Quail are not intelligent birds. That has always been clear. However, one of the cots just distinguished itself to win a Darwin Award.
Last night, after feeding the cots, I counted heads and one was missing. I looked all around the basement, thinking it had somehow gotten out of the pen. Every few hours, I went downstairs to see if it had come back to the pen to get back in. That is usually what happens when birds get loose. Nope.
This morning, I took the waterer out to clean it and refill it. When I brought it back, I saw a cot lying on its side in the shavings where the waterer had been. Sure enough, it was the ninth cot. It was alive, but not in good shape. I moved it out of the way and put the waterer back for the other cots to use.
Cot #9 was breathing heavily, but not moving much. Later in the day, I found it had died. In order to avoid crushing cots, I always lower the waterer or feed bin quite slowly to give them time to move out of the way. I guess this one just stood and watched as I lowered the waterer onto it. The weight of the waterer and the softness of the shavings in the pen must have led to me not noticing the cot underneath it.
The average intelligence of my breeding flock is now slightly higher.
