Button Quail as Pets

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Thank you for the information! How hard is it to raise the chicks? Is a pair likely to breed and go broody?

not common, but I have the broodiest button that ever lived!

Button quail are very unlikely to broody, but it's possible, though not something you should expect to see. It seems to be more likely in larger enclosures with more cover.
Button quail chicks are very small, but other than that, shouldn't be too much more difficult to raise than other quail chicks. I'd suspect your bigger problem is going to be an incubator that can properly turn the eggs.

Also, you'll need to know what you'll do with the extras. Button quail have to be kept in m/f or f/f pairs, and rarely work in trios with one or no males. If you hatch 3 males and 2 females, what are you going to do with that extra male? You might not be able to find anyone who'll want him. If you want to hatch from eggs, are you prepared to cull extra males that you can't find homes for? It's cruel to just keep them alone, and if you put multiple males together, they'll fight.

x2

 

[DK newbie]

In aviaries with proper cover for the nest, in my experience, buttons go broody and hatch chicks several times a year. In a large cage they'll still go broody, but they are more prone to abandoning the nest so the chance of a successful hatch is severely reduced. But lots of cover - spruce branches in the corners and straw for the nest behind the branches - is likely to make them stay put till the chicks hatch. It's definitely not impossible.

 

[HouseSilkies]

Thank you all for the information! If their was an extra,I would go buy it an already sexed mate,so it wouldn't be lonely! Their are Button Quail chicks on Craigslist right now,so if chickens aren't an option button quail are the next go to! I have Roborovski hamsters,which are extremely flighty and hard to tame. Mine will not allow themselves to be picked up unless they jump on your hands themselves,and you are loaded with treats! They usually dart into a burrow when I enter the room and don't come out until they realize it's me and decide they want treats after all! How about keeping button quail outside summer and early fall,and in the garage with a heat lamp in the winter?

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Thank you all for the information! If their was an extra,I would go buy it an already sexed mate,so it wouldn't be lonely! Their are Button Quail chicks on Craigslist right now,so if chickens aren't an option button quail are the next go to! I have Roborovski hamsters,which are extremely flighty and hard to tame. Mine will not allow themselves to be picked up unless they jump on your hands themselves,and you are loaded with treats! They usually dart into a burrow when I enter the room and don't come out until they realize it's me and decide they want treats after all! How about keeping button quail outside summer and early fall,and in the garage with a heat lamp in the winter?

That should work fine! Just make sure their cage is VERY predator proof!

 

[HouseSilkies]

Wow! Fast reply! Thank you!We DO have hawk like thing living in a tree by our yard.. How about... A run with a roof out of mesh\hardware cloth and a hardware cloth floor too to prevent anything digging in,but still on the ground so they can forage through the wire? And a insulated shelter with pine chips,raised slightly off the ground? Or would this be better,with no foraging area?https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OM1C74/?tag=backy-20

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Wow! Fast reply! Thank you!We DO have hawk like thing living in a tree by our yard.. How about... A run with a roof out of mesh\hardware cloth and a hardware cloth floor too to prevent anything digging in,but still on the ground so they can forage through the wire? And a insulated shelter with pine chips,raised slightly off the ground? Or would this be better,with no foraging area?https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OM1C74/?tag=backy-20

build your own.. what you described sounds good!

 

[HouseSilkies]

Ok!

 

[HouseSilkies]

Can button quail fly?

 

[2 many chickens]

Can button quail fly?

Not really.
They will fly a short distant upwards once in a while then back down. They are ground dwellers. Not much on flying.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Can button quail fly?

they can get pretty far.. have a Very secure top, and make it low so they can't hit their heads!