What have you discovered?

[MageofMist]

An odd thing I noticed when I isolated a troublesome quail from the flock after his hormones kicked in hard, he pretty much went insane so I was forced to put him in time out for a day, as when I tried to put him back in before he just returned to fighting...

Once he mellowed out some after a few hours in the brooder, he got bored, and started pecking at the glass of water and noticed it pinged... Then he pecked at the orange box, which made a thump, and then at his food bowl that made a more lower pitched ping... And then started alternating between them with pecks.
It didn't have much of a tune to it, but it was still interesting to watch as he attempted to make music to entertain himself. =o

I introduced him back with his family today after he had chilled out, and he has had a few little scuffles with his siblings at first but not as violent as before, and now is back to being a cuddle bug snuggling with his family and they seemed to have forgave him for freaking out before.

But I noticed another thing odd, Speckles the hen, is suddenly very friendly towards me now and just stands there eating from my hand instead of "hit and running" like she usually does. But you'd think she would be more scared of me after I pretty much 'ate' the aggro quail, and the stress of me capturing said quail, but nope, suddenly she is calm as can be around me and my hand, and is still like that after I put the aggro one back in after he mellowed out.

This doubled with the other strange habits I observed really makes me wish I could see into those little heads of theirs:

• They recognize voices, faces and hands.
My dad puts his hand in, and they are more weary regarding the food in it, even if it is something they enjoy. I put my hand in and it is a frenzy.
They also know the words "food" and "mealworm" but respond more often to my voice than my dads.

• They are like... Mini ground crows that can't speak, but still have vocalizations to get their points across.
When we was eating the ham, Rex was making the impatient chattering noise and crows he makes when he either wants something but can't get it, or is just frustrated. He food peeps and pecks at the ground or bars when I am near to say when he wants treats, and food peeps even more when he sees me carrying something he likes, just staring at what I am carrying instead of pecking.

If he wants his family to be in one area, he food peeps to get them to run over, but then they glare at him when they see there is no food. He is also the first one to try out new foods and try to introduce the more skittish quails to my hand, showing them that it is safe.

• They also study the cage, pecking at the hinges that hold the bottom to the top, and pecking at the door when they think I am not looking, and I swear they study me every time I walk past, sometimes sticking their heads through the bars to get a closer look at me. And when I am on my laptop, they stand on the box facing me and just... Watch.

It is kinda creepy!

 

[crimsonmama]

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This doubled with the other strange habits I observed really makes me wish I could see into those little heads of theirs:
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They recognize voices, faces and hands.

My dad puts his hand in, and they are more weary regarding the food in it, even if it is something they enjoy. I put my hand in and it is a frenzy.

They also know the words "food" and "mealworm" but respond more often to my voice than my dads.
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I can definitely agree! I have only had my adult quails a few months so they don't know me all that well but when my sister visited their behaviour was totally different. When they were in my kitchen I would open their pen to clean them out and they would wander around my kitchen or living room. When my sis was there they wouldn't come out at all. Just stood statue still and watched.
And with my female having her nest recently I have been putting food and water in and she watches me a little wary but when once I asked my ten year old daughter to do it she actually flew off the nest in a panic! So she definitely knows and trusts me more!
I hope she gets more tame like speckles! And I hope when daddy can go back with the group he shows behaviour like Rex!
They recognise the word "treats" when I am getting out dried mealworms! They get very excited and I'm trying to teach the chicks the word now. Hopefully as I incubated my nine chicks they will know me and be even more tame. At two weeks old they don't like to snuggle anymore under my hand but they do let me stroke them.

 

[MageofMist]

I can definitely agree! I have only had my adult quails a few months so they don't know me all that well but when my sister visited their behaviour was totally different. When they were in my kitchen I would open their pen to clean them out and they would wander around my kitchen or living room. When my sis was there they wouldn't come out at all. Just stood statue still and watched.
And with my female having her nest recently I have been putting food and water in and she watches me a little wary but when once I asked my ten year old daughter to do it she actually flew off the nest in a panic! So she definitely knows and trusts me more!
I hope she gets more tame like speckles! And I hope when daddy can go back with the group he shows behaviour like Rex!
They recognise the word "treats" when I am getting out dried mealworms! They get very excited and I'm trying to teach the chicks the word now. Hopefully as I incubated my nine chicks they will know me and be even more tame. At two weeks old they don't like to snuggle anymore under my hand but they do let me stroke them.

Fluffy, my sadly deceased hen, would allow me to stick eggs under her while she was broody... Though she would slap my hand with her wings and angrily chirp at me as I did so, she never flew out in a panic or left the nest due to it and always accepted the eggs I put under her.

Rex is the father of the little chirpers, and he is a good dad, even when his son was hissing and pecking at him, he just stood there all puffed up and hissing back but not pecking. He also accepted his son back with no issues despite the event when I put him back in. I read that button quail males tend to be rather aggressive towards other males, but right now Rex and his son are both snuggled together in one big ball of floof with the others.

My babies didn't want anything to do with me after the 4th week, not even letting me pet them and constantly trying to escape the brooder when I opened it, so I decided to take them to their parents a little earlier since they clearly wanted more space, and were fully feathered barring some quills on the face. XD

It seems the youngsters learned the words "Mealworm" and "Food" by watching the reactions from the adults. At first they stared confused from the back of the cage when the adults ran over to me for food, but then after a few days they started running to me too when I said it. Though the little ones aren't timid at all, they will try to eat my hand given the chance! From me being mummy to dinner.

 

[crimsonmama]

Haha I've read your other funny posts about your quail family! That's a shame if mine won't let me pet them as they get older. But as I tell the kids, it's natural. In the wild the only things trying to grab or touch them are things that want to eat them!

I want to try some live mealworm today or tomorrow! See what happens. I would love them to want to fight to feed out my hand! So far my incubated chicks haven't been interested in any food other than their chick feed. No interest in Apple or strawberry. My females chicks though are very interested in mealworms and bugs as the mama really goes crazy for them since her chicks hatched. I guess her instincts tell her they need bugs more than chick feed?

 

[MageofMist]

Haha I've read your other funny posts about your quail family! That's a shame if mine won't let me pet them as they get older. But as I tell the kids, it's natural. In the wild the only things trying to grab or touch them are things that want to eat them!

I want to try some live mealworm today or tomorrow! See what happens. I would love them to want to fight to feed out my hand! So far my incubated chicks haven't been interested in any food other than their chick feed. No interest in Apple or strawberry. My females chicks though are very interested in mealworms and bugs as the mama really goes crazy for them since her chicks hatched. I guess her instincts tell her they need bugs more than chick feed?

They kinda let me touch them when they are eating from my hand, but only then and only if I am sneaky about it.

My baby quails really enjoyed tomato, which we used as an emergency water supply if they ended up gulping down all the water. They loved pecking the seeds out and drinking the tomato juice, leaving an empty husk behind. XD They had the tomato since they hatched, and still enjoy it.
Normally the chicks eat mainly bugs for the fats and proteins they need to grow, so the mother's instinct tells her to hunt down prey for her brood and don't always realize the chick feed is just as good. Though Fluffy tidbitted/food peeped at pretty much any kind of food she picked up, such as millet.

 

[Binki]

Hehe they are such weird little birds!! They are good at picking up on sounds so I'm not surprised they know words, after all, they are "just sounds" too

I trained them (only took a few times) by making a kissy sound right before treat time, then they start mosh pitting the door to the cage, jumping on top of each other and sticking their necks through the bars xD

I don't even make the sound anymore because of the strong reaction of frenzy it creates lmao!!

Love reading about these birds and their quirks ^^ I still have my pharaoh coturnix male pacing the cage and growling whenever he sees me, I open up the door and have to hold him back because now he will be pecking at me and trying to jump out, then when the door is open I double cup him with my hands and pet him with my thumbs and his growling and pecking stops when he's in the right cuddle position and he will start making happy little grunts and whistles, then when I go to leave and take my hands away, he growls and starts pecking my hand and sleeve again, trying to bully me back hahaha it's so crazy and pathetic

 

[MageofMist]

Speckles was having a slight struggle in laying a new egg, which was a rather fat one which explained it. All the other quails started making distress peeps and gathered around her until she passed the egg. With all the ruckus they were making, I thought one of them was dying or something, but nope, they were just a bit worried about Speckles who was just feeling a little egg-constipated. It was only a few seconds of her pushing it out, but it was adorable with the other's reactions.

If she continued to strain though, I would have took her out and dipped her in a bowl of warm water to help her pass the egg.

 

[Binki]

Speckles was having a slight struggle in laying a new egg, which was a rather fat one which explained it. All the other quails started making distress peeps and gathered around her until she passed the egg. With all the ruckus they were making, I thought one of them was dying or something, but nope, they were just a bit worried about Speckles who was just feeling a little egg-constipated. It was only a few seconds of her pushing it out, but it was adorable with the other's reactions.   


If she continued to strain though, I would have took her out and dipped her in a bowl of warm water to help her pass the egg.

Haha aww poor Speckles! One time I saw Pengu lay one of her gross eggs along with some blobs of wet shell powder?? Lol it was pretty graphic, thought it was a prolapse at first, poor girls!!