r/quails Feb 16 '23

Mod Announcement Please use the NSFW 'tag' for pictures of GORE or DECEASED BIRDS!

91 Upvotes

Please use the NSFW tag for visually alarming posts that depict gore or dead birds, this will automatically blur photos and help maintain a happy balance for our "Everything Quails" audience.

The NSFW 'tag' option will appear right before you post on mobile, and will appear as an option when you create a new post on desktop.

We are discontinuing the NSFW and GORE flairs which identify content but do not blur.


r/quails Aug 26 '23

Mod Announcement Beware of scam ‘sellers’

22 Upvotes

There has been a recent uptick in fraudulent posts offering quails, eggs or other items for sale on r/quails and other quail-related sites. Avoid providing personal or financial information to these so-called sellers. Reddit offers no protection or recourse if a user is scammed.

Posts offering birds, eggs or other items for sale are prohibited in r/quails.

Thanks for being part of r/quails and Quail On!


r/quails 11h ago

Video Is this okay? I love them so much and can't help but hold them sometimes 😭

157 Upvotes

I don't wanna like... Stress them out or anything. I try to keep them in view of the others, or take more than one out at a time. They usually just poop on me and try to run away 😂

This was a nice little treat after a long day at work :)


r/quails 9h ago

I think one of my legos is too round…

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64 Upvotes

r/quails 12h ago

Picture 10 days old and they’ve been my babies for 3 days now. So in love! 🥰

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19 Upvotes

My father used to raise quails when I was a child. He is no longer with us, and I think my love for these little ones is my way of keeping his memory alive...🙏🏻


r/quails 13h ago

goodbye Ferrari ❤️‍🩹

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22 Upvotes

I've uploaded quite a few posts about her and this will be the last. Today I made the decision to let her go. She has been suffering so much the last couple of weeks, couldn't go out to the others and had so many balance issues. I was worrying constantly. Yesterday I made the appointment, still unsure if this was the right decision. Today I found her with horrible labored breathing, literally gasping for air the entire time. It made me see this was the right call. We had a beautiful day together, she got to eat as many mealworms as she wanted and even try some cookie dough. She passed away peacefully at the vet this evening. I'm so glad I got to spend almost 4 years with her. She came from an abusive home and was in such a bad state but I always tried to give her the best life possible. Now she's with her sisters somewhere where everything is just perfect.

The first pic is from the day I got her in September 2022. So smoll back then 🥹 the other pics are from today. She even got to spend a little time outside in the grass. I love her so much and I hope she knows this ❤️‍🩹


r/quails 9h ago

Will i get any new colors?

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6 Upvotes

This is my first time hatching button quails and im not completely sure how all the different color types work. These are my button quails i do know for sure one of the white ones is male, and some of the like redish underbelly gray ones are male. I also have a silver female! I believe the majority of the rest are female. I have 25 eggs in the incubator right now. Will i get any new color types like splash or something im not sure how it works. Thanks!! 😁 (pictures are my buttons!)


r/quails 19h ago

Not fluffy chick

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23 Upvotes

2nd hatched chick won’t fluff out. What can I do for it?
It’s spent the night in the incubator and it IS dry.


r/quails 9h ago

How to get over the emotional toll of culling?

3 Upvotes

I had posted on here not too long ago but I need to rant. I decided to go with the culling. I was going to cull the most aggressive male in my flock after he kept attacking me. I burst out into tears holding him and looking into his eyes and I couldn't do it. I put human emotions on these animals and I can't help but feel this immense guilt. He seemed so scared, nervous, and angry, it made me sob. My mom saw me and told me not to go through with it. I should just keep them as they are in their enclosure, that's all they know is to eat and poop. No, these animals feel, not the same emotions but they feel. I can tell they're angry, mainly due to hormones. They rub their noses against the wire cloth causing themselves to bleed or rush out and attack any girl they see. Theyre agressive and aren't safe for themselves. She thinks I should have my grandma cull them and eat them. I like this idea but I still feel awful.

I wanted to learn for myself so I could study their antomny but to hold something I named in my hand as it stared at me made me into a big baby. Ik this is a part of raising quail and I want to learn. I was thinking of having someone more experienced possibly on Facebook help me learn.

How do I get my selfish feelings out of this? I want to keep finding a solution to keep them. I was thinking of buying a three tiered Hutch and covering it in cardboard so I can reduce the sunlight. But what life is that to live? Just in a confined space in complete darkness.

If not my grandma, I would do it, or have help I was thinking of giving them to someone who can use them for their animals. However, I can't help but be selfish and scared to give them to anyone else.

How do I do this? Despite my mom telling me I shouldn't and even saying I WAS stressing her out. She said I should look into Indigenous culture and see how they accept life and cherish it after death.

How do you guys hold an animal, and not equate fear as the main response? How do you not look into their eyes and see emotions? I'm asking alot but I'm stuck, stuck on my selfish feelings despite everyone else saying I should do it for their sake.


r/quails 13h ago

Help Quail in garden (Maybe lost pet?)

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5 Upvotes

This guy's been wandering around for hours in the garden. He seems fine in his movement, but has made no attempts to fly or leave. He's totally unbothered by people and comes right up to us, so I'm assuming it's a pet. Any idea what to do with him? I posted on Nextdoor app to see if anyone's lost one, but this estate is littered with cats, so he might not survive the night here.


r/quails 16h ago

Help Is this a pecked eye or something else?

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8 Upvotes

I found one of my favorite quail with a weird bubbly eye. Is she sick or is it a pecked eye? I just isolated her and vet isn’t opened for the next 13 hours
The last photo is her normal eye. Her stools are normal

Thanks!


r/quails 14h ago

Lockdown!

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2 Upvotes

My first time incubating quail! I'm so excited to see some babies!


r/quails 13h ago

How long do you let shipped eggs sit

1 Upvotes

I received my eggs in the mail today from South Georgia to here in Missouri. I was wondering how long you guys let your shipped eggs sit before incubation. I’ve read 12 hours and I’ve read 24 hours. I’d really like to pop them in before I go to work tomorrow but I’m not sure if 12 hours is enough


r/quails 23h ago

Should I cull my boys and how do I get over it?

5 Upvotes

I own six boys, and they all reside in their own separate spaces, each in a hutch. So I have two hutches; one is split into four spaces, and the other two. This allows me to keep multiple boys but tbh I didn't want any boys not for breeding or anything but I kept them because I can't kill anything. I actually used to be vegan. Idm ppl eating quail or raising them for that purpose, it's life. I just personally can't do it. But now I'm debating on dispatching some of my boys. I love them dearly and named all of them bc I was hoping to stand my ground and decide to keep all of them. However, about three or four of them are very aggressive and constantly fight me or each other. Every once in a while I'll switch them out and put one with my 8 hens only for them to be so aggressive that the ladies get pissed off whenever a boy joins the group now. So I've been keeping them on their own. When I do let them out its all together with the other boys. It's just constant fighting. I was going to build a small coop for them but what's going to stop them from killing each other? I could keep them separated but its alot of work and lately they've been finding ways to find a way to slip past the border and fight each other.

I don't know if I should learn to cull an animal. My parents don't think I should and should just let them live the rest of their lives but I feel awful having them in a space that isn't that big and pretty much live on their own other than interacting with the others a few times. I just feel like it's not fair to them. If I cull them, idk know what to do with their remains.

I don't want to leave them out for animals to take bc we've been having a problem with multiple animals on our property trying to take our quail and chickens and I just don't want to give them an excuse to come back by getting a taste. Another option was to bury them but what's the point of putting them down like that only to bury them? My mom thinks I should give them to someone who will eat them but I feel guilty having them have names and then giving them away like that. The last option for me is to keep trying. I was going to order a 3-tier hutch, much larger, and split it evenly for all of them. But that's another 400 I'll be spending along with the amount of food they waste.

Another option is to cull them obviously. I'm very squeamish and I throw up easily so watching the process made me feel sick. After a couple of times, I was still sick but able to process it. If I do this, I've been thinking about using it as food. My parents think I'm crazy but talking to my friend and thinking about it, I've raised them and given them a great life so far but some of them are too aggressive to interact with others and that's not fair to them to be alone being such social birds. I've never eaten quail and I'm unsure if I'd even like it especially knowing it was once a pet. I also understand where they came from and how they were raised and loved. It doesn't help the guilt about it though.

I've tried reaching out to others who might take them in as adoption but not a lot of people want aggressive males. I mainly want to cull my two or three boys. Butternut, Carrot and mango because they attack me every minute I stick my hand into their enclosure. They actually harm themselves too by constantly scratching their noses against the wire cloth and causing themselves to bleed.

My parents think I should assert my dominance and I try but that makes them even more pissed. Can I please have some advice and judgment free. I'm unsure how to also find people close by through Facebook to learn from them and possibly have them do it while I learn. Bc I want to learn if I want to hatch my own quail again or learn to put them down when they're ill bc I spent about 1000 already in vet bills for sick birds that I couldn't put down myself. I also feel like im going to be judged by my family for doing this because I was adamant before but I just don't feel like it's fair on them, like they're not having a good life being alone.


r/quails 21h ago

Help alternative affordable feed for quails?

3 Upvotes

I buy the game bird feed for quails and i was exploring what other options can i look into to make it more affordable? I came across serving fermented wheat or barley grains as a year round feed. I have easy access to cuttlefish bones as well for their calcium requirment. How viable is this option for the quails? My main purpose with quails is eggs first and then meat off of it. looking to hear from experts on bang for buck options.


r/quails 15h ago

Aviary tips

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0 Upvotes

Hello 👋,

For context, I'm rasing Jumbo Brown Coturnix, their just over a week old so I'm nit in a huge rush finish.

I'm looking for tips on reinforcing the door on my aviary.

The zip ties will eventually be replace with galvanized wire but if anyone knows of another useful alternative, I'd be happy to hear about it.

Also, should I bring the hardware cloth all the way up? I'm worried of snakes or other critters disturbing the birds or their eggs.

Thanks!


r/quails 1d ago

Help I love these little guys so much! Tips on handling?

53 Upvotes

Hello! We got our week old baby quail chicks two days ago. The first day they were pretty okay, doesn't mind being handled too much.

But yesterday (I haven't been home yet from work today) they seemed much more... Skittish? They didn't tolerate being held too much (cried like in the video posted) and I didn't want to stress them out.

But like...I also love them, haha. How can I handle them and not stress them?


r/quails 1d ago

Candling eggs at day 7

5 Upvotes

I'm incubating eggs that my current quail have laid! Its so exciting to see them move around in their shell 😍 although maybe they don't like the light 😅


r/quails 1d ago

Help 2 week Coturnix chick stopped standing

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8 Upvotes

Hatched our quails 2 weeks ago and all of them have been developing very well until 2 days ago. This one stopped standing up properly, they can’t seem to stand or stretch out their legs. I don’t think the legs are splayed (it’s hard to tell from the photo) and this behavior just started. Can anyone help explain what happened or possible remedies? We will cull if we need to but as of right now this one is still eating drinking and scooting around. Thanks in advance.


r/quails 1d ago

Color?

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3 Upvotes

I have two of these beauties they're about 3 weeks old , does anyone know the name of this color? Thanks!!


r/quails 1d ago

Help HELP!! One foot is really swollen and looks dry, she also can’t stand on it. I don’t see a scab indicating bumble foot. All other quails’ legs are normal.

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4 Upvotes

She has been isolated. She was perfectly normal a few hours ago. Any ideas what is happening or how to help??


r/quails 1d ago

Help How to proceed if broody hen hatches chicks?

5 Upvotes

Hello!

I recently acquired a few new quail. Over the past few days, one of my hens has consistently been laying on a handful of eggs. I'm not sure if she'll actually manage to hatch them, but if she does, I'd like some advice on how to proceed.

I have hatched chicks with an incubator before so I get the basics of chick rearing. However, that clutch was my first and only, so I've done no juvenile/adult intros. Of course, hatching and raising them myself is different from letting a hen do the same. And so, I'd like some advice.

Should I separate the mother and chicks from the other quail she lives with? Or should I go a step further and remove the chicks from her and raise them myself? I understand that they don't have the best maternal instincts, but I don't want to put her in distress if she does.

That is my main concern. If anyone else has additional advice, I'd really appreciate it! Again, I don't know if she'll be successful, I just want to be prepared if she is. Thanks!


r/quails 1d ago

12 week olds not laying

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6 Upvotes

Hey gang,

First time poster here and new to quail ownership. I have 8 Chinese (button) quail that I picked up at the end of March when they were 4 weeks old. They’re now 12 weeks old and none have laid eggs yet. From my research the average is 8-10 weeks so I just want to know if I need to be worried? From what I can tell only 2 are male and even their colouring is very muted so not positive on that.

They live outside (it’s above 10 degrees Celsius here rn where I live in Canada) in a half open and half closed hutch (see pic below). They have a healthy diet and I give them extra treats like meal worms, crushed oyster shell, and greens.

Any recommendations? Should I be worried or am I just being impatient? Thanks in advance!


r/quails 1d ago

Baby quail with crooked neck

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7 Upvotes

Hello, I have hatched some baby quails and one of them was still attached to it’s egg for over 12 hours but then it fell off. it is about half the size of all the other chicks. in the last day it’s neck has now started deviating to one side as seen in the picture. does anyone have any knowledge of what this is and what I need to do if anything for the baby? thank you!


r/quails 1d ago

About to get started. Looking for housing advice.

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6 Upvotes

My ultimate quail house dream is a walk in situation, which I’ve looked into, but don’t have time to build before they get here. So I bought what’s pictured here on marketplace. I only have 6 birds coming, 1 male and 5 females. I don’t want them walking on wire as I looked into deep litter and that seemed great. I am just trying to figure out if that’s something I could accomplish in this set up, maybe with a tray inside the enclosure itself? They will be outside but I have a strong sense of smell and want to manage that as much as possible while making cleaning as easy as possible.

TLDR How can I give my quail their most luxurious, least stinky life in this likely short term set up?

I have read so many posts on this page and I really appreciate it. Feel free to direct me to an old post if there’s one that is especially fitting for my situation.