Update on my Parakeet/Button Quail Aviary - PICS!!

[arlee453]

I was in the picture taking mood this afternoon.... I currently have 8 adult parakeets in the aviary, along with 10 buttons that are 7 wks old and 'Chirpy' the house wren we raised when he fell out of the nest. Chirpy is to be released into the wilds of my backyard in the next few days..

First of all, the parakeets must be enjoying their new flight cage/relative freedom. (Cage is 4' by 8' by 7' high - built using Dennis' playhouse coop plans w/ modifications)

They have already hatched their first babies in the new cage! This is a fuzzy pic, because I took from inside the house looking out my office window. I looked up today and noticed a little fuzzy head sticking up! Look closely and you'll see the baby! Mom is the adult on the perch with no breast feathers - she always plucks herself when she's sitting on eggs.

AND, from inside the box...two little fuzzy butts! They will be some shade of blue.

Looking in towards the perch end of the aviary:

Looking from the inside/shelter area out towards the back yard....

Now, some just cute button quail pics. There are 10 of them. They hatched out 7 wks ago, so I'm hoping for my first eggs in the next week or so. I THINK I have 3 males and 7 girls - they are really cute birds and I love to watch them. They seem to all get along great - no fighting with either each other or the parakeets. The parakeets will fly down to the bottom and feed on grass seed heads, etc with the buttons quite peacefully.

Enjoy!!

 

[theOEGBman]

Excellent photos and aviary! I would love to raise Budgies like that, but what do I need more birds for??

 

[Emzyyy]

I have two budgies exactly like your first photo I want to breed them but Ive never done it before I know you need a nesting box and stuff but do you need the female on a special diet for laying eggs? and what do the babies eat?

 

[BirdBoy88]

Love your pics

My dad Parakeets breed like crazy.. we've already gotten 8 set of babies from them... it gets so bad were we have to take the nest box out for a few months..

your birds look cute!... my button quials are 4 weeks old now

 

[Alaskan]

that is beautiful!

I love the quail, all different colors.

 

[Hoover67]

This is exactly what I want to do with my button quail! I have plans for an outdoor aviary for my button quail in my garden (old clay tennis court. I have a garden bed shaped like a hexagon that I would love to make into an aviary. I know the BQ can over winter out here. I am not sure what other birds can make it. I can always bring them inside for the coldest part or put a heat lamp out there. Any suggestions on other birds that can make it outdoors over winter. I am zone 7a in Huntsville.

Your aviary is awesome. Cute babies too!

 

[ChickenGirl95]

So cute! I love your pics!

 

[Alaskan]

Hoover, being in Huntsville, you could have budgies too, just like the OP. You would need at least one area that was completely draft and weather proof where they could go when it was cold. But you wouldn't need a heat lamp.

If you wanted something besides budgies, you could have any other small bird actually (that was compatible with the quail).

Huntsville just doesn't get that cold.

Lots of the little parrots will actually go out and play in snow. They just need a good shelter to retreat to.

 

[arlee453]

With budgies, they will raise their own chicks - you just provide the good quality food and they do the rest. I feed my parakeets a good quality parakeet mix of seeds, plus fresh greens and fruits and green seed heads too.

You can hand feed the babies like other parrots, but I've not done that myself.

I plan to provide a heat lamp in the winter time for when it drops below 50 degrees. Our usual daytime high is in the low 50s most days here. My understanding is that they can easily handle temps in the 50s, and dips down to freezing for short times, but need a bit more help if it gets cold and stays cold for a day or two. If they don't seem to be doing OK with the heat lamp, I can bring them back in for the winter if I have to.

Another good choice for aviary birds is diamond doves or finches for the upper part and the quail in the bottom.

 

[apbgv]

Love it. The little button quails are sooooo cute, would love to have some but dunno where I could put them surprised my neighbors haven't started a move the crazy lady to the country fund ha ha. Enjoy those parakeets, they sure look like they are having a good time