Taming or Raising Bobwhites

[ppurv326]

Anyone have experience with how well Bobwhites tame? I wana try and raise a week old chick and see if i can get a bird that recognizes me as its companion. Any advice?

 

[Little_Bigfoot]

good luck they will only realize you as the evil feed monster.

 

[JJMR794]

Occaisionally You'll Hear The Heart Warming Stories Of "1 Lone Chick Hatched Out And We Loved Him And Petted Him And Called Him George" But In The Real World They're About As Common As Sucessfully Broody Coturnix Hens... 99.999998% Of Bobs Will Tolerate Your Incursion Into Their Pen For Food And Water/ Egg Collection And That My Friend Is The "tame" Version Of A Bob White. They Rest Still Freak To The Point Of Self Injury Or Bite Like Little Feathered Snapping Turtles

 

[quailmale]

Quote:
I agree, I'm real new to Quail but my pen is 16 feet long divided in half with a swing gate, I have Coturnix on one side and Bobs on the other. When I get near I always talk -whistle or make a noise like I do for my Rabbits so they don't try to exit thru a non-existant door. The Coturnix just start chirping or come to the door to see what I doing.

When I get about 15 or 20 feet from the pen where the Bobs are their sure I'm there to pull their wings & heads off so they all try to go thru the 1/2 X 1/2 wire to get away. If I stand still they kinda chill out but when I move their off to the races again.

 

[ppurv326]

well, im only getting one or two birds, so i guess wish me luck and hopefully ill be one of the lucky ones to get a shoulder perching bobwhite

 

[TwoCrows]

I have raised several broods of bobwhite quail from the egg. And the most success I have had with "taming" them is when they were young some of them would get on my lap. I handled them so much as babies but as they grew up, the pulled away from me. Now that is not to say that they can not only tolerate you, but come running when they see you with goodies! My Bobwhites are friendly in that they will readily eat out of my hand and still come to see me when I enter the aviary. But getting on my lap or handling them? Those days are over.

 

[ppurv326]

Well if nothing else having friendly pair of quails is nice enough. Wish me luck guys!

 

[Ms.Frizzle]

Oooh, you could make it a breeding goal like what they did with foxes in Germany!

 

[gamebirdboy]

I can't even touch all but one of them. The rest flush and bite.

Good luck trying, but don't expect it to be a Sudanese lap quail...

 

[TwoCrows]

I would recommend spoiling them rotten. Get them to realize where the food comes from and make it an enjoyable experience. I will go in the aviary and sit with them a lot so they stay used to me. I bring lettuce, sprouts, pinyon nuts as treats. Oh! Meal worms! They will love you for ever. When my bobs see me bring that bag of dried meal worms they go bonkers.

Now all that being said, not all quail may respond as mine do. But the more time you spend with them, and definitely hand feeding them, they will stay friendly enough that they won't go running in all directions thinking a monster is after them when you approach them. A few of mine actually know their names having used food as the training tool. I also have mine trained to "go into their coop" on command using one of those dog clickers. They know when they hear that click they had better get in to the coop or the "NET" is coming out to get them!