Taming A Baby Quail?

[HoneyNut]

How does one go about taming Honey Nut, my baby quail, when she runs away from hands? I read I'm not supposed to chase her with my hands, but how do I tame her if I don 't touch her and show her that hands are okay? I tried to get her used to me yesterday by closing off a medium sized area and just sitting in there with her, but all she did was puff up, breath heavily, and shake her head as though she was either smelling something she didn't like or she was really stressed-- I'm not entirely unconvinced it was both. I put her back in her tub and she's been content to stay there all day just eating, drinking, and sleeping.

How do I tame her without stressing her out?

 

[The Phantom]

Show her hand are good. Handle her gently a lot. Snuggle her and make her happy. Feed her from your hand. Just lend time with her. That should help

 

[le_bwah]

Feed her from your hand. Just regular feed first, then treats; you might have to leave your hand in with her for a while. From there, let her stand on your hand, get her to trust that you won't snatch her up every time. Eventually she'll learn that you're the source of food (but you'll have to keep it up or she might get shy again). This is how I tamed my quail.

 

[HoneyNut]

Okay, thanks!

 

[quail power]

We have 4 California Quail at 3 1/2 weeks now (25 days old). In addition to the great advice given already. We’ve learned not to chase or catch our quail by hand, and we don’t have to because they follow us, and they come when called. Sometimes I do coax them along with a gentle nudge, but they almost always come when talked to. We purposely used a shallow brooder w/ only 7 inch high walls so they could come and go at will. To get them in and out of the brooder (w/out catching) we just stacked some boards as steps.

You can show them how to use the steps by simply tapping on them to show them the way, or just talk to them with your head over the brooder.

We leave the sliding door open to the backyard from our kitchen with the brooder box on the floor, and we take them on frequent walks outside, but they won’t go unaccompanied.

And they will begin crying right away if we go more than about 15 feet away from them. They run to our feet, and fly onto our shoulders and the top of our head.

Here are all four napping on my ankle. Being un-caged like this and imprinted on us, they demand constant attention like a momma quail. But we just couldn’t bring ourselves to put them in a cage and ignore their cries. On a couple occasions we've tried to introduce them to a wild adult pair hoping they would accept adoptive parents or at least make friends - and the adults called for them and came in very close to us (about 8 feet), but the chicks wouldn’t leave our side.

But be careful, once tamed they will often be at your feet, even under your heel, and at unexpected times.

 

[le_bwah]

We have 4 California Quail at 3 1/2 weeks now (25 days old). In addition to the great advice given already. We’ve learned not to chase or catch our quail by hand, and we don’t have to because they follow us, and they come when called. Sometimes I do coax them along with a gentle nudge, but they almost always come when talked to. We purposely used a shallow brooder w/ only 7 inch high walls so they could come and go at will. To get them in and out of the brooder (w/out catching) we just stacked some boards as steps. View attachment 1451926
You can show them how to use the steps by simply tapping on them to show them the way, or just talk to them with your head over the brooder.

We leave the sliding door open to the backyard from our kitchen with the brooder box on the floor, and we take them on frequent walks outside, but they won’t go unaccompanied.
View attachment 1451929
And they will begin crying right away if we go more than about 15 feet away from them. They run to our feet, and fly onto our shoulders and the top of our head.
View attachment 1451932
View attachment 1451933
Here are all four napping on my ankle. Being un-caged like this and imprinted on us, they demand constant attention like a momma quail. But we just couldn’t bring ourselves to put them in a cage and ignore their cries. On a couple occasions we've tried to introduce them to a wild adult pair hoping they would accept adoptive parents or at least make friends - and the adults called for them and came in very close to us (about 8 feet), but the chicks wouldn’t leave our side.

But be careful, once tamed they will often be at your feet, even under your heel, and at unexpected times.

Love this! Do you have any trouble ranging them indoors?

 

[cosmosue]

We are waiting on CV quail to hatch right now actually and we are 8-9 days out from lockdown I think.

I was hoping for a couple pets and a couple breeders but I dunno what I’ll get!

 

[quail power]

Hi Le_bwah, right now they’ll range about 15 to 25 feet away from us outdoors catching tiny insects, and the range is extending daily, but someone has to be outside with them or they’ll start crying for us and run to the door. We sure hope they get more independent soon! We were hoping they would join up with another brood, but for the first time in many years we haven’t had any come through the yard this year - a roaming cat came through this spring and killed 3 hens that I found decapitated, which is how we came to incubate our orphaned babies.

 

[HoneyNut]

My only concern about letting Honey Nut free range (other than the fact that she is so small) is that I have a dog. My siblings also have dogs. I don't want her to get eaten. She's been crying a lot tonight and pacing around like she's bored. She's only quiet when I put my head nearby her. She still doesn't like my heads, but she wants my head beside her constantly.

 

[quail power]

HoneyNut, all the best to you and your loving Honey Nut. I'm still trying to figure out how to wean our babies from our presence. They are very lovable but ours require constant attention.