Hi, I am interested in button quail and had a few questions. How much square footage do each button need? Incubation settings( humidity, temperature, etc...) Egg yeild Thanks!
A general rule of thumb for space is one square foot of floor space per bird and please keep them in single pairs, so a 2 foot by 2 foot cage with 1/2 inch spacing on the bars would work nicely. Low ceiling of 12-14 inches so they do not boink their heads when frightened. Also remember that they do not do well on wire bottom cages, I covered mine with the non slip shelf liner, Rubbermaid, and it works great and can be removed to wash. I then cover it with aspen shavings which I change out every couple of weeks, with poop scooping done between. Incubation is 16 days give or take, at 99.5-99.9 in a incubator with a fan in one without a fan 100.0 Fahrenheit. humidity of 50-60% especially after day 13 when you quit rolling the eggs have the humidity up to 60% if you can. My female lays an egg every day for 10 days or so but they are usually only viable for 7 days. hope this helps and good luck. this is a great book to get: Bracken Ridge Ranch - Button Quail Eggs A Closer Look at "Button Quail" by Jodi McDonald of Bracken Ranch. I love this book it helps a lot.
