Quails

[coco23]

Hi guys,
I'm new to the forum and new to quails and I'm looking for any information you can give me about king quails...

I recently adopted a male king quail (who we have named Kingy) from the lovely lady at the pet shop after he had been given to her by an old man who was going into a nursing home n wanted him to go to a good home so my hubby and i were chosen for our strong love and care of all our different breeds of finches.
we put him in our big aviary with our flock of zebras,double barred and emblema finches. He seemed ok but a little lost on his own....
so....
we brought a pair of king quail from the pet shop. not knowing much or being able to find out much about quails we put them all together in the big aviary... within seconds the new smaller and younger male started bashing up Kingy. he was jumping on his back and pecking his head all while the female chased the two of them around. obviosly this was a territorial thing so we have put KIngy in our smaller aviary with our gouldians and he is so happy and calm. He calls all day starting first thing when my husband turns the outside light on to start getting ready for work all the way through till dusk. We LOVE him!

but back to the other quails who we have named Micky & Mallory after the main charactors in Natural born killers as they are so aggressive.. these two are just weird as far as im concerned! we have put a box down for the to nest in and a few potted plants so they can choose where to nest but the wont use anything but the ground to lay on. they also spend most of their time laying on the ground sleeping and very little time being active like my other quail who just doesnt stop! lol
there has been no sign of them mating and its starting to worry me because the little i have found says they breed well...alsao the male hardly ever calls??
if anyone can tell me whats going on with them that would be great
thank you

[spanna]

once a pair is established they won't call very often, and mating usually takes place when you aren't looking they like some privacy too! some quail are hyperactive, others are like sloths. they all have different personalities, like finches, and people i guess... as long they eat and drink they'll be fine, and will get around to breeding soon i'd think! if you want to stop Kingy calling you'll need to find him a mate. but some places won't sell hens by themselves so you might have to shop around or find a local breeder.

oh, and yes, 2 males and one female is a recipe for disaster! fights happen every time, without fail, not to worry they're very hardy birds.

[jusdeb]

welcome

[coco23]

thank you so much for that! you really have made my day!
do you know much about gouldians and emblemas? i have so many questions and this forum is going to be the answer to my prayers, i just know it! lol
My husband and I are so keen for any info we can get as these birds are our passion and we would like to start breeding to help local populations with help from the widlife department...

[spanna]

glad to hear there are a lot of very knowledgeable people on the forum, all you need do is ask!

there are a number of different topics for you to post in for advice. have a look around, maybe do a search and if you cant find anything, find the appropriate area and ask away

[Jayburd]

I'm always posting about quails, so I'll let spanna do this one good luck coco!
also I have a book on them coming out soon ;)

[finchbreeder]

Welcome to the forum. Quail don't nest anywhere but on the ground in a scrape, but if you provide grasses some will build round their scrape. And as the finches need grasses too. It will all get used by someone.
LML

[Diane]

Welcome

we have put a box down for the to nest in and a few potted plants so they can choose where to nest but the wont use anything but the ground to lay on.

I did the same thing, plant pots turned on the side, upturned wooden barrels, open roofed boxes, they still sat outside. Now they seem to have got the hang of it. One pair in one aviary have used a little wicker house to raise some young and are currently sitting on eggs. Another pair are using a plant pot on its side. The only thing I did different was place leafy branches over the places I wanted them to nest, they like some cover.
Started with 2 pair in June and I now have 12 so it wont take long.

[coco23]

thank you all so much for your help
we have now got a new problem with the 2 quails in the big aviary... my feemale is getting pecked bad! i have but in a sand box for them to bathe in, they get meal worms and a varriety of vegies daily so theres lots to be pecked at and there are only the two of them in a massive aviary that houses all my other finches so they cant be bored or stressed because of room or anything so it has got me lost...
could i use an anti-peck solution from the pet shop that i use when introducing new finches??? any other ideas?

also would it be an idea to put a couple of other females in with them since they are alone in there? could this help the male stop pecking her?

[Jayburd]

Don't worry about it, it's just the male getting himself into the breeding mood
if it gets really bad, remove the male until the hen is better.
this is normal, we all get it