My First buttons! need advice- Updated 2-17-09

[NancyDz]

Hi Everyone,

I just got my first button quail the other day. I got what I think is a male and female @ 8 weeks old. I was supposed to get eggs to hatch the end of Feb but I saw these on craigslist and decided to get a couple chicks first. So I brought them home and had them in a plastic bin with screen lid. Then yesterday I got a FREE double stacking cage on craigslist. It was used for cockatiels by a breeder. I cleaned it up, and unstacked it for now. I'll use the other one for chicks when I hatch them. So my questions are:

1. Do these look like a male and female ?
2. What color are they?
3. What kind of veggies/ fruits and treats can I give?
4. I'm feeding flock raiser mixed with a finch seed mix(contains canary grass seed, millet and grains. Is that appropriate?
5. The slats on the bottom of the cage seem too wide. I have shelf liner on them but can I get hardware cloth for the bottom to make cleaning easier? What size?

Any other tips would be great!


Thanks

Here they are:

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

They are so pretty!

 

[chickmamawannabe]

Not sure of the color(s), but they look like two females to me. Colored males usually have a white bib.

 

[UrbanMama]

The white bib can be an indicator of males...however not all of them have the bibs. Males are generally smaller (and thinner) than females and the males sometimes have a rust/red/orange color around their vent. The call that they make is distinctly different too.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Yes, they are both females, and look to maybe be (Niki... tell me if I'm wrong, I suck at the colors!) silver mixes?

They do best with 1/4" hardware cloth for their feet, but can go up to 1/2" or 1x1/2", I've heard. Just watch that their feet aren't falling through.

Juicy fruits and veggies seem to be the favorites... cucumber, grapes, the like.
You want higher protein rations for the quail... 22-24% at the lowest if you can help it. Think about the size of the egg they lay... that takes a LOT out of them.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Oh, and at 8 weeks, they're adults.

6 weeks they should start laying eggs, or thereabouts.
Very pretty babies you have there!

 

[NancyDz]

Thanks everyone! They havent made much noise yet. My dogs sure like quail tv though! Almost as much as guinea pig tv!

The woman I got them from had supposedly sexed and marked the males with food coloring. So the smaller one has a little reddish mark on his/her side. That one is definitely thinner and smaller than the other. She had said they were silver.
She had brown ones too but I liked this color. I'm not sure what to put in there for them to hide in. I had just emptied that kleenex box so thought maybe they would like it, they went in it a couple times but never stay in it. That's cool they can already lay eggs at this age! I'm sure since they just changed environment it might be a little while before they settle in and start laying. If that one turns out to be a female maybe I'll try to get a male for a trio. Is that cage size okay for 2-3?

Thanks again everyone!

Nancy

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Most definitely, they'll do fine in there, and I'm sure as soon as they settle into the new digs, you'll see an egg. It is possible that the smaller one is a male... you'll have to just keep watch, and if you hear a "pew - PEWWWW!" call, that's a male.

 

[NancyDz]

hehehehe I could hear you posting that pew- PEWWWW call! Okay I'll listen for it.

 

[Mrs MIA]

We used to have a laptop computer that would make a high-pitched beep whenever you unplugged it... they would respond to it!

Sometimes it sounds like they're laughing at you, too...