Weird question-Don't know if anyone can help but.......

[chickensioux]

I have a 6-7 month old male bobwhite that I have raised in the house since he was 3 days old. "Robert" was very sweet up until about a month ago. I realize that he has matured sexually because I see him "pleasing himself". I do not want a female, I just wanted Robert has a pet. He still lets me hold him and he still jumps up in the chair and sits with me and lets me pet him. He is still very sweet alot of the time BUT now he attacks everyones feet as they walk by. My teen sons HATE him. Robert makes it very difficult to walk thru the room without stepping on him as he is flogging and pecking your feet. Everyone has to wear shoes if he is out because it does hurt. What to do? How do you stop this behavior? Is is stoppable? Will he mellow? I know it's not a normal situation, not too many folks have turned a quail into a pet but just wondered if any quail experts might have an answer. Thanks

 

[shelleyd2008]

Probably the only way you are going to get him calmed down is by getting him a girl.

 

[skywatcher]

Poor Robert hasn't seen another quail so since feet are moving at his eye level he might think they are quail.Those silly quail are really attracted to strings so if you have shoe strings I can see him going after them. Shelley right he needs a quail friend.

 

[JJMR794]

Unfortunately The Only Way To Calm Poor Robert Down Would Require Considerable Heat And Time + A Cooking VESSEL. You See Robert Is Showing His Natural Behavior. Robert Is A Bob White Quail--- Better Known As The Junkyard Dogs Of The Quail World.... It Is Very Natural For Robert To BE So Mean And Aggressive He Wont Even Like Himself At Times. Sadly Most Speces Of Gamebird Dont Make Good Pets Or At Least Not Good Indoor Pets. Sorry For Your Situation--- Best Wishes And Good Luck

 

[lauramacf]

Another thought, he might be getting ready to molt. My two boys have never been as friendly as your Robert, but recently they both became mean as mean can be. Where they used to welcome the food cup, recognize it and get happy, they start attacking the hand that feeds them. They also became really really quiet, which I've seen happen before (they are now a year old, and their noisy squawky times seem to be when they are in mating mode, based on their foamy poop). Mean and quiet. I couldn't figure it out, then they started losing feathers all over the place. A friend hypothesizes that they get mean and quiet during molting as a natural consequence of being less able to fly (you know, fight or flight--with less flight ability they go into fight mode). Just an idea.

 

[PetersonD]

Yea, bobs are known for being aggressive so like he said it's a natural thing. So you're gonna see those tendencies continue on in a pet bob. Probably not much can be done

 

[chickenwhisperer123]

Why dont you want to get him a girl?

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
MORE THAN LIKELY THIS WILL MAKE ROBERT EVEN WORSE.........

 

[deerman]

Robert has imprint on humans. Seen this in many birds, he will attack other in his area during breeding season. He will even mate with a person hands. He maybe trying to mate with the feet. Not sure even if Robert would even mate with a female quail.

A friend had a pigeon that was imprint ,and would lay eggs after he would rub her back.


I have two imprint birds now a peacock, who will attack me during breeding season if I get near his peahen. He thinks I am another peacock.

The other is a pet goose , she lays eggs in a nest,and thinks I am her mate. To the point she thinks I will take my turn with the eggs in the nest.

 

[MissPrissy]

Your quail is behaving as nature programed him to behave. Even if you got him a pair of females since he has never been with other quail he may attack them as well but it won't be pretty - quail are brutal and fight to the death worse than any chicken or duck that I have ever seen and they are cannibalstic like pheasant meaning if they take a notion they will eat their own kind not because they are hungry but because they are dominant. Sadly, this is a lesson to be learned. Poultry need to be raised with 2 or 3 of their own kind. A solitary life with out one of your kind is a form of cruelty. Nature has programmed them to live out a specific senario - eat, mate, fight. Keep him caged when other people are present and he can't flog their feet. You will never be able to train him or change his behavior. If your sons hate this quail so much, especially being flogged, pecked, etc, why do you continue to let him out to attack them - even if it is just their feet? We often need to step back and examine our own motives and actions in regards to our pets as opposed to trying to figure out how we might change "xyz" behavior and we rarely realize perhaps it is our own behavior that needs to be changed instead.