Just hatched my first Button Quail chicks.....now what?

[Chicken Freak]

Hey guys!

A few weeks ago, i purchased 100 Button Quail hatching eggs from a livestock auction. Now i have 37 little Button Quail chicks. I just realized that i know very little about Button Quail. Any and all information you have will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[monarc23]

Well other than keeping the brooder warm, and grinding up thier chick starter (nonmedicated game bird feed) into an almost powder consistancy they're not much different to raise than any other quail or chickens.


They do get their flight feathers in VERY fast (you'll see how fast lol) so you'll want to put a towel or something simliar (foam paddngworks well too) over the top of the brooder so the chicks dont fly out when playing or spooked....if the roof is hard they can accidentally kill themselves or have head injuries.

If they're not in the brooder yet, make sure the brooder is heated up to like 99.5 before you put them in so they can be comfortable and not chill. Either cover the floor in paper towels, or thickly lay down animal bedding (like aspen shavings) on the brooder floor for the chicks to get their legging on so they dont get splay leg. If the bedding is loose they could slip and hurt a leg.

Introduce them to food and water direclty from being placed in the brooder you can do this by pretending your finger is a beak and pecking at food and water and some should react and come over to inspect and peck as well. Or you may need to delicately hold their beak tip in the water fo ra second then let them go so they can lift thier head up and swallow the water. After this theyshold get the hang of drinking it.

Kitten food ground up and added to thier food daily is benifitial to youngster button quail, that or pinhead crickets!

Do not offer mealworms to button quail chicks, wait until they are around 4-5 weeks old before you offer that (if you do) because they can confuse their own toes for mealworms and can do damage to themselves and their hatchmates.

Others will surely add more

good luck!

 

[citalk2much]

I think you got some good advice. All can add is the person that have me mine told me. Use a layer of pine with Timothy Hay over top of it. Most of all have fun with them.

 

[Chicken Freak]

thanks so much for all the info!

 

[citalk2much]

How are the buttons doing?

 

[Mrs MIA]

This is the place I got my first eggs... she has a ton of info on her site.
http://www.ncws.com/mcdonald/page_5.html

 

[Bettacreek]

Now that they're hatched, you drive them all to me!!! Lol.
Alright, alright, maybe not, but at least post pictures!

 

[Chicken Freak]

How do you post pics? I can't figure it out..lol

 

[Bettacreek]

Upload them to another site, like Photobucket.com, then you can just click the one little link box under the picture on there and paste it here.