How to Tame Your Coturnix Quail

[@chrislecky710]

My quail now expect me each morning, they are both trying really hard each day to fly out of their "enclosure" an into my hands and getting closer to achieving it each day, thus their wings are getting stronger, their routine is,, I feed them breakfast then I take them out,, they follow me around because they want a cuddle, so I sit with my morning coffee whilst they spend an hour or so getting cuddles and then head back to their "enclosure" unadded without any need to train them to do so.. NO CONCEPT OF CAGE...Once their wings get strong enough and their feathers developed enough they will fly to me for cuddles and fly back to their "enclosure"... no training required just communication routine and mutual respect and love....Doing what I have is not easy the sacrifice has to come from me and my investment of effort, whilst being humble enough to not see them as an object I own but a friend I lucky to have... They are healthy happy and being who they wish to be rather than what I demand they become..

[@kieranfoster902]

I keep European Quail which are VERY jumpy compared to domesticated Japanese Quail but by feeding some live mealworms regularly they have become very tame now and will take them from my hand. Lovely little birds.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Nice. Most any animal can be tamed up with food and patience. :)

[@tommyb1two3]

Highly recommend the method of holding meal worms in your hand for them to eat. It helps them associate your hands and the opening of the enclosure with something more positive (getting treats) and I have actually seen mine stand and wait with anticipation because of all the meal worms they have been hand fed. Sometimes they will even approach my hands out of curiosity. I don't think it will necessarily help with physically handling them but it will make them less afraid of hands moving around inside their enclosure. It's very effective.

[@blackpackhomesteadchrisand7337]

Your videos are very informative and we love our quail. They love us only when food and treats are involved.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

lol. They are definitely very food motivated.

[@ashfaqunnaharnila4845]

Åçâë be gæ

[@jodyflores601]

Thank you Chris. I talk to mine, they seem to do a happy dance when talked to. The roosters crow more when I talk to them too. Maybe my voice freaks them out but they always seem interested in what I have to say. lol

[@Slightlyrednecked]

lol. I am sure they are interested.

[@SeedSowerMichele]

I have 70 quail, and not a one of them are afraid of me. They fight each other to get in my hand. I haven't had them very long, so the previous owner (my son and fam) spent a lot of time with them. They're really friendly!

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Nice. Mine aren't super skitish but they would be just as happy if I didn't mess with them. :)

[@FoodForesters]

When Amy comes to the flock area, the males start crowing at her while she collects eggs and gives them water & food. She has them trained that when she tabs the door, the quail back away and they don't fly out. It did take about a week to train them if you go out 2x a day.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

That is a good thing to teach them for sure. Mine pretty much instinctively back away from the door when I come near it. :)

[@calvincarrick4408]

Thanks for all your efforts in your videos, always enjoy watching and learning

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Thank you so much for watching. I am glad to hear that you enjoy them.

[@markdandeneau2904]

My quail are quite tame. They pay no attention to me when I approach their cage. Some even come closer. My wife says that it’s because I brooded over them like a mother hen. It’s very cool to walk out in the morning and see nearly all my 26 four week old quail lounging around on the open side of the cage observing everything.

[@jrbarreras2448]

Good Vid man. To the point good examples and not a bunch of dumb music that is unrelated. Keel the videos coming bro

[@Slightlyrednecked]

thank you. I am glad you liked it.

[@claireabbott6112]

I recommend mealworms from babies. You do need to freeze then boil for a minute so you can cut them into bits - whole ones are too big for them. My quail jump at me when they see me now and some will fly to my hand. The ones who fly to me have all been Golden Giants and I find these have always been the easiest to tame.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

That is a great suggestion.

[@mrsprincekyu80]

The short answer is: You bribe them with mealworms. They're quail kryptonite.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

lol. That will do it for sure.

[@danielled8665]

But mine are too small for mealworms... :( kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6fNfKx9eciKe5o

[@alexandrasmith8868]

I keep mine only for eggs and spend a lot of time at home with them. Mine love meal worms and I try to keep enough food and water in so that if they don't see me until mid morning they have enough. I did let them out the other day at about 5 pm and by 6 pm the two sergeant major roosters were calling them back into the pen. They were doing this last night too but it's been too wet so I put them in the shed. Only the smallest seem to bolt, but we can get to the neighbours' gardens, with permission to get them back. Just got to watch out for the cats in the evening and rats in the night so I always get them back in.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Interesting. I can't believe that you get them back. If I let mine out they would never come back (probably get eaten by something before they could anyway).

[@armoredaustin4127]

Thank you I am currently hatching tuxedo, quails and you’re still in their baby form and take a wild. Hopefully this will help.

[@jbelme1]

We just got our first covey. At two weeks old, the standards are more athletic and always run from us; the Italian goldens are not quite as flighty but still panic; the English White (A&M) quail are very calm and will let us pet them while they feed and sleep. They’ll also sit in my palm for a moment where the other breeds immediately attempt escape.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Interesting. I have had some of each of those birds but didn't really notice that much of a difference in how tame they were.

[@NadyaPena-01]

what a coincidence. My English Whites are also the most tame of my bunch. They relax in my hand when I hold them. By far the most calm. My tibetans are the srcond nicest. Last my tuxedos and jumbo browns. Those freak out if I try to grab them. The jumbo brown babies squirm and scream.

[@alanweber675]

I raise my quail to be vicious! I sell them as guard quail...

[@Slightlyrednecked]

lol. That would be something to see.

[@tgblaser]

I use small bird bird seeds to use as a treat and tame! I also tame from babies the realy cute ones like silver quails with white faces and a few others [ 4 pets ]. All my beginners breeders were trained to eat out of my hand. ( sometimes a couple quails stand by the cage door, I will put food in my hand and they will it the food in my hand then run to the food container to eat! ) Strainge but I like it and they want me to hand feed them every once in a while.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Nice. My birds do come running to the feed but not quite as tame as yours.

[@rhondasnair9304]

I honestly don't handle mine much but my kids do and our quail are very tame. I don't know if that helps or not. Also when they were babies they were held almost daily as I had to change the brooder a lot.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I am sure it helps. With more handling they will get used to it and not be as frightened by it.

[@therrienmichael08]

I have had mine on the ground in a chicken coop the last 3 weeks and they are very content now.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Sounds like a very nice set up.

[@garyb4929]

I have a old Guinea pig tray that hangs on side of coop, i keep oyster shell in it & I add mealworms every morning & they run to tray when i come up.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

nice. Food is always a great motivator.

[@hotheadsniper]

I have learned a lot from your videos.thanks for all the information.I'm very soon starting my own quail farming.one question though how do I calculate profitability in layers quail farming?it is easy to calculate if we are raising them for meat.we bring and raise them and then sell them and you substract the cost you got from cost you spend on them and you get your profit withim 45 days but it his hard to do with laying quails because they don't lay eggs daily and then they keep on laying eggs for so long that it is hard to keep all the tracks.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Thank you for watching my videos. Unfortunately I don't know that I can really answer that. I don't farm my birds to be profitable. I think the easiest way would be to track your monthly expenses and your monthly profit. As far as calculating it ahead of time, you can assume the birds will lay about an egg a day. I would say 60% of the birds will lay every day anyway. You will probably get better than that but it is always best to go with worst case. If you know how much you can sell eggs for or hatched birds for, that should give you some rough numbers to calculate it with.

[@daniel51404]

I sit their cage next to my chair and I noticed after a few days they are more relaxed when I go in the cage.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

They do get used to you pretty quickly.

[@daniel51404]

I heard putting vinegar in their water helps with the odor is that true?

[@daniel51404]

Can quails eat game bird feed all through their life?

[@rosegriffiths7226]

We are hatching quails, this is my new go to man. 9 quails!

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Thank you so much for the kind comments. Good luck with your hatch.

[@DozingGreen-fz6rg]

Plural form is still quail :)

[@jessegrider5301]

Mine are too tame. I have several hundred. I keep most of them in a 12x20 flight pen. I have to watch where I step or I'll step on them. Come the 1st of October tho, I'll be thinning them out and keeping just the jumbo.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Too tame can be a problem for sure. Sounds like you have a nice set up.

[@realcookin3720]

I'm going to do some experimenting.....I want some garden quail....I have seen this and it's awesome but you have to handle your quail while they are babies, so right now I'm hatching about 20 out and I will pick the best of best to do this. Then I will set up my garden appropriately, basically predator proof it sky and ground. See how it works they are really good bug control. And I have time to spare and as long as I already have quail eggs I'm no really losing anything. Just a challenge for my self.

[@brittanyolson3112]

Chris! My question is when collecting eggs for incubation do you spray the 50/50 On right when you collect or wait till you have all the eggs ready to go in? We only have 12 Quail so it takes us for five days to collect as many as we need to incubate. I was unsure about the 50/50 solution but man it really does help your hatch rate! also could you add the link for Kickstarter I need to purchase one of your solar lights. thx!

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I spray the eggs as soon as they are collected and then once more as a group before they go in the incubator. Unfortunately, the kickstarter has ended and was unsuccessful. I might run it again in the future but right now the light isn't available. Sorry about that.

[@CopperValentine]

Tamed quail are very sweet little birds. :0)

[@Slightlyrednecked]

The ones I have seen sure are.

[@rosegriffiths7226]

Yes

[@thisuserwannaintospace6640]

Does anyone know what else (apart from the watermelons mentioned in the video) can be given as snacks/rewards for quails? I only gave mine cottage cheese with oatmeal and I would love to add something else to their diet

[@lucybrooks5001]

Chia sprouts seeds and other sprout are great for their diet and helps their bones get stronger

[@bellehollins]

I haven’t met an animal I couldn’t connect with and “tame” (#1 rule is that tame looks different for each species and individual). My hatching eggs will be here soon; I can’t hardly wait!

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Awesome. Good luck with your upcoming hatch.

[@alexwang982]

Spider!

[@jtsdeals]

Hey Chris, question for you: have you had any issues with raccoons attaching your quail? I had 3 hens recently get killed by one and he was able to get them from outside the cage. Wondering how your setup protects against that.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I have had raccoons come to the cages but so far none of them have ever worked out how to get to the birds and it hasn't been a problem.

[@qwilfish66]

Great video and I can’t wait to get my own quails 🇦🇺🦘

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Thank you. I am glad you liked it.

[@s8kiy]

this helps alot since my bird is super overprotective when I try to grab him

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Some birds are a little more aggressive than others so it may take more work. Hope it gets better.

[@teslabot5650]

Everytime I touch one it poops, then a minute later it does it again. SO MUCH POOH!

[@asimplelifeinthephilippine1465]

What quail do you prefer to raise for meat.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Jumbo Meat makers or Jumbo Pharaoh are my favorites. They are both pretty much the same.

[@yerneedsry]

how do you keep the bottom of the cage clean the wire its building up and I scrape it..? mine are so tame 17 they never have pecked me they dont move away when I go in the cage I can pet anytime and they have never once have any of them gotten out and I leave door open when feeding....I talk to them alot and thank the momas for the eggs every day..

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I use half inch hardware cloth and don't have any problems with the droppings building up on the wire myself. If you are using a smaller wire, you might switch to half inch. That is my best suggestion.

[@jenniferhislop7007]

Thank you for all of your great tips. I've been watching your videos as I've just gotten my quail June 30 2019. I have a female who's just started showing a behavior that caused me pause. I know that parrots will adjust their crop, so it's what I'm hoping she's doing. She's stretching her neck up and gaping her mouth. She did this a few times in short succession. I started researching this and only came up with "gapeworm". Do you have any thoughts on if it's a natural behavior or something more menacing?

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I have seen my birds do similar things. I am not really sure what the reason is but it has never really been a sign of anything worse.

[@jenniferhislop7007]

@@Slightlyrednecked thanks so much. She's not doing it at all today. I'm sure that she was just adjusting her crop.

[@simonbolivar1678]

THX...

[@unebislyte3477]

Hey! I never had any type of birds before. Right now i have 2 baby quails! They arent tamed at all. They are about 5 weeks right now. I was just wondering what kind of fruits, vegetibles can they aculy eat? I dont wanna poison them but i do wanna tame them. Can you recomend somthing they can eat? Thanks! Ok sorry if bother you. Bye!

[@Mimi-ip6vv]

he has a vid on this

[@Banishedsoulsofficial]

Google it. But remember if you feed them anything other than the millfeed for game birds you'll need to give them grit to help them digest it

[@sm00thbutter]

Anything besides things u generally dont feed other pets (so dont feed chocolate and tomato plants/other nightshade plants)

[@gjordan5798]

I have five quail in a big area but whenever I go in they all run to the same corner and stay still. I mean, they don't run away, but they look up at me as if they are terrified. They are still really cute. What do you think I should feed them to accosiate me with treats?

[@HICUTETHANG]

Mealworms are great!

[@circa134]

Or pill bugs you can easily find them outside and I just drop it in to their dust bath

[@UndefinedBailiwick]

Do you think you can do a video about keeping quail in a garage / inside? I know that you used to keep them in your garage from your videos posted around 3 years ago. I got my entire garage sealed so it doesn't get too hot and I won't be able to hear them outside or inside the house. Luckily, it was already insulated on the garage door / walls, so it didn't cost too much. I designed my cage like the stacking cage w/ roll out trays from the Ahola Quail video, except the back and sides are 4x2's, so the quails can't poop out the sides. All the poop has been falling to the dog crate trays below with no extra mess. I also added zeolite to the bottom, which reduces the smell greatly and I haven't had flies at all. The main issues I'm having now are the feathers going everywhere and them wasting food. I can't really put one of those no-waste feeders inside the cage, because it would take up too much room and would prevent the eggs from rolling. Do you have any ideas for a high capacity feeder that can be fastened to the outside of a cage? I'm using 1x2 hardware cloth, which allows them to stick their heads though. Also, what do you think is the highest they can stick their heads over to get food and water? And are you going to do the stream on the 3rd or 5th, because of the 4th?

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I will see what I can do to work some kind of video out on raising the birds in a garage or indoors. As far as the feeder, I have seen lots of PVC feeders that are hung on the outside of the cage. Basically a long piece of 2 to 4 inch PVC with holes cut in it. You could rig up a bin that would hold the food and let it funnel into the PVC to make it high capacity. It just hit me this morning that Thursday is the 4th. I am not sure I will get a live broadcast out this week. I probably should have planned better. Sorry about that.

[@UndefinedBailiwick]

@@Slightlyrednecked I decided to just use two pet lodge 7" rabbit feeders on each side of the cage, for each tier. Two of them hold about 5 lbs of food, which will provide the birds on each tier with at least a week worth of food. They're really well constructed and heavy duty, so I'll never have to worry about them not functioning or breaking. I also got some light strips in daylight and put them on each tier, which are hooked up to a timer. You should also consider posting your videos to backyardchickens.com. They have sections in their forums for quail, rabbits and gardening. It could be a good way to get more viewers to your channel.

[@Superslaystuff]

please tell me how i can interact with my 2 quails that live in a transparent storage box without them running and trying to fly

[@MacJank7]

Pick them up

[@keilaviana674]

Hi Chris my male quail star have red and double the size of the area he produces baby lol Did you know what couse that? Sorry about my English ;;;; I love all your videos 💕

[@Goldi-Luc]

Meal worms is how I've gotten mine to calm down around me, thats the only thing they will eat out of my hand :)

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Meal worms work great. :)

[@carscrapman3004]

What size is that food container I'd like to make one

[@falasakari4945]

As with all animals, time, patience and trust. 😀

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Pretty much.

[@jobanhang6968]

How do you go about with deworming quails?

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I have never had an issue with worms so I don't find it necessary. If you do have an issue with them you can get a poultry dewormer from a local farm supply store. Ivermectin is a common one.

[@killerqueen5149]

Hi thanks for the tips my quails are getting use to me, new sub btw

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Thank you for subscribing and watching my videos. I am glad you are finding them helpful.

[@gjordan5798]

When I bring them fruit or bread crumbs they just leave them on the floor, they don't eat them.

[@Maya-di4qy]

You shouldn’t be giving breadcrumbs

[@amogusmanthesecond1322]

@@Maya-di4qy Yeah, it's bad for them

[@bridgetfirth7358]

They love lettuce and peas!

[@shaunsherman4226]

Great advice 👍 shaun London 👍

[@alliexd6999]

How can someone raise a quail so well that it sits on their shoulder? I have one that hatched in my hand and i've tried so hard to train it. It's slightly tamer than the others, but still scared. I'm getting some pearl quail soon and I would like to know how I could tame one from hatching to be a household pet.

[@QuackerUp]

Did it get tamed yet? All my quails hate me other then the occasional peck at me.

[@alliexd6999]

@@QuackerUp The quail in question died from bumblefoot :( . The next two I hatched were both males so they weren't very friendly. I have two baby quail now, one of them being somewhat tame, but I have got 10 eggs in the incubator. The only super friendly quail I have had are George, who liked hugs and I took on walks, and Aerlia, who is currently 3 weeks old. I would recommend just socializing with them a lot, but being careful not to scare them. If you hover over them, they think you are a predator.

[@alliexd6999]

I forgot to mention that I did manage to get Sugar, one of my males, to walk half way up my arm when he was younger. He couldn't go any further because he was a quail, but if you were to tame/train one to like being picked up to go on your shoulder that could work.

[@QuackerUp]

@@alliexd6999 I don't know if this is normal but many people said my breed of quail aren't friendly but my coturnix quails doesn't care now if I pick it up unless I'm like holding it to my face for a minute straight looking at it. I put them on my head and they just sit there now :) I also moved them from the brooder into my bedroom. I've tamed them to stay in there space with the pee pads I've laid down with a gate that isnt covering the edges where they can escape. They know about the exit but once they exit they come back for food so I don't really care if they leave. Keep in mind this is all in my bedroom so i have all day with them. At night they act like fiends, they start hopping around playing even though its like 3am in the morning lol. Sorry about your loss :( I had one who died within 2 days from curled feet I had to take the baby out of the egg (I did help it a bit but it wasn't moving for a great time so I just took it out completely and gave it a ton of vitamins to try and help it.)

[@QuackerUp]

@@alliexd6999 My babies are now 3 weeks they are so fat I never thought they would look like fartballs of doom. I give them high protien feed 30% so that's probably the reason. Bulky babies.

[@Griffin-eg9zc]

Thanks

[@Slightlyrednecked]

Thanks for watching.

[@markmeier4206]

Will you be doing a live event tonight? Wish you could send private messages on KZbin!

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I am sorry, I didn't plan well this week and forgot about the holiday. I wasn't able to get a live stream worked in this week.

[@markmeier4206]

@@Slightlyrednecked that's great! I was going to miss it anyways!

[@mahito307]

Will quail stay in the yard if it’s not fenced in?

[@andrewmilliken4315]

No

[@Banishedsoulsofficial]

Try it and let us know. (No they're not chickens) they will be gone forever

Unfortunately, they don't have that roosting instinct and will simply sleep wherever they are. If they wander, they're gone to a predator for sure.

[@timmybrooks4]

I only have one tree in my yard it's a cedar tree is it ok to put my cage under the tree

[@stephenhernandez4403]

Yes...

[@DozingGreen-fz6rg]

Yes just don't put cedar wood in the cage.

[@narmadhathangavel9782]

Hi Chris.. I have two male and two female quails in same coop.. but my females are not laying eggs why?? I bought them last month only.. now only started to have quails in my garden... pl give me a suggestions...

[@Slightlyrednecked]

If you are sure they are old enough (8 to 12 weeks old) then it may be due to lack of light. They need 14 hours a day of light in order to lay eggs consistently. if you have enough daylight it may be that they are just stressed out a little from the move and need a little more time to calm down.

[@narmadhathangavel9782]

@@Slightlyrednecked thank you Chris.. how much time they take to calm down??

[@narmadhathangavel9782]

@@Creepuz thank you🙂

[@nomadismileseeker6611]

Chris, did you use a hole saw on those containers? Did they give you much trouble?

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I just cut them out with a knife. I think a hole saw would cause them to crack but I may be wrong.

[@bleep4288]

I'm planning on getting quails... What breed could you suggest? I want them for eggs and to be kept as companions. Any breed that's not aggressive would be nice.

[@Slightlyrednecked]

I am partial to the Jumbo Pharaoh or Jumbo Meat Maker. They tend to be the most docile. Any of the breeds is going to be a good egg layer for you and if you are planning on interacting with them a lot, they can all be tamed up fairly well.

[@bleep4288]

@@Slightlyrednecked Thank you! I'll try looking out for them when I get chicks.

[@DozingGreen-fz6rg]

Plural form is quail :)

[@bleep4288]

@@DozingGreen-fz6rg Thanks :>

[@scantrahan]

Cheers!

[@History_Mapped]

what about the japanisse quail?

[@dona.flores]

Coturnix and Japanese are the same kinds I think...

[@SeedSowerMichele]

Quail eat like cornish cross chickens. 😁

[@HollisNancysHomestead]

Them girls are camera shy😂

[@Slightlyrednecked]

lol. I suppose they are.

[@brazenbull636]

They were shooting speckled pingpong balls! With their butt!..

[@emilybenotic2201]

hi

[@pushyslayer4561]

so basically they need a snickers every here nd there.. getting Hangry all the time

[@Liesbeth22]

Hangry and horny! That's kinda what seems to drive them, yes. Good food and a good man will calm down these lady quails.

[@Vimdaroca-nx9ch]

👏👏👏👍

[@SpongeAddict-gw6mo]

They seem skittish no matter what

[@MacJank7]

Spend more time with them

[@wizearth9711]

Hey Chris ,can i use microwave as incubator ?

[@mrspuffhashadenough4520]

...yes

[@wizearth9711]

@@mrspuffhashadenough4520 thank you 😊

[@dunestaniszewski2300]

No

[@dunestaniszewski2300]

This is the most STUPID comment I’ve ever seen

[@JAD1DAD]

@@dunestaniszewski2300, I've actually seen a video on here where a microwave oven was converted to an incubator. It does not function as a microwave.

[@fam9984]

can I teach them tricks

[@Slightlyrednecked]

You can try. But I don't know how successful you would be.

[@zacharyhenderson2902]

I know I'm a little late, but Coturnix Quail are basically automatons. So if you can get them into the habit of doing anything special, then you may be able to pull it off, but they aren't the most conducive animal to training.

[@nimingfenmian3380]

Can you eat quail when process them if sick?

[@susantoautistv1895]

Buwung apa tuh man

[@Ok-ki9hz]

they are not being good specim NAUGHTY SPESIMEN NAUGHTY!

[@jamesawbrey4032]

Slightly my ass. Lol

[@chrislecky710]

Learn how to ask the correct questions rather than chasing answers...What shift in your pet quails mentality occurs when they do not have a concept of being CAGED, and how does it change their perspective of the environment you have built for them which includes you under your care and guidance? Come correct and you gain access to that which most cannot see or comprehend....

[@chrislecky710]

Be inspired to interact with nature in a far more nurturing manner...not because you should but because you can....make the choice...The magic of training animals is in not having to train animals lmfao......doesn't makes sense linearly but it does make total sense dynamically...My birds are only one month old🤣🤣🤣🤣😎😎👀👀 Soon I will be able to call them from anywhere in my flat and they will fly to me learning how to navigate with a high level of precision.....no longer clumsy or accident prone, A year later and I will be able to call them from anywhere in the area and they will fly home not for food but for my company... it's not just possible it's a reality we once experienced a very very long time ago,, the real reality behind the story of Avatar.....