SOMETHING KILLED MY QUAIL

[CHlCKEN]

They are Japanese quail by the way...
Here is a video of them
The yellow one is the female that died and the brown one is the one that's still alive.
***There is a gap between the door because I didn't close the cage. It's not normally like that, I always make sure to close it before I go to bed.

Chicken wire does NOTHING against predators. It keeps the birds in but it’s not going to get in the way of any other animal. Replace it with Hardwire cloth.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Is the cage secured to the ground in any way?

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Pics will help spot the problem.
I get a stuffed toy and try to wedge it up the fence to make sure weasels and stuff don't have a way in.
Ferret-like animals are very flexible and thin so they can get in the smallest opening

 

[LJHC]

Sorry to hear this. Don't give up on raising quail. We caught a huge raccoon climbing up the outdoor pen but the 1/4" wire kept everyone safe. Not to mention me and my broom coming after it!! What a sight!!!

 

[quailsssss]

Is the cage secured to the ground in any way?

No, it wasn't secured to the ground... I thought that the weight of the cage and spiky chicken wire would keep predators out but turns out they're a lot smarter than I thought...

 

[quailsssss]

CLOSURE:
1. I ended up giving my male quail back to the seller that I bought him from. Luckily this seller doesn't kill his quails for meat , only keeps their eggs. I feel bad that my quail had to witness all of this, but he's in a more secure environment now(with a harem of female quails of course).
2. I *somewhat* figured out what happened to my female quail that died. On that same day, I told my family members about what happened, but guess what, they already knew about it. Turns out that long before I woke up, they found half of my quail's body outside the cage and the other half inside the cage, but stuck in the wire. So we're guessing that she was sleeping next to the cage, when some predator tried pulling her out. However, that predator was unsuccessful and only able to drag half of her body outside.
3. ALSO, my other family member told me that he had seen a black cat watching them for a while, but never bothered to tell me because he thought the cage would protect them.
So I'm guessing that it was the black cat that killed her...
I see it walking around the neighborhood every now and then. I feel so sad and angry, but can't do anything about it
Anyway, I learned my lesson. I don't think I can raise quails again because I feel so guilty. Actually, I can't even if I wanted to. The family member that first discovered the body in that shape is *extremely* traumatized, even till now.
***Advice to newcomers, make sure to keep your cage SECURE as possible!!!

 

[Big Button]

I am so sorry for your loss. I know exactly how you feel. I have my button quail indoors and my dog got into the room where I keep my cages. She has never shown interest in them before. One day we forgot to close that door and found feathers everywhere when we got home. You cant be too careful with security when it cpmes to your babies

 

[CHlCKEN]

No, it wasn't secured to the ground... I thought that the weight of the cage and spiky chicken wire would keep predators out but turns out they're a lot smarter than I thought...

No, they can probably lift it up too.

 

[Ange19]

CLOSURE:
1. I ended up giving my male quail back to the seller that I bought him from. Luckily this seller doesn't kill his quails for meat , only keeps their eggs. I feel bad that my quail had to witness all of this, but he's in a more secure environment now(with a harem of female quails of course).
2. I *somewhat* figured out what happened to my female quail that died. On that same day, I told my family members about what happened, but guess what, they already knew about it. Turns out that long before I woke up, they found half of my quail's body outside the cage and the other half inside the cage, but stuck in the wire. So we're guessing that she was sleeping next to the cage, when some predator tried pulling her out. However, that predator was unsuccessful and only able to drag half of her body outside.
3. ALSO, my other family member told me that he had seen a black cat watching them for a while, but never bothered to tell me because he thought the cage would protect them.
So I'm guessing that it was the black cat that killed her...
I see it walking around the neighborhood every now and then. I feel so sad and angry, but can't do anything about it
Anyway, I learned my lesson. I don't think I can raise quails again because I feel so guilty. Actually, I can't even if I wanted to. The family member that first discovered the body in that shape is *extremely* traumatized, even till now.
***Advice to newcomers, make sure to keep your cage SECURE as possible!!!

Hello, I just happened to read this one as am Googling around as a same disaster happened to one of mine quails recently too and I still cannot get away with the sad emotion and horrible scene and cry a lot and getting into depression now, I felt like I killed her not the crow!! I have thousands of "if" in mind over and over again! Raising quails as pet may not be everyones thing, grief is the price we pay for love!