06-09-2013 12:28 PM
I was in a pet shop yesterday and saw some Quails for sale; never seen them before. They looked quite cute but didn't seem to do anything other than run on the bottom of the cage, didn't make a noise or anything. Just wondered if any of you had kept any and what sort of pets they make from personal experience as opposed to reading about them online.
06-09-2013 12:59 PM
Hubby has had quail. (you'd be hard pressed to find anythinghe hasn't had, without being silly and saying elephants or whales) None of his birds are classed as 'pets' and so are not handled more than necessary, but I don't think you'd call quail pets, any more than you would pheasants, say. They're usually kept in other bird's cages as they eat all the food that the other birds drop. They lay little eggs with brown marks on that are edible, but are very fiddly to cook and peel as you'd need about six to be equal to one hen's egg. They can live inside or out, with good protection for the winter.
06-09-2013 1:08 PM
Do they squeek I am sure I have seen some somewhere and they made a squeek noise, the eggs are lovely hubby bought some by the road last year, and I boiled them, what a pain to peel, probably better to fry or poach
06-09-2013 2:28 PM
My dad had Chinese Painted Quail in his mixed aviary. They were very cute & the babies were like little bumble bees running around. I cant remember if they squeaked or not.
06-09-2013 3:02 PM
Ah, that's probably why they were in with the Zebra Finches, CG. I just thought it was an odd combination, but obviously would be eating their seed.