4 week old californian quail. next steps.. Feeding, housing etc

[al4x]

my californian quail are now 4 weeks old, 7 of 12 eggs hatched, but only have 5 now.

atm they are in a plastic small animal pen on 1 60w heat lamp eating meal worms and chick crumbs.

What is the next step? Especially with feed? They still sleep near the light so im keeping it on for now.

 

[al4x]

here are some current pics. The black box with blue display is a large computer UPS that will keep the heat matts going for a few hours should the power go out

 

[TwoCrows]

Looks like you are doing a good job there. Love those top knots coming in!! If you can get them on gamebird or turkey feed, they will do better health wise. Quail need a very high protein diet, especially during the time they are growing. Helps with brain and sensory development.

 

[al4x]

Looks like you are doing a good job there. Love those top knots coming in!! If you can get them on gamebird or turkey feed, they will do better health wise. Quail need a very high protein diet, especially during the time they are growing. Helps with brain and sensory development. 

They are so cute.

I was also wondering how to sex these quail. 2 of the 5 have much larger crests than the others. Will have to have a look for quail food, i didnt realise it was different to chickens

 

[TwoCrows]

You won't be able to sex them until they are fully feathered. But they are kind of similar to Bobwhites in that the male will have a white face stripe and the female will have more of a brown face.The male's chest will have more grey on it and the female will have more brown.

 

[Ntsees]

They look healthy. At that stage, throw in some lettuce for them to eat. They do need protein but less of it now. Adult wild birds eat more vegetable matter (seeds and lettuce = 95%, insects = 5%) and so that is what I recommend you feed them when they are older. As for sexing them, it'll be no problem - the male will have a black throat. Just google search the species and you'll see.

 

[al4x]

i think i am ablen to sex them now. 2 out of the 5 are looking quite different to the others.

they have a small black part under their eye and a distinctly whiter triangle between their crest and beak. also i think the crests are longer on those two.
from that i think..hope.. i have 2 male and 3 female.

the second batch are 2 weeks old