New to raising quails and need some help

Hi there

I am quite new to owning quails, I recently got 3 chinese quails (2 females, 1 male). One of the females has been laying eggs and the other one has not. Today 3 chicks hatched (looks like more on their way - there are 7 eggs total).

I was wondering:

Do I need to separate the mother and chicks from my other 2 quails? I Have been watching them today and haven't noticed any aggressive behaviour

Is there any special food I should be giving the mother?

Is there anything else I should be doing? Or do I just leave it up to the mother to take care of the chicks?

I have plenty of food, water (with marbles in it), bedding to keep warm, dirt bath which I often put bugs in for them to eat

Thanks so much

Hi,

Chinese Quail are monogamous and are normally only kept in pairs as eventually, one of them might cause trouble, which would lead to feather picking, then potential injuries.

Keep an eye on them. The male will either help raise the chicks, or see them as intruders and kill them, so observe them carefully. So far though, everything sounds good. I would personally separate the other female who hasn't been laying eggs and put her in a cage next to the other pair so she can see, but not touch and vice versa just as a safety precaution for the chicks. She may not like the idea of having little feet running around her own feet.

The mother doesn't need any special food. Just make sure the food is small enough for the babies to pick up.

The mother can normally take care of the chicks herself so you need not to worry, but if anything goes wrong, get a brooder ready. Make sure the chicks don't learn to eat meal worms until they're a little older ( 2 - 4 weeks of age) as they may mistake toes for meal worms and will start to nip at each others toes.

Good luck! Do keep us updated on how everything goes.

If the cage is somewhere cold you might want to think about a heat lamp. Cage raised quail have severely damaged instincts and the hen may not know to keep the chicks warm enough.

Oh no The lady at the pet store told me I should have more than one female due to the males mating habit. And that if I only had one female it could possibly die due to the stress. Maybe they're not Chinese? I'll attach a picture:



I have definitely seen the male mating with both the females.
The male has been helping out with the baby quails by sitting on the nest with the silver female.
He also spends time with the other female and is presenting her lots of bugs that he finds in the dirt.


Thanks for all the help

They are chinese painted quail. I've never seen a pet store that sold buttons that was accurately informed on them so don't feel too bad.

They are monogamous in their natural setting. Wild coturnix are actually monogamous as well but domesticated coturnix must be kept in a covey because they breed so vigorously it is dangerous to the health of a single or pair of hens. This is due to people over the thousand or more of years of domestication, breeding for specific traits.

Coturnix already have their instincts damaged beyond that of all other species of quail. Sadly due to lack of knowledge and/or desire for profit Chinese painted quail will soon catch up to them.

This site is managed by a very knowledgeable button quail keeper who has written a couple books on the subject. This site is probably the most accurate source for a quick general history and guide to raising buttons. You will find the monogamous habits of Chinese quail discussed in the overview on the website.

Thanks so much, great resources. I am really enjoying having quails as pets and learning about them. They are very quirky and I could watch them all day