my first time in back yard birds

[ChrisandraO]

me and my husband(well mostly me haha) decided to get quail so we can have fresh eggs and meat that we know is healthy. So off to the farmers market we went and came home with four 3 week old button quails (two whites and two speckled? that's what they were marked as I'm pretty sure that's not what they are actually called haha)

So i was wondering if there was any trick to tell what gender they are at this size? I want to say the two speckled are female and with research I found that I wont be able to tell if either of the whites are male until they are matured?

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Aww....they are adorable! I don't know much about Button Quail. But GrandmaBird does. If she doesn't stop by this thread soon, you could always send her a private message.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/146034/grandmabird

Enjoy these cutie pies!!

 

[franklinstreetwest]

Button quail are adorable. Sorry I can't tell the sex on them.... I have several eggs in the incubator currently. They are the tiniest little eggs I've ever seen! Small enough to fit in a thimble.

 

[ChrisandraO]

Thanks guys My little ones are supper cute but after doing some research Im not entirely sure that they are truly 'button' quail and not just the regular mini quail, I am pretty sure two are A&Ms and the other two are wild colored I guess ill know once they finish growing or we see some eggs haha. They were not labeled very well and it never came up in my pre-research that there are two different kinds.

 

[Fat Daddy]

I think they look like coturnix...... But you'd figure the seller would know.....

 

[ChrisandraO]

he basically just had them marked as 'quail' and when i asked about them he knew very little, Im assuming he got eggs only just to sell the babies or bought a lot of babies at auction, with out knowing much about the birds themselves.

 

[Fat Daddy]

For eggs and meat, you are much better off with coturnix instead of buttons, IMHO..... Buttons are not even big enough to make a good cat toy!

They call'em quail but I think they are closer to a finch.... ;-)

 

[ChrisandraO]

haha well once they are full grown I probably will be getting hatching eggs and get the jumbo/standard sized ones just to make sure i get the bigger ones. If these do end up being buttons im okay with it they are very sweet and might end up just being my indoor birdies. it gives me an excuse to get finches or doves again XD

these guys appear to be in their first molt now and are big enough to fit/fill my hands if that gives an idea on which type they are. (I guesstimate them being between 4 and 5 weeks old now.)