Baby buttons PICS

[Le Mitzer]

So i have done it, well actually i didnt do anything... but my pair of chinese quail hatched 7 cute little quailies... and i am very lucky the mother sat on her eggs for the 19 days, and when they hatched the male started to sit on the chicks to keep them warm. i have them outside in a home made cage. and they are doing great, i make them scambled eggs every day, grind up chick feed and i have soja protien to give them so they are growing quickly.

the questions i have are thus; the cage in 1 meter long by 60 cm wide, there are 7 chicks and their mom and dad. they were born on the 29th of May. how long until i should move them to a bigger set up. i have another cage i built that is 3.5 meters long and 1 meter wide; and right now i only have a couple of buttons in there.so i can easly switch then; but im scare the big cage maybe to big for 12 day old chicks. how long should i wait

second question; there are 7 chicks, 6 are all yellow and one is brown..... does that mean i have 6 males and one female? If so is it possible to keep the males together in the big cage? will they fight? if they are just males and no females and they are all brothers will they still fight???? if so what the heck do i do with my extra males? im not about to eat them. and i cant buy 6 more female to make pairs. can a single male button live alone? or do they have to be in pairs?

i have thought about getting more females but i cant because with the 8 chickens, one rooster, 7 japanese quail, one golden retriver, and now 11 buttons i think my wife would lose it if i come home with 6 more quail. Oh and i first baby boy was born the 17th of may so needless to say the house is starting to fill up ( and it all started with "wouldnt it be cool to have TWO chickens for fresh eggs) and now its turning into a small farm.

P.S; im now looking at getting a wallibie, a small kangaroo because the south of france has a perfect climate for them. (and you think your husband is crazy, i love my wife and her tolernace for my crazyness)


oh and that little jimmy, porceline sablepoot, he's cool

 

[the outdoorsman44]

i wish my quail would hatch their own eggs!!!!!!!! I am not sure about the males and females though.

 

[GrandmaBird]

you wont know the sex until 3-4 weeks of age and then the males will growl or crow and depending on the color they also have the chin strap/mustache. You can keep them all together until the male start calling. around 45 days. then they should be place one male and one female to a cage. I do not have suggestions on what to do if you have more males then females is the other way around, I too have 7 chicks and looks like I might have 3 males and 4 females, I hope. I could put one extra female with one other and a male but you should not put 2 males together as they will fight. If you have a big enough set up you could try 2 pair but be warned that the males will fight and the females may get the bad end of the deal. sometimes leading to death. as to the colors the yellow one is a different color is all you can get a lot of different colors in one batch as these buttons are cross bred. I have 3 lighter and 4 dark ones from a dark pair of adults. mine were hatched in an incubator though. plus you should be giving then oyster shell ground up added to their food for calcium and grit. well anyway good luck and enjoy your babies.

 

[Le Mitzer]

ok so i will have to wait and see; but when should i move then into the bigger cage? 3 to 4 weeks?

and oyster shell should i grind them into a powder,?

side question i have another couple of button quail and the hen was limping the other day and when i checked her, one of her toes was BLACK as night and it didnt move. and two days later the other foot had a black toe aswell.

i disinfected it and put her by her self, and she is seeming to be doing better, running around like a crazy.
do you think it is that she hurt or broke the toes or it is somethin more serious?????

 

[Le Mitzer]

i wish my quail would hatch their own eggs!!!!!!!! I am not sure about the males and females though.

well i think i just got lucky,.... i bought then originally from www.fermedebeaumont.com; a great site if you havent heard of it ......i suggest you check it out; they sell everything!

and the Ferme de beaumont is know for being a bit pricey but they have some of the purest races of birds in france.

 

[GrandmaBird]

If the chicks wont escape from the bigger cage go ahead and move them, but they are much calmer if left with mom, or wait for 4 weeks then move them.. the oyster shell must be very fine to just smaller than coffee grounds like their food I just mix a bit with their food.
I have heard of black foot before but so not know anything about it. check on here for it on regular quail or chickens. sound awful.

 

[Le Mitzer]

no it is a safe and sound cage, and i was thinking of putting everyone in the big cage. mom, dad, and the six babies. any tips on how to catch them. they are quick little devils and i dont have a net small enough to fit in side the cage with out risking escapies.

 

[GrandmaBird]

you can toss a tea/dish towel over them but mostly just grab with your bare hands. just dont squeeze too hard. they are very quick but if you use a piece of cardbaord or the like you can kind of push them to one end of the cage to make it easier. good luck.

 

[jensen]

It's so fun to see quail hatch and rear their young... Love your pictures... I think it would be cool to have a Wallaby! What are your winters like in Provence?

 

[Le Mitzer]

how long should i keep the mom and dad with the babies, i have started to notice the dad is doing a little bit of feather picking!!!!!!! it will be one month on monday they have been alive.