Aussie Finch Forum

At the risk of sounding completely stupid i was just wondering what the pro's and cons were for housing quails in with finches? I always thought quails were known to be flighty on nights when the moon was full and would scare the Finches...Well, this is what i was told. Has anyone experienced this? Also what other benifit are they in the aviary?
Mick.

I have button quail in my aviaries. they are like garbage disposal units.
anything the finches drop gets eaten, nothing goes to waste.
they can be flighty when frightened but I havent had any trouble with them

I have always had King Quail in the avairys, the only problem I have noticed is the racket when they decide to call to each other after dark. They are very effective garbage disposal units as Mick said. And have seen the little guys chasing mice. Once had a metre long snake find it's way into the avairy via a mouse hole, and the hen quail sat quietly on her nest while the snake slithered over her. Apparently the fact that she didn't move made her safe, cause the madly fluttering Zeb flegling in the next avairy it slithered into went down the hatch.
LML

I won't keep them again. They are flighty, the young are difficult to keep alive and you have to make sure you put out jar lids filled with water that allow the chicks to drink. What a hassle. Plus as soon as the young males colour up the father attacks them. I lost 2 young males this way. That's just my experience with them...

I have 25 in my avairy no problems. They sleep outside the finches sleep inside.
Good to clean up excess seed which helps stop mice from coming in for a feed.

I guess i would get away with having quail if i wanted them as i have 2 aviaries joined together with only a foot high and wide hole in the middle. One end has their food, water and goodies and the other is the nesting end which is sheltered with brush and the front is sealed in to stop the cold wind. I could just keep them in the non breeding end. Would not want them to breed though so i would just get two Hens if i did....Thanks for you thoughts guys....
Mick.

Flighty or not is sometimes a personallity trait. And so is attacking young cocks. Most cocks will do so but many don't touch them till mum wants to go back to nest. And it is perfectly safe in my experience to keep 2 cocks together in an avairy where there are no hens. Just get 2 brothers who have been together since hatching and have not been with a hen. Cocks are easier to get in quail as in most birds.
LML

I dont keep them anymore,Reasons being you have to feed them on the floor,This is a good supply for feeding mice aswell.They compete for any live food that may come into the aviary.And the possibility of night freights is something i dont want to introduce.
Apart from this they look really good in a aviary, especially with young at foot.

I've always kept quail with my finches, as well as some of my parrots. I currently have Black Breasted & Red Chested Button Quail, Kings & Stubble. have also had Painted & Brown aswell. The only major drawback is worming, they don't drink much when using a suspension, so I generally put them in cabinets to worm them.

Try clipping there wings when you first put them in that way they settle without too much disruption.