Button Quail Help

[AQuailNamedFrancis]

Hello everyone my button quail are about 23 days old (3.2 weeks old). I have some questions:

What color is that chick in the picture? I've tried multiple websites I truly cannot find out what it is.

When will they be fully grown?

When will they start laying? (if i got any females)

When will the males start growing their bibs? (also should I vent sex them??)

Thank you

 

[Welshies]

Quail finish growing at 6-9 weeks.females will begin laying when the light is 10 hours or more, if they are over 9 weeks. They lay an egg a day. You can sex males at 9 weeks in breeding seasons by squeezing on their vent, males will produce a liquid likened to shaving cream.

 

[DK newbie]

I'm not sure vent sexing actually works for buttons, but I can't say I've tried. Got plenty of males I could test it on though, guess I'll give it a squeeze next time I handle one..
The males usually start growing their bibs at 3-4 weeks, but be aware that in some mutations there will be no bib. Looking for rust red vent feathers is more accurate. I have seen those show up as early as 2 weeks and as late as 6 weeks, but only birds that are white in the vent area don't get them (and those don't get a bib either), making it the most accurate way to sex buttons.
With regards to the color of the bird in the picture, I'd just invent my own name and call it 'mottled' I'm not sure there is an official name for that, but wait a few more weeks and post a few pics from different angles taken in a bright light and someone might be able to guess some of the mutations it has.

 

[JaeG]

Buttons aren't mature until 8-12 weeks old. Your baby will change quite a bit before it matures - they seem to change daily at this age. So you'll have to wait until it has finished growing at around 8 weeks to determine its final colouring.

Here's the colour change for my cinnamon males to give you an idea of how much they change over time (my cinnamon males show the most dramatic colour change):




Male on the left just starting to darken up around 3 weeks old, female on the right:




Around 6 weeks they look like a completely different bird

 

[AQuailNamedFrancis]

Thank you for the responses

 

[AQuailNamedFrancis]

Hey sorry guys one last thing @JaeG you seem like a button quail master.

Is this a boy?? I see what looks like the growth of a bib. Now my question is if this one is growing a bib is my silver one a female as I don't see a bib on it.

 

[DK newbie]

It's likely to be a boy, but from that picture I can't be sure. I need a picture that shows the actual colors of the bird. Girls can get a white or off white line of feathers in the bib area as well, so you can't sex a button on that alone.
A silver without a bib doesn't have to be female. It can either be to young to have developed the bib or it can carry a mutation - like blue face - that prevents it from getting a bib. Look at the color of the vent feathers, most males have rust red vent feathers (more like pale pink in silvers) - females don't. Again, it might still be too young to show them though.

 

[JaeG]

Not a master, especially seeing as in New Zealand we don't have many of the mutations you guys do. DK newbie is the expert there. Check for pink/red tails. I can tell my cinnamons before they start getting a white bib by the colour of their tails.

This is my one of our young silver females if that's any help - we don't have any mutation to mix with silver so she is just silver:

 

[AQuailNamedFrancis]

Thank you both of y'alls