Chinese painted/button quail

[Emmaxx]

Oh dear!! I have to go out now but perhaps we can all chat again later -I'd like that!

Of course! It's nice to know we'll all be on the same time zone

 

[Hybridchucks]

Of course! It's nice to know we'll all be on the same time zone

Yes indeed, it gets quite complicated Lol

 

[hebe5]

Like this??

You need to then press this to insert it in the message, happens automatically if you press reply though but can't quote more than one.
Sorry, it just habit I forgot that step

 

[Hybridchucks]

 

[hebe5]

I did it!!!!!

Now I MUST go out!

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

I just found this thread. I've been keeping button quail for almost 3 years now. I also keep Japanese (coturnix) quail. Here are a few things I've learned while keeping these birds.

Dust - quail produce a lot of dust compared to other birds. My Japanese (3 hens and a roo) are kept in a closed spare room with plenty of ventilation. I have a medium sized turbo fan in the room, along with an air cleaner and window fan set to blow the air outside. I vacuum the room at least once per week, my vacuum has a washable hepa filter. I have asthma so I take extra precautions. When cleaning the cages and vacuuming I wear a paper mask. Bird dust over time can cause a condition called pigeon fanciers' lung. It's only a problem if you keep a lot of indoor birds which emit dust (large parrots are another culprit).

Substrate - after experimenting with pine shavings (messy, get into food and water and get kicked out of the cage) and wire (VERY smelly, even after one day, and hard on their feet) I now use playground sand. It's cheap, easily found at hardware stores, keeps the smell down and the birds love to dust bathe in it. I scoop the poop out every day using a metal kitchen sieve. You can also get mesh scoops at reptile suppliers. Cat litter scoops don't work. Every few months I change the sand for a fresh batch. It can also be rinsed and re-used, but at $5 CAD per 40 lb bag it's easier just to change it. Do not be tempted to mix cat litter in with the sand for absorbency. It dries their little feet right out and sticks to their toes, which can cause them to lose a toe. To stop them kicking sand out of the cage, I cut a tarp to size and line the cage with it, with the tarp going up at least six inches on the sides of the cage. I use cable ties to attach the tarp to the sides of the cage.

Cages - I used 10 gallon fish tanks with screen lids to house each of my pairs of button quail. I didn't have problems with "boinking" because there wasn't enough height. They mainly boinked when I was putting my hands in to service the cage. Buttons are little escape artists and good fliers, so don't be surprised if they manage to "squirt" out past your hand and fly away.

A warning about buttons. Always keep a spare/hospital cage set up and ready, because buttons can turn on each other and even kill each other. I have no idea why, but they are highly territorial. I kept two male/female pairs in separate cages for over two years. Suddenly the males started trying to kill their hens. I found one cage covered in blood one evening, the hen lying at the bottom looking dead and the male strutting around like nothing happened. Luckily she survived, but he scalped her down to the bone and her feathers have never grown back. A few days later the same happened with the other pair. I was never able to reintroduce them, nor would they get along when I switched hens. They are now all inhabiting the bottoms of my larger aviary cages, one per cage. Buttons are often kept this way as "cleanup crew" for spilled seeds, and will get along with most species of aviary birds. Your spare cage doesn't have to be elaborate. I use large plastic "kritter keepers" which can be found at pet stores.

Tameness/suitability as pets - I consider buttons to be lovely birds to look at. They are tiny and delicate, not to mention good at escaping from your hand. They can get lost in a room easily if they escape because of their size. They are pretty quiet, although they do make several calls. I didn't try to tame mine, but I think it's possible if you find an irresistible food treat and are willing to spend a long time holding that treat in your hand inside their cage. They love tearing off bits of leafy greens clipped to the side of the cage, so you can hold the leaf like a clip and they'll eat it from your hand. I have one hen who runs to the cage door and starts tearing at her leaf as my hand is still entering the cage! Buttons are good little egg layers, the hens lay almost every day. Their eggs are edible, but I usually boil them, chop them up and feed them back to the birds.

Japanese are better suited as "hands on" pets. They can definitely be kept indoors in small numbers (I wouldn't keep more than 5 indoors). They do need more room than a button quail, however, they can also be kept outdoors, like on an apartment balcony. They are winter hardy as long as their cage is covered against wind. They are less "spooky" and less likely to boink their heads or fly out of the cage when you open it. They're very domesticated and easy to tame either with food or by starting with young chicks and handling them often. I had a hen who had been a child's pet, she was a wonderful cuddler and would step up onto my hand in the cage asking to be cuddled against my chest. The males also make fine pets, though they're a bit noisier because they "crow". The crow is nowhere near as loud as a chicken rooster, so they can still be kept in an apartment. Japanese quail are also easy to breed and hatch out in an incubator (I have some chicks now who are a few days old). They're good egg layers and their eggs are edible. Like buttons, Japanese are also available in a variety of colours.

 

[Hybridchucks]

 

[Emmaxx]

Like this??

Yes!!

 

[Emmaxx]

@FirstTimeClucky not to skip over the good info you gave, or to hijack this thread, but did you use the sand in the tanks? I tried (with bird sand) and found it such a pain! Maybe I was using the wrong scoop or should have done it more often.....

 

[hebe5]

I just found this thread. I've been keeping button quail for almost 3 years now. I also keep Japanese (coturnix) quail. Here are a few things I've learned while keeping these birds.

Dust - quail produce a lot of dust compared to other birds. My Japanese (3 hens and a roo) are kept in a closed spare room with plenty of ventilation. I have a medium sized turbo fan in the room, along with an air cleaner and window fan set to blow the air outside. I vacuum the room at least once per week, my vacuum has a washable hepa filter. I have asthma so I take extra precautions. When cleaning the cages and vacuuming I wear a paper mask. Bird dust over time can cause a condition called pigeon fanciers' lung. It's only a problem if you keep a lot of indoor birds which emit dust (large parrots are another culprit).

Substrate - after experimenting with pine shavings (messy, get into food and water and get kicked out of the cage) and wire (VERY smelly, even after one day, and hard on their feet) I now use playground sand. It's cheap, easily found at hardware stores, keeps the smell down and the birds love to dust bathe in it. I scoop the poop out every day using a metal kitchen sieve. You can also get mesh scoops at reptile suppliers. Cat litter scoops don't work. Every few months I change the sand for a fresh batch. It can also be rinsed and re-used, but at $5 CAD per 40 lb bag it's easier just to change it. Do not be tempted to mix cat litter in with the sand for absorbency. It dries their little feet right out and sticks to their toes, which can cause them to lose a toe. To stop them kicking sand out of the cage, I cut a tarp to size and line the cage with it, with the tarp going up at least six inches on the sides of the cage. I use cable ties to attach the tarp to the sides of the cage.

Cages - I used 10 gallon fish tanks with screen lids to house each of my pairs of button quail. I didn't have problems with "boinking" because there wasn't enough height. They mainly boinked when I was putting my hands in to service the cage. Buttons are little escape artists and good fliers, so don't be surprised if they manage to "squirt" out past your hand and fly away.

A warning about buttons. Always keep a spare/hospital cage set up and ready, because buttons can turn on each other and even kill each other. I have no idea why, but they are highly territorial. I kept two male/female pairs in separate cages for over two years. Suddenly the males started trying to kill their hens. I found one cage covered in blood one evening, the hen lying at the bottom looking dead and the male strutting around like nothing happened. Luckily she survived, but he scalped her down to the bone and her feathers have never grown back. A few days later the same happened with the other pair. I was never able to reintroduce them, nor would they get along when I switched hens. They are now all inhabiting the bottoms of my larger aviary cages, one per cage. Buttons are often kept this way as "cleanup crew" for spilled seeds, and will get along with most species of aviary birds. Your spare cage doesn't have to be elaborate. I use large plastic "kritter keepers" which can be found at pet stores.

Tameness/suitability as pets - I consider buttons to be lovely birds to look at. They are tiny and delicate, not to mention good at escaping from your hand. They can get lost in a room easily if they escape because of their size. They are pretty quiet, although they do make several calls. I didn't try to tame mine, but I think it's possible if you find an irresistible food treat and are willing to spend a long time holding that treat in your hand inside their cage. They love tearing off bits of leafy greens clipped to the side of the cage, so you can hold the leaf like a clip and they'll eat it from your hand. I have one hen who runs to the cage door and starts tearing at her leaf as my hand is still entering the cage! Buttons are good little egg layers, the hens lay almost every day. Their eggs are edible, but I usually boil them, chop them up and feed them back to the birds.

Japanese are better suited as "hands on" pets. They can definitely be kept indoors in small numbers (I wouldn't keep more than 5 indoors). They do need more room than a button quail, however, they can also be kept outdoors, like on an apartment balcony. They are winter hardy as long as their cage is covered against wind. They are less "spooky" and less likely to boink their heads or fly out of the cage when you open it. They're very domesticated and easy to tame either with food or by starting with young chicks and handling them often. I had a hen who had been a child's pet, she was a wonderful cuddler and would step up onto my hand in the cage asking to be cuddled against my chest. The males also make fine pets, though they're a bit noisier because they "crow". The crow is nowhere near as loud as a chicken rooster, so they can still be kept in an apartment. Japanese quail are also easy to breed and hatch out in an incubator (I have some chicks now who are a few days old). They're good egg layers and their eggs are edible. Like buttons, Japanese are also available in a variety of colours.