Advice on keeping Button Quail indoors?

[Button Quail 123]

Hello everyone!
I am new to Backyard Chickens with my account, but have been getting info on here previously.

I just wanted to know some advice on keeping Button Quail (I love them!) indoors.

So far, my planned setup is a 40 gallon breeder with aspen bedding, dishes for dust baths, water and food, two hiding spots ( a rock cave and a half log), lots of non-toxic fake plants, a screen top (I don't want my quail flying out of their cage!), and maybe a light. The tank would be near a window, and I am planning on having 3 hens and 1 rooster in there.

Questions: What specific vitamins, grit, type of calcium to use?
Different amount of quail?
Different setup in general?
Advice on incubating (I want to buy the eggs and hatch them)?

Any other advice will be welcome.

Thanks, Button Quail 123

 

[le_bwah]

Hello everyone!
I am new to Backyard Chickens with my account, but have been getting info on here previously.

I just wanted to know some advice on keeping Button Quail (I love them!) indoors.

So far, my planned setup is a 40 gallon breeder with aspen bedding, dishes for dust baths, water and food, two hiding spots ( a rock cave and a half log), lots of non-toxic fake plants, a screen top (I don't want my quail flying out of their cage!), and maybe a light. The tank would be near a window, and I am planning on having 3 hens and 1 rooster in their.

Questions: What specific vitamins, grit, type of calcium to use?
Different amount of quail?
Different setup in general?
Advice on incubating (I want to buy the eggs and hatch them)?

Any other advice will be welcome.

Thanks, Button Quail 123

I don't raise button quail (Coturnix for me) but I'd caution against keeping more than 1 female. Buttons form monogamous pairs and usually do best with just 1 male and 1 female.

 

[Button Quail 123]

Thanks for the advice le_bwah, Ill be sure to change my plans. Is there any way I could include a few more quail? If not it's fine, I want what's best for the birds.

 

[DK newbie]

You could include more females in a decent sized aviary, but not in a tank. It might work for a while, but I've never had success with trios or groups long term, in anything smaller than 4x10 ft. How many square feet is this tank? I prefer at least 6-8 sqft for a pair, though 4 can sometimes work. I wouldn't go smaller than that.
As for vitamins, grit and calcium - I use gamebird starter as feed and this has all the vitamins they need. As it is water soluble, they don't need grit - they only need this if they are feed seeds with hulls or insects. For calcium I use chick sized crushed oyster shell. If you can't get it chick sized, you can grind it down in an old blender.
With regards to incubation, there should be several good threads on here on incubating coturnix eggs, you can do button eggs the same way. Keep in mind not all eggs will hatch, so if you are to be somewhat certain you'll get a male and a female, you'll need at least 10 eggs and you need to be ready to find new homes for the ones you don't need.

 

[Button Quail 123]

Thanks so much for the advice DK newbie. The tank is 4.5 square ft. I know this is a little small, but I would be sure to give them lots of enrichment and hiding places as I know the female sometimes likes to get away from the male. I'll be sure to have new homes for the extra chicks.

 

[Himham]

I keep one male with 3 females in a 30 gallon tank. I built some shelves that they can climb up to in order to create more square footage. I use hamster style water bottles to stop spillage. I had them outside in a bigger space during the summer, but I brought them in for the winter. It’s my first winter with them, but there’s no problems so far.