Worried daddy about to rehome

[GreedySeedFeedy]

Hello. I've been raising quail for their eggs in an indoor setting. We don't hatch new birds often, because we always wind up with a few surprise roosters.

Most people kill and eat their unwanted/problem birds, but I'm very hands-on and a pretty emotional guy. My birds mean the world to me, and I hug and cuddle them every day; killing them is not easy, and the few times I've had to humanely euthanize birds at home it has absolutely shattered me. I feel about my birds the same way some guys feel about their dogs. I eat, sleep, watch tv, and even shower with them.
So, my wife and I always keep the young roosters separately, as long as it takes, until we can find them homes as pets.

But the problem is, because most people don't see quail as anything more than unthinking pieces of breathing meat, I'm always so terrified to give them away when people seem eager to take them. I'm always worried the birds will be thrown as a live chew toy to someone's dog, or be otherwise killed or abused.

What my question is, is how likely is this? Has this happened to you? I won't pass judgment, but have you ever accepted a bird pretending to want it as a pet in order to feed a snake or entertain a dog? Has someone done this to one of your birds? I'd like to know how carefully I should be screening new owners.

 

[nmwaussies]

In my experience, very few folks are trying to deceive or lie to get meat birds. Whether for personal consumption or feeding. I do raw feed my dogs and am starting to raise for meat, and know many others who do, none of whom lie. It's actually very frowned on in feeding groups, as is live feeding (certain reptiles aside).

 

[le_bwah]

It's happened to puppies in my area—I can easily see someone mistreating roosters. The best way to limit both suffering and uncertainty is to kill them yourself. If that is absolutely not an option, finding someone else to kill them as swiftly as possible would be another good bet.

If you're set on finding them a good place to live, you might ask if the potential owner could send you pictures of their setup. If the cages are sad and cramped or the birds look frazzled, no need to stick your birds there. (I'm also paranoid enough to reverse image search on Google to make sure they didn't just pull the first pics for "nice quail cage.")

 

[Nabiki]

I don't imagine anyone lying to you about adoption the occasional rooster. That just wouldn't be worth it for meat. If someone adopts say, 5 or more, then I would suspect that they were probably eating or otherwise disposing of them.

I do eat my extra roos, but I wouldn't lie to someone who is looking to rehome one as a pet.

In my opinion, however, a lone roo is not likely to be a happy one, and they don't cohabit well with others. It may be more merciful if someone is willing to give them a quick death.

 

[mdees88]

I agree with this...

The best way to limit both suffering and uncertainty is to kill them yourself. If that is absolutely not an option, finding someone else to kill them as swiftly as possible would be another good bet.

Killing the extra males is simply part of raising quail, or poultry in general. Either you can kill them, you can let someone else kill them, or you can sell them to someone who is going to kill them. It's hard to believe there's a large market of people looking to purchase MALE quail that are NOT planning on consuming them, feeding them to their animals, or using them to train their hunting dogs. Maybe there will be the occasional person looking to introduce a different bloodline into their flock.

If you can't live with the idea of someone using one of your quails to train his hunting dog, then i'm sure you would feel better knowing that your quail were being humanely dispatched and put to good use (consumed). That has to better than constantly worrying about what each and every person you met might or might not be doing with the quail you sold them.

What my question is, is how likely is this? Has this happened to you? I won't pass judgment, but have you ever accepted a bird pretending to want it as a pet in order to feed a snake or entertain a dog? Has someone done this to one of your birds? I'd like to know how carefully I should be screening new owners.

I don't think too many people would lie about their intentions. If they are lying, it should be fairly easy to tell when you start asking them questions about their intentions, cage setup, etc.

 

[Quailobsessed]

Hello. I've been raising quail for their eggs in an indoor setting. We don't hatch new birds often, because we always wind up with a few surprise roosters.

Most people kill and eat their unwanted/problem birds, but I'm very hands-on and a pretty emotional guy. My birds mean the world to me, and I hug and cuddle them every day; killing them is not easy, and the few times I've had to humanely euthanize birds at home it has absolutely shattered me. I feel about my birds the same way some guys feel about their dogs. I eat, sleep, watch tv, and even shower with them.
So, my wife and I always keep the young roosters separately, as long as it takes, until we can find them homes as pets.

But the problem is, because most people don't see quail as anything more than unthinking pieces of breathing meat, I'm always so terrified to give them away when people seem eager to take them. I'm always worried the birds will be thrown as a live chew toy to someone's dog, or be otherwise killed or abused.

What my question is, is how likely is this? Has this happened to you? I won't pass judgment, but have you ever accepted a bird pretending to want it as a pet in order to feed a snake or entertain a dog? Has someone done this to one of your birds? I'd like to know how carefully I should be screening new owners.

I really respect you for this. I'm the same I get worried about breeding and selling birds because I don't know how they'll be treated. I know plenty of people eat their quail, and as long as they still treat them humanely, that's okay. I just personally couldn't do it. I get too emotionally attached to my animals (even my ants). We do have strict laws in Australia about animal cruelty though. In Australia, you can't kill any animals in your backyard. Unfortunately this doesn't stop people from illegally doing it.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

In my experience, very few folks are trying to deceive or lie to get meat birds. Whether for personal consumption or feeding. I do raw feed my dogs and am starting to raise for meat, and know many others who do, none of whom lie. It's actually very frowned on in feeding groups, as is live feeding (certain reptiles aside).

Luckily, the person my roosters went to wound up keeping them as pets! They had a nice setup and were honest. I'm very thankful that people are generally not as awful as I see them as.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

I really respect you for this. I'm the same I get worried about breeding and selling birds because I don't know how they'll be treated. I know plenty of people eat their quail, and as long as they still treat them humanely, that's okay. I just personally couldn't do it. I get too emotionally attached to my animals (even my ants). We do have strict laws in Australia about animal cruelty though. In Australia, you can't kill any animals in your backyard. Unfortunately this doesn't stop people from illegally doing it.

In Finland you can definitely kill animals for food, as long as you use an approved method. Feeding a live bird to your dog here will absolutely land you jail time if you get caught, but people are just so horrible to animals, and animals used for food are just treated like they are nothing.
Let's both just continue to be paranoid as hell, and do everything we can to make sure they land in good hands.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

It's happened to puppies in my area—I can easily see someone mistreating roosters. The best way to limit both suffering and uncertainty is to kill them yourself. If that is absolutely not an option, finding someone else to kill them as swiftly as possible would be another good bet.

If you're set on finding them a good place to live, you might ask if the potential owner could send you pictures of their setup. If the cages are sad and cramped or the birds look frazzled, no need to stick your birds there. (I'm also paranoid enough to reverse image search on Google to make sure they didn't just pull the first pics for "nice quail cage.")

I really appreciate that last tip! And you have a point, about killing them myself to make sure that they aren't ripped apart alive or slowly starved to death. They did wind up going to a nice looking man who brought his young daughter to collect the birds! He gave every indication that the birds would be pets, and his setup was good with a spacious yard that the birds would be free to roam during warmer weather. He did have a dog, which I unfortunately couldn't help noticing was a tick hound, but that was really the only indication whatsoever that they might be used as something other than a companion.

WILL be doing reverse image searches every time now! Will also continue to be paranoid.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

I don't imagine anyone lying to you about adoption the occasional rooster. That just wouldn't be worth it for meat. If someone adopts say, 5 or more, then I would suspect that they were probably eating or otherwise disposing of them.

I do eat my extra roos, but I wouldn't lie to someone who is looking to rehome one as a pet.

In my opinion, however, a lone roo is not likely to be a happy one, and they don't cohabit well with others. It may be more merciful if someone is willing to give them a quick death.

Roosters being unhappy kept together is not always the case, but it really does vary from individual to individual! The two in question were luckily housed together almost since birth and kept separate from sight of any hens. Because of this, they were pretty much best buddies and it was really good that they went together.

The guy who did pick them up seems to be pretty legit; he had a small child come with him to collect the birds, and had indicated that they would be with other quail later down the line and had a fenced yard to enjoy once the weather got warm.

I'm really liking the honest answers I've gotten so far in the thread, and while not all of it is sunshine and roses, they have confirmed a lot of thoughts I've been having about the ''right'' things to do, which has been very re-assuring.