On cats and quail

As far as Nefertiti and Midnight are concerned the addition of a small quail chick is the best thing they've ever seen. This is how Nefertiti spent most of her day yesterday.

Of course, quail watching is exhausting, so naps must happen.

And then there is the line for the prime viewing seat.

As soon as I took this, Nefertiti decided to go do something else, so Midnight immediately moved into better viewing position.

Sometimes the cats like the little quail a bit too much. While I was making dinner yesterday, I happened to catch Nefertiti pawing at the box and she managed to upend it. I was across the room fast enough, yelling at the cat, to scare he off and scoop up the chick. All was well, and we put the brooder box to rights. There is still now a large strap holding the box onto the table. (You can see it in the bottom picture.)

A couple of quail hatching notes, because the instructions I've found in various places are not well-written or terribly informative. 1. Game bird feed to too big for little tiny quail chicks to eat. I was concerned that Q. didn't seem to be eating. So after yet more research discovered that most people grind the feed in a food processor to get it small enough and some make it into a mush with water. So this is what I did. Q. immediately started eating, much to my relief. 2. Quail chicks are really loud. It is an amazingly carrying peep that this little bird has, and he does not like being by himself. I've about lost hope that any of his egg mates will hatch, and feel a bit sorry for the poor thing. He seems happiest, with softer, less distressed peeps, when someone is looking at him and talking to him. At least we have a houseful of people who like to watch the quail. 3. At nearly two days old, he is much, much stronger. Yesterday, he would still topple over when standing on his hilariously over sized feet. Today, he is now running around the brooder box at full tilt. He is even trying to flap his wings, which is hilarious, because they are as small as his feet are big.

I promise not all future posts will be quail related, but for such a small bird, he has taken up an awful lot of family time and energy these past two days.