that approaches them from above, so a solid roof with a door in the front or side makes them more accepting. I have one pen outside that side opens, and the birds in there approach me for pets and snacks, even though I rarely interacted with them as chicks. I never made any effort to tame them, as I plan to sell them after I get a good selection of chicks from them. But they just like me from my incursions to fill feed and water and add chips, take eggs and what not.

 

[RUNuts]

Agree. Dusty. There is a smell if you go too long between cleanings. Have you had indoor birds before? The bigger the cage, the less frequent the cleaning needed. The bigger the job to clean. Will be the first lesson for the kids. Everything poops.

The males will crow. The females make a purring noise. They can get accustomed to most commotions. Be aware of aggression issues. A large cage and hiding places or line of sight interrupters will help prevent this.

 

[muans]

i think if they're used to they'll adapt themselves soon but if they are startled by your kids they will still lay but will not be happy! used solid floor and use some clean sand for the bedding and sift the sand with a sifter once a week or once in 2 weeks

 

[Hitchhiking_quail]

If your concerned about the kids being too noisy, then i suggest that you hatch them. Not only will your students learn what the prosses of hatching looks like, but the quail will also get accustomed to it quickly. Buying an incubater can be costly, if you plan to use this for only one school year. Quail can be smart little buggers and can easily identify things and get used to things quickly even if they are (somewhat) adults. For instance, I celebrated a my birthday a couple of months ago and my dad bought me a couple of quail that he found at a feed store. Since we don't have a very big backyard we bought a doggy crate and kept them in there to get used to the surroundings. They quickly navigated the house and learned the floor plan over the next couple of days, and we let them outside every once in a while until they got used to that too (poor little things were in a very cramped cage when my dad found them). Now they have free roam of the house and smallish backyard, i do admit to spoiling them though (they get what they want when they want, like cactus pear and apples, one of them also memorized the bag where we keep the meal worm treats and begs everytime, little freeloader -_-). Anyway enough with my rambling, what im trying to say is do what you think is best and remember there are alot of options out there. (also remember to research throughly)

 

[FloorCandy]

If your concerned about the kids being too noisy, then i suggest that you hatch them. Not only will your students learn what the prosses of hatching looks like, but the quail will also get accustomed to it quickly. Buying an incubater can be costly, if you plan to use this for only one school year. Quail can be smart little buggers and can easily identify things and get used to things quickly even if they are (somewhat) adults. For instance, I celebrated a my birthday a couple of months ago and my dad bought me a couple of quail that he found at a feed store. Since we don't have a very big backyard we bought a doggy crate and kept them in there to get used to the surroundings. They quickly navigated the house and learned the floor plan over the next couple of days, and we let them outside every once in a while until they got used to that too (poor little things were in a very cramped cage when my dad found them). Now they have free roam of the house and smallish backyard, i do admit to spoiling them though (they get what they want when they want, like cactus pear and apples, one of them also memorized the bag where we keep the meal worm treats and begs everytime, little freeloader -_-). Anyway enough with my rambling, what im trying to say is do what you think is best and remember there are alot of options out there. (also remember to research throughly)

It seems like you’re very attached to them, so please be cautious about letting them loose in the yard, everything likes to eat quail, like snakes, hawks, stray cats, rats, mice, weasels, owls, etc. Quail can also get startled and take flight, then forget how to get back.

 

[JaeG]

The quail we hatch and raise are handled frequently by our kids and they are very tame. Quail that have no experience with children (or even seeing a human very frequently) can be very scared and stress easily. So I definitely think you should hatch them yourself and they are one of the easiest birds to hatch even in a home made incubator.

Ours live out in a large aviary with other birds. They put up with being picked up by our son daily. They are very tolerant of this and it's a miracle none have been stepped on as they are always under foot. They are a very robust bird for kids to handle.

Fermenting their feed will reduce their smell, but they are very dusty creatures and do also need a dust bath which adds more dust. We had our first trio inside when we first got them but as our little flock grew they moved outside.

 

[Hitchhiking_quail]

It seems like you’re very attached to them, so please be cautious about letting them loose in the yard, everything likes to eat quail, like snakes, hawks, stray cats, rats, mice, weasels, owls, etc. Quail can also get startled and take flight, then forget how to get back.

Oh belive me i am very attached to those little buggers, not to wory though i constantly check up on them to make sure they are fine. Thank for the advice though, I appreciate it!

 

[Cattt123]

Definitely coturnix rather than buttons I think hatching would be your best bet - you can find adults that’d be fine with it but they’d have to be really used to humans, and then it also depends on their personalities. Some are confident little madams who’ll demand cuddles or treats, others just prefer quail company!