Baby button quail

[cmycook]

I am new to raising button quail. Have a brand new mom who has been sitting on 8 eggs. 4 hatched last night. I can find plenty of information regarding chicks hatched in incubators, but not so much regarding nest hatchlings. I'm prepared for the feeding and water issues, been reading up on this. Does anyone have any advice on anything else I need to know? Mom and dad seem to be doing an awesome job so far. Thanks, I appreciate any advice.

 

[DK newbie]

If you have feed and water down (including lots of marbles or pebbles in the water, I trust?), and the parents are doing a good job, you are off to a pretty good start
Take a look at your cage though and determine whether there is any way a chick could get out of it (they can pass right through 10x10 mm wire, so make sure at least the lower 4 inches of the cage is either solid or has smaller wire than that!) or get stuck behind something. Also make sure the footing in the cage is not slippery. That's about all I can think of right now.

I have no less than two broody button hens right now. One was naturally hatched and raised by me, has been broody twice before but has left the eggs after a few days on both occasions - I'm being VERY careful to disturb her as little as possible, feeding at the opposite end of the cage and such.
The other is incubator hatched and raised by someone else, has been broody once but only managed to hatch one chick (only 2 of her 7 eggs appeared to be fertile, the other chick needed help to get our of the egg and died within 12 hours) and wasn't very good at caring for it. She was pecking at its feet, thinking they were food and it died after a couple of days. I suspect her previous owner has been feeding her meal worms - they kind of look like quail toes and I have read that feeding meal worms can cause toe pecking.
Anyway, this time I noticed them being broody at the same time, so I'm really hoping the one I raised myself (which has never seen a meal worm) will stay broody this time and prove to be a good mom, so I can re-home the chicks from the other one, should that prove necessary.

Good luck with yours!

 

[cmycook]

Thanks so much for responding! There are 6 chicks, I think 2 eggs are infertile as mom has abandoned the nest. Mom and dad are nesting down with the chicks. Chicks appear to be drinking water, yes I have lots of marbles in there. I haven't seen any try to eat yet though. Although I'm trying to afford them privacy to keep them from becoming so skittish. I took chick feed ground up with a boiled egg. Hoping this is correct as it is what I had been reading.

 

[Binki]

Aww how exciting

Yes I guess just monitor them for aggression, I'm sure the parents will show them the food soon enough!

 

[cmycook]

Thanks! We also put 5" wire screen around the bottom edge of the pen as they are already looking around the edges.