button quail questions... new owner:)

[chickeypoo]

yes i did get the email. just no time to respond lol.

my buttons were hatched on the 5th of July.. so i guess that makes them almost a month old lol. i gave a piece of strawberry, but i don't know if they konw what to do with it lol. i was wondering if i could give them like a finch/canary feed from wal mart as a treat(i know not too much) but would i need to give grit with it too? there are three or four brown ones, and 2 whitish with multicolors and two bluish/gray.

i love them. ill have to take pics and post so i know what colors they are lol.

Thanks
Sue

 

[shelleyd2008]

If you give them sand or other type of dirt for bathing they won't need grit. If you don't (which you really should) then they would need grit. The starter grit works good for buttons (like you would get for young chicks).

Brown ones can either be golden pearl, wild, redbreasted, cinnamon, blueface, there are many colors that look brown at 4 weeks old

The multicolored ones are probably cinnamon blueface, or maybe just cinnamon. The blueish ones are most likely silvers or slates. And do post pics, you know how we are around here!

ETA: Finch/canary seed is fine for a treat, a few times a week is okay.

 

[Akane]

It's much harder to tell their color while they are feathering. They go through a variety of changes so it's best to figure out while they are balls of fluff or wait until they are completely done feathering.

 

[chickeypoo]

I can't beleive how much they have changed already lol. the whitish/yellow ones.. one has a ton of brownish on it, the other has some. wow, tehy are neat. I can't believe it. i just love them and there little whistles. lol. i am giving my sis in law a couple(her tortoise just died and she thought they were so cute when i showed pics of what they looked like before) so, she will get at least a couple.

ill have to wait to post pics probably till this weekend.

Thanks

Sue

 

[spotsplus]

Congrats on your buttons! I love button quail

1. how do you tell male and female? Others have given good answers.

2. do the hens go broody? I have mine in a natural setting and they all sit on the nests but they can be disturbed easily. I also bought my iniatial stock from people that had thier buttons naturally raising thier young.

3. do i need to supply grit if i feed something other than a higher protien feed? Buttons love to have a pan of sand, grit.

4. what can i give them as treats? mine love Mealworms (dried). They like fruit as well. Watermelon is a favorite.

5. when do i turn off the heat light? Babies need heat lamp for 6 weeks or so depending on temperature outside of where they are. All mine are inside so not sure how they do in outside severe cold or heat.

I have them in a bin with some grippy stuff in the bottom. they are doing wonderfully. I am so happy with them i can't wait till they lay eggs haha. >> LOL, just wait- you'll be overflowing with eggs!