Our latest arrival
The latest arrival is our baby Mearns quail. We’ve been waiting for it for ages, and are so pleased that it’s here now. It’s very bright and lively, but a bit lonely at the moment and we hope it’ll soon be joined by little brothers and sisters. Like all babies, it needs to be fed every few hours, but now lets us sleep through the night before demanding its next feed of fresh mealworms. It’s now learned to come for food when I whistle, and whistles back to me. Quite a sight to see. It’s not quite co-ordinated yet, and makes you wonder how old chicks are, in the wild, before they have to leave the nest and trot around on their own. It has learned, however, that if it still can’t pick up the mealworm after a few attempts, it can jump on my hand to get fed! So sweet and trusting.
I’ve been keeping quails for quite a while but can tell you that the experience with this baby is quite unique. Maybe it’s because I’ve never actually hand-fed any chicks before but, having read that Mearns are exceptionally difficult to rear because they don’t immediately start to peck at food, I thought an extra effort would be required, and so far it seems to be paying off.
When the chick hatched it was very small – only a little larger than the chick of a Chinese Painted Quail. But it was very calm and, even now, will run to hide in the folds of the kitchen towel that line its brooder. But, as I said, at feeding time a quick whistle will entice it out of hiding.
It doesn’t yet look any different from any other baby quail chick and you can’t tell that it’s a Mearns. I’ll try to keep you posted on its progress and will take photos as soon as there’s anything to show you.