Well, I did. Before last Sunday, I had 2 quails, 1 male 1 female. On Sunday Morning, the female one, named Curious left us.
Ok, for those of us who had not kept a quail before, a quail is like a bird, similar to a chicken except their eggs are smaller and appeared to be black and white.
How long can a quail live? According to the breeder, it can live up to 3 years. So what do a quail eat? They feed on food that can be bought in a bird's shop. I normally replenish their food by visiting 1 of the older bird shops at Serangoon North.
Maybe i just share how do I 1st got in touch with Quail. My wife and I was on vacation leave locally and had decided to explore some places which we have never stepped our feet on. Being animal lovers, both of us went to this rustic place located near Choa Chu Kang, named FarmMart.
While walking through this place, we noticed there were some very nostalgic snacks that can be purchased there. The feel of that place looks like a farm, or rather like a Kampong. (Kampong - A place to describe a malay village)
There is even a farm within farm mart that makes this place even more special. This farm consist of Goats (yes goats!), rabbits, fishes, terrapins, parrots, birds, guinea pigs and quails. My wife had a good fun time feeding the goats and the rest of the pets.
When we thought we had finished visiting this place, we saw this stall selling quail meat, quail eggs, crocodile meat and other fresh eggs. So my wife was curious about this shop so we stopped and took a look. We were greeted by Uncle William, the owner of this stall.
After chatting with Uncle William, we understood he is in the business of producing quails and he sells them for their eggs and food. Besides that, he brought along 1 basket of quails but had only left with 3. So he asked if we wanted to get them, 3 for $10. We thought about it and got them back. William then taught us some technique of keeping quails. We went on to made our purchase for their pet house and other necessities. We named them Sleepy, Quaiky and the other called Tamagochi.
On the way back, sleepy injured herself and passed away not long after. Being new to keeping quails, Quaiky met an accident by the falling water bottle and she too left us. That left us with the last one, Tamagochi, he was very playful, noisy and can't stop making noise but one day when we reached home, we found him weak and frail, we noticed his food was too big piece and he too passed away.
So being sad about it, we brought back the remaining food when we went for an enrichment course conducted by William. During his sharing, he shared many insights on keeping quails. After the course, we went to share with him on what happened to the quails. William asked if we wanted to give it another try and volunteered to give us another 2 quails.
After much consideration, we decided to accept his good offer and we took home Active and Curious.
In the beginning stage of the quail's life cycle, we do not know the gender of them. Their gender will only be revealed when they hit around 1 month old.
Active and Curious grew up fast, side by side they went. Once awhile, we will free them up by allowing them to walk around the house. Sometimes they might even fly around the house. Ok, William told us before they don't fly, only jump. So if that's their jumping, they can jump really high.
Here's their Gender, Active is a boy and Curious is a girl. How do we determine? It was shared that the male will crow and chirp while the female will only chirp. The mail quail will have brightly colored feathers. Moreover the female will have a larger body than the male.
Curious started off with yellow fur and when she grew up, they had became white. It was as though she had transformed from a ugly duckling to a beautiful swan.
So how do curious got her name? Yes, it was because of her curiosity nature in her, constantly looking out for the surroundings and people, that was her instincts.
She layed her 1st egg when she turned 1 month old plus.(if memory didn't failed me) I was happy for her as that was the 1st to many more that followed.
Active and Curious stays together like a married couple, have a little chase around their house and active bullying curious. But overall, they get along fine.
When they go out for their walk, Active will always look out for Curious's safety. By calling out to her to ensure she is nearby him wherever they go. That is surely something very sweet.
So what killed Curious? It could be the haze, but poor curious is now gone. I am quite badly affected by it's passing off. But the person who is most affected is none other than Active. He had been calling out for curiously daily. Screaming out for her to go home. Yes, animals have feelings too, it's sad to see him losing his loved on. He will need to learn to live by his own now.
Curious, if you are reading this article (hopefully in quail heaven where you can finally read), I want to tell you you had brought joy to all of us. You had went to a happier place, please pray for Active as he is losing sleep over your passing over. All of us will miss you. Take care of yourself.
Until one day, we will eventually meet again. Pray for us, keep a lookout for us. We love you.
