Is this silver button quail a male or female?

[Fleabuskitty]

Two males wouldn't do that, so maybe it is female? You might not know for sure until you get eggs (or not)...

 

[kovalines]

Yeah, I'm just waiting for eggs. And, if it's a female, it won't be long, because now ''she'' is about 45 days.
Let me ask you another question. I'm giving them quail food for laying eggs time. Is it correct? Because here is so dificult to find other food for them...

 

[Fleabuskitty]

You can feed them any type of poultry feed (gamebird starter, turkey starter, whatever) that is unmedicated and at least 24% protein. The higher the protein the better, and they need tons of calcium, too, so boiling their eggs and crushing them up, shell and all, and feeding them back to the birds is good. I don't know nearly as much as other people about buttons, though.

 

[kovalines]

For extra-calcium I've added broken egg shells at the food.

 

[kovalines]

Today I saw ''her'' sitting at the place where I think is the nest. ''She" always sleeps there with the male like the first photo. I hope having eggs soon. She's about 45 days already, so it wont be long!

 

[Fleabuskitty]

Button quail eggs are awesome! For the short time I had a hen, she laid greenish brown eggs - they looked like mini olive egger eggs!

 

[kovalines]

I just can't wait for eggs and chicks!
Both they were born in incubators. I wish they brood their own eggs? Can it happen or the fact of being incubated can disturb it?

 

[Fleabuskitty]

I read in about a hundred different places that they won't brood, but the other day I was visiting the breeder I gave my mean button quail to and he told me that his brood all the time! They aren't in pairs, either, most of his are in trios and quads.

 

[kovalines]

Hopefully it wil happen to me too!
I'm think that the silver one is a female. She has some kinda stripes at the breast, like the normal female.
The couple is always together!
Oh, about the food. The one i found is 21% protein. I know that the best one are 24% or even more, but is 21% enough?

 

[Fleabuskitty]

I don't think 21% is enough. 24% is supposed to be the minimum, and higher is better. This is what I feed my Coturnix, it has 30.5% protein: http://shop.mazuri.com/mazuriexoticgamebirdstater.aspx I have to order it, though, so I'm trying to find something else that's more convenient.