California Valley quail male or female

[CapricornFarm]

What is that? Someone that knows quail?

Yes, he has lots of very interesting birds.

 

[maadroj]

. My boys were huge by 6 weeks. Pedro is still very small, though. I don't know if she will ever be full size.

I've noticed that injuries and illness significantly slow their development. One of my girls seriously injured her foot (hair tourniquet--I felt awful). She was one of the largest and most mature females at that time, and by the time I released her to rejoin the others, she was one of the smallest and least developed.

I hope Pedro is strong and healthy despite her little size! She is adorable. Have you read "That Quail, Robert"? Very sweet story about a Bobwhite quail that didn't want to leave her human family.

 

[Chip76]

I saw the thread about that! Did your sweetheart recover? Did she have permanent injuries? How old is she now? Is she still smaller?

Pedro also got hair tangled on her leg and foot once but I noticed it right away bc she was pecking at it. Her foot was already swelling around it, though. Once I got it off, her foot went back to normal size. (At 3 weeks old she had poop stuck on her foot and I let her peck at it to get it off, which resulted in bumblefoot, so I'm overly sensitive about her pecking at her feet.)

Do you think Pedro will continue growing to full size? Her brothers are at least three times bigger now. I can't get a picture of them together bc they don't get along. Pedro thinks she can take them, though - she is very feisty! She's about the size the boys were at 5 weeks old. (They are 12 now.)

I'll look for that story. Sounds like Pedro! I'm not sure if she will want to leave. I don't plan to let her go unless she gets big enough and wants to be free.

 

[maadroj]

I'm so glad you caught it so quickly for Pedro! Unfortunately our girl (Achilles) lost the tips of two toes. But she otherwise made a full recovery. She seems to use her foot normally for digging and doesn't limp. She began maturing at a normal rate after her recovery (they were in the process of transitioning from brown to grey feathers, so it was a visible difference). She is still a little smaller but I think growing at a healthy rate.

When we released her with the others, though, some of the males bullied her, pecking and chasing her away. Eventually almost all of them began to bully her to some extent. I was so sad for her, because she'd wanted to be with them so badly. I'm not sure if they didn't consider her part of the group anymore or if they wanted her to leave because of the injury. But it's been several weeks now, and I think the bullying has finally ended. And we confirmed that her injured foot doesn't slow her down.

I'm not sure how well she might have done with the bullying in the wild. We left little piles of food and extra water cups all over the aviary, especially in her favorite hiding places, so she could access them when she needed. And we shielded her while she ate at least once a day. The way she gulped down the food when we did makes me concerned she might have struggled in the wild, forced to choose between group safety and food.

I'm no expert, though if Pedro has been so much smaller her whole life, maybe she will stay smaller. As long as she's healthy and happy (and it seems she is both now), that's what matters.

 

[maadroj]

View attachment 1881672 Can anyone tell me if this is a male or female? 3 and half week old valley quail.

Have their feathers started to change yet? I think ours started to get new face feathers around 4-5 weeks. The girls may take a little longer to confirm because it won't be as clear if they've changed.

 

[Chip76]

I'm so glad your Achilles recovered! Do you have a picture?

When we released her with the others, though, some of the males bullied her, pecking and chasing her away. Eventually almost all of them began to bully her to some extent.

I'm so glad your girl gets along with her siblings now! I tried several times to integrate Pedro back into the group, but the others hurt her and even blocked her from getting to the water. I gave up at week 4 when I left for vacation. I took Pedro with me on a 2 week camping trip to Colorado, and the boys stayed home in their outdoor pen. Sometime during those 2 weeks the boys grew their black face feathers with the white stripe. That's why I don't know for sure when you can tell the gender - sometime between week 4-5, like you said.

Do all your quail get along now? My boys have always gotten along well with each other (most of the time). I thought there might be more conflict if there were girls around, though. Although one got separated for two days, and since he got back the other three haven't fully accepted him. He is also now smaller, just from being lost for 2 days. They are free, but they stay pretty close to the house where I released them, so I can still visit them. The lost one is especially excited to see his people friends.

I guess I'll just wait and see if Pedro gets any bigger. If she's still growing, it's very slow...

 

[Chip76]

Can anyone tell me if this is a male or female? 3 and half week old valley quail.

It's almost 5 weeks old now! Do you have a new picture? Excited to find out what you have!

 

[maadroj]

I'm so glad your Achilles recovered! Do you have a picture?

Wow, how did Pedro do camping??

I don't have any good recent photos where Achilles is identifiable, but here is one in one of her favorite hiding places during the dark days of bullying.

And another while she still lived indoors during her recovery, and got away from us during one of the treatments.

They all seem to get along now except for the occasional half-hearted peck at Achilles, which I hope will soon fade away entirely. Sometimes one will step on or over another, which I think might be a display of dominance, but I'm not sure. They do seem to have their favorite buddies that they hang out with more closely, like cliques, but they're generally together in a group in one area of the aviary or another.

It is concerning if Pedro isn't growing at all. Poor sweetie. I hope she feels alright.

 

[Chip76]

Your Achilles is so beautiful!! Thanks for the pics!

The boys step on each other, too - since they were hatched. Seemed accidental then, more intentional now.

Pedro is doing well. She is very spoiled. Here's a pic from when I took her to see her brothers last week. We quickly had to separate them, but she was trying to look big.

Here's one of the boys. They like to cool down on a wet towel. Its 115 degrees here in August.

Pedro had a great time camping in Colorado! We stayed in an RV, but I also took her outside pen so she could enjoy some dirt, insects, plants, etc. during the day. It was very cold at night so she was very snuggly. She slept in her tub with heated rice bags and fleece blanket. She woke us up around 6:00 to come out and snuggle. She was ok on most of the 12 hour car ride. The last two hours both ways she was getting pretty restless.

 

[maadroj]

They're both gorgeous! Thanks for the photos. I'm tickled that Pedro went camping. She sounds adorable.

Good idea with the wet towel. Our babies happened to move outside to the aviary during a heat wave. We poured water into a little ditch, and they loved lying along the damp edges. But one of the girls ardently rolled in the water and literally gave herself a mud bath! She made sure to get it all over the top of her head, too. She looked a sodden mess with her feathers all wet and clumpy, but somehow she was all cleaned up and back to normal the next day.

They're so much fun to sit and watch every day.