| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 53.1 | More birds, different species? | CSC32::K_WORKMAN | P.I.A.S.O.M. | Mon Nov 14 1988 15:04 | 23 |
| Hi,
This is tragic... Don't know if this will help but your situation
is very similiar to my Diamond Doves. The male and female were
in my Finch flight and had lots of room. He was always jumping
on her and doing his mating dance with his tail feathers. The female
Dove one day was huddled in the corner of the cage and I knew she
couldn't take any more. I first moved the male to my Canary Flight
for a few days to give the female some R&R. The female perked right
up so I put the male back in. A few days later he started this
garbage all over again. I only have 6 finches in a very large area
whereas in my canary flight which is just a little bigger I have 13
canaries. I decided to put the doves (both) in the with the Canaries.
This worked like a charm because now the male is more concerned
with watching when the food dish is free! I guess the whole point
is that now they have other things to do besides try to mate. Nobody
fights but because of the pecking order, there is alot of activity
going on.
I sure hope this may help, but I'm sure other folks in this conference
will have some good advice for you!
Karen from Colorado
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| 53.2 | Rotten Fact of Quail-hood! | FREKE::HUTCHINS | Feathered Obsessions Aviary | Mon Nov 14 1988 15:16 | 23 |
| Hi!
Quail are considered game birds. While pairing most cage birds
is the thing to do, when working with any kind of game bird, doves
inluded....there should be AT *least* 3 hens per male! Quail are
cannibals...and will kill a hen out of frustration! Being picked
clean as your hen was is normal for a single hen situations, but
she became so weak from feather picking and mating she just faded
away.
Also, these birds need live food for protein to help during stress
ful periods....a straight seed diet will do no good for game birds
as they eat their seeds whole...they need grit , soft foods and
lots of insects... I know, Yuk!
Check the classifieds in the bird magazines...you will find lots
of people that breed and ship all kinds of quail...
So Sorry to hear about your problem...I think it happens to all
of us the first time....it takes experience at least to teach me
something!
Jean
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| 53.3 | Should I get two more hens too? | CSC32::K_WORKMAN | P.I.A.S.O.M. | Mon Nov 14 1988 15:27 | 8 |
| Jean,
Should my Diamond Doves be included in this ratio? The problem
with them being with the Canaries is they won't mate at all because
they don't have their own territory. If so I will go find two more
female Doves and put them back with the Finches!
Thanks again!
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| 53.4 | Try a cage within a cage. | VAXRT::RUZICH | How many in your quartet? | Mon Nov 14 1988 15:53 | 32 |
| We kept a pair of quail together until the female started getting
eggbound after 20 or so eggs. We tried various ways of separating the
quail, too, and the noise was truly intolerable: all these plaintive
cries, even into the night. We solved the problem by putting the male
in a cage within our large finch aviary. The female has free run of the
aviary, and can see the male. Cages next to each other didn't solve the
problem, but this does.
The other socially unacceptable behavior of these quail is that when
they raise a brood until they little ones are half-grown, the male
decides that they are all rivals and kills every youngster. The young
are self-sufficient early, and so they can be separated at a young age.
I never got any eggs to hatch, so I don't know this from experience,
but I've heard it from a couple of sources.
They not only need the live food, but relish it. My eight-year-old
daughter goes around the house pursuing seed moths, because the quail
are so eager for live food, they're fun to watch. Little feathered
sharks.
Jean, your recommendation of at least 3 females to males sounds
reasonable. In fact, I talked to a fellow in Colorado who raises
various quail in outdoor pens, and he likes to get a six-to-one female
to male ratio. His pens are huge enough that he can get several males
and their harems to establish territories and tolerate each other in
the same pen. (And I though that I had a lot of cage space!)
Despite the problems, I really like having the quail scuttling around
the bottom of the cage. They are pretty and entertaining little birds,
completely different from the other avairy residents.
-Steve
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| 53.5 | Who says sex is wonderful!!!??? 8^} | FREKE::HUTCHINS | Feathered Obsessions Aviary | Mon Nov 14 1988 16:21 | 11 |
| Hi Karen,
I'd consider more hens too. My diamonds always lived 3 or more
hens per male. I'd be careful with the canary situation though.
Although diamond doves are passive litte creatures....a sexually
mature male can become a real villan when he can't get his way!
Is it feasible to put these doves in a large flight with roosting
coops above?
J
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| 53.6 | Take it FROM Experience | FREKE::HUTCHINS | Feathered Obsessions Aviary | Mon Nov 14 1988 16:25 | 13 |
| Steve,
When breeding button quail...most won't incubate their own eggs.
We pulled the eggs and incubated them. Then, for those that do
hatch their own young, the babies hatch running! And, these chicks
must be pulled immediately, else *both* parents will cannibalize
the babies.
Quail are like chickens. They hatch and stand up...They dry off
thier feathers and start lookig for food. If you hatch 'em in a
flight, pull them right away!!!
J
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| 53.7 | | VAXRT::RUZICH | How many in your quartet? | Mon Nov 14 1988 17:16 | 13 |
|
RE: .6
Our quail had been incubator raised for generations before we got them,
so I really didn't expect that they would learn how to sit on eggs. I
tried using a homemade incubator, but nothing hatched, and the male
harasses his mate so badly that we're reluctant to try again.
As for pulling the chicks immediately after hatching, that does sound
like the safest course of action. I've heard the young described as
"feathered bumblebees"; you have to use 1/4 inch mesh.
-Steve
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| 53.8 | BTW...... | CSC32::K_WORKMAN | P.I.A.S.O.M. | Mon Nov 14 1988 20:31 | 4 |
| By the way....
What exactly do Chinese Painted Quails look like? How big are
they? Do they mix well with other birds?
|
| 53.9 | Quail portrait | CHEFS::DEAL | | Tue Nov 15 1988 12:05 | 22 |
| They can vary but my female was fawn/buff coloured and the male
is darker with very beautiful white markings around his eyes. They
reside on the floor of an aviary of mixed finches. I'm quite sure
the floor space was too small (4 sq. ft) but they were basically
happy for a year so it couldn't have been too awful.
They are fed various greens (spinach, beet tops, carrots, ect) which
we grown in our greenhouse as we are afraid of commercial products.
They stand about six inches tall but nestle down to about the size
of a tennis ball at night. They have interesting calls which adds
to the fun. Basically, they add 'depth' to the aviary and seem
happy with the other birds.
We once noticed a baby fell from it's nest and the quail simply
stood guard over it, never touching it but watching it closely.
Thanks for the input -- more females would have worked if we had
started out that way; adding one more after pair-bonding wasn't
smart.
Bye for now!
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