i love my quail: August 2012

Wednesday 29 August 2012

How to: Bond With Your Quail (coming soon)

Some might say a dog or a cat would be an acceptable pet for a child. However, some children might be better off with a pet rock on a leash. And then there's us quail owners...

Sunday 26 August 2012

Finally the Answer...

Why did the ~~chicken~~ quail cross the road?

And That, My Friends,

Is Why The ~~Chicken~~ Quail Crossed The Road.

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Tuesday 14 August 2012

Have any questions your dying to ask?!? Why not ask an expert?

Please feel free to comment below with all your questions. All questions will be answered to the fullest extent. Thanks!

Monday 13 August 2012

I'm not going to lie to you, raising a quail is not quite ~~as easy~~ the same as let's say raising a goldfish. And it shouldn't be! However, it is more rewarding (sorry goldfish lovers!!). Raising a quail is like raising a child. You will invest a fair amount of money into your quail and never have it returned. Instead, your quail will provide you with love (sometimes from a far) and with the opportunity to watch it's growth (i'm starting tear up a bit ='( ).

After all, that is what having ~~children~~ quail

is all about... right?!?

THE 10M DIET

So probably the best part about being quail parents are the eggs. Weather they have a baby chick inside of them or just a golden yolk each egg is different, special in it's own way. I know that have previously done posts about the scientific/cuisine parts of the quail egg however I have never really discussed the moral behind them. And trust me, this is the best part.

(here's proof)

So what is the moral behind what one would consider "just an egg"? To find this out, one must dig deeper than the shell to discover the truth (man that's deep). The truth starts only 10 meters away from home, the center of action, the home to some of the hardest workers on the planet or otherwise referred to as; the quail coop. And around 3 o'clock every day my sister and I open up this quail coop with hopes to find at least one quail egg. Once we have double checked all of the usual laying spots to make sure we didn't miss any eggs we then bring our collection inside and add them to our much larger collection which lies in the fridge. There they stay stay day after day until Sunday that is which the official Quail Egg Feasting Day or for short the Q.E.F.D.. We then enjoy our eggs scrambled, poached, fried, in pancakes or in scones (the possibilities are endless!!!). We do this knowing that the eggs came from only ten meters away and that is what has made all the difference.

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Quail Olympics 2012

You have heard of the Olympics, you have heard of the Para-Olympics and you have heard of the Special Olympics but, have you ever heard of the Quail Olympics?!?! Probably not.

So, I know what your thinking...,"Quail Olympics, how is that possible? I thought quail were only capable of doing three things; eating, sleeping and ~~pooping~~ getting rid of waste." But no... like humans our quail have developed other interests which includes competing in a high-performance sports level (A.K.A. the Quail Olympics). So any ways, here the highlights of the games so far.

QUAIL OLYMPICS 2012

DAY 1- TABLE TENNIS - WOMEN'S SINGLES

GETTING PSYCHED FOR THE MATCH OF HER LIFE

CASUALLY PEERS OVER HER SHOULDER TO
MAKE SURE THE CROWD IS STILL WATCHING

TAKING A QUICK NAP- PING PONG IS HARD WORK
(ESPECIALLY IS THE RAQUET WEIGHS MORE THAN YOU DO)

INSPECTING THE TABLE

WAITING FOR THE STANDING OVATION

DAY 2-MEN'S SOCCER

HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES!

DAY 3- WOMEN'S 50CM FREESTYLE

QUAIL #1: WHY IS IT SO COLD?
QUAIL#2: DON'T TALK TO ME, I'M IN THE ZONE!

DAY 4- WOMEN SYNCHRONISED DIVING 10CM PLATFORM

BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED 5CM DEEP POOL SPECIALLY MADE FOR THESE GAMES

A NEW DIVE FOR THESE LADIES, TRYING FOR A DOUBLE FULL

HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS MAYBE?! IT SURE IS A LOOOOOOOOONG WAY DOWN

DAY 5- WOMEN'S TRAMPOLINE

LOOK AT THAT FORM! SUCH PRECISE MOUVEMENTS!

AND THIS COULD BE A GOLD MEDAL PERFORMANCE!

STANDING OVATION FOR THIS CANADIAN GOLD MEDALLIST!

AFTER AN ASTONISHING ROUTINE SHE EXITS THE TRAMPOLINE LEAVING A LITTLE SOMETHING TO REMEMBER HER BY...

DAY 6- WOMEN'S BEACH VOLLEYBALL

HEY...THIS ISN'T A ROCK...

OH WELL...SMILE AND PRETEND TO KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING

DAY 7- WOMEN'S 100M DASH

ON YOUR MARK. SET. BANG!

QUAIL#1: WHAT WAS THAT NOISE!?!
QUAIL#2: I'M SCARED!

MEDAL CEREMONIES- Overall the Quail Olympics were a success. Over the past week, we have witnessed many unenviable performances but sadly there could only be three medallists. Without further ado I introduce to you our 2012 Quail Olympic medallists.

THE PODIUM

OUR TRAMPOLINE GOLD MEDALLIST

OUR 50CM FREESTYLE
SILVER MEDALLIST

OUR PING-PONG BRONZE MEDLAIST

THE PARTICIPATION AWARD GOES TO QUAIL #2 IN THE
100M DASH AS SHE TECHNICALLY DID NOT FINISH THE RACE...

Thanks you to all of our sponsors for making the Quail Olympics possible and to Isabelle W. and Tiara K.

Thursday 2 August 2012

If you didn't all ready know...

Quail Facts

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Coturnix

Scientific Name:	Coturnix Coturnix
Type:	Bird
Diet:	Omnivore
Size (H):	11cm - 20cm (4.5in - 7.8in)
Wing Span:	30cm - 37cm (12in - 14.6in)
Weight:	70g - 140g (2.4oz - 4.9oz)
Top Speed:	24km/h (15mph)
Life Span:	3 - 5 years
Lifestyle:	Solitary
Conservation Status:	Least Concern

Colour:	Brown, Black, White, Blue
Skin Type:	Feathers
Favourite Food:	Seeds
Habitat:	Woodland and forest areas
Average Clutch Size:	6
Main Prey:	Seeds, Flowers, Insects
Predators:	Cats, Snakes, Raccoons
Distinctive Features:	Small body size and brightly coloured eggs

Everything eats quail!!!

The quail has many natural predators, mainly due to it's small size. Some of their predators include snakes, raccoons, foxes, squirrels, coyotes, bobcats, skunks, dogs, cats, crows, hawks, owls, rats, weasels and yes...humans :(. So as you can see, the quail has many predators however it's live prey is slightly more limited. They do enjoy eating small insects but mainly their meals are non-living...

Here is a list of the top 3"Quail Eaters" and the top 3 "Quail Eats" (please note that this list reflects our quails only therefore, humans (which would normally be #1 by a bullet) is not on the list).

Top 3 Quail Eaters

1.Crows-sad to say we lost one of our quail (R.I.P.LUCKY) to this guy

(well not this guy exactly but probably one of his brothers (I'm sure of it!))

2. Cats- in our neighbourhood cats are almost the most dominant species. None have gotten away with any of our babies...yet but we defiantly got to be on the lookout!

3. Raccoons-saw one of these the other day with his hind legs perched up on our quail coop. Luckily we scared him away but lets just say this wasn't the fist time we saw one of him around (R.I.P LUCKY #2).

Top 3 Quail Eats

1. Worms- our quail sure do love these and plus worms are an excellent sourse of protein for growing quail!

2. Woodbugs- Our full-grown quail tend to like these however with our chicks it depends... some days they love them and some day they're totally scared of them.

3. Everything Else- seeds, fruit, veggies (ours LOVE chicken egg!) and tons more. Checkout www.backyardchickens.com for more tasty treats for your quail :)

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Our Quails: Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed

be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (humorous)

to be full of energy and eager to do things

After a day of exhaustion from being born, our quail are what some might call, "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed". They are ready to explore the world and our holding nothing back!In total we now have twenty-two quails (six full grown and our sixteen newborns). We are in progress of constructing a new outdoor quail housing unit but for next six weeks or so, we will keep our newborns indoors. If you are are thinking about incubating your quail eggs and don't know where to start, I highly recommend visiting www.backyardchickens.com.There they have loads of info about everything quail!