1. Well, if you're looking in raising chicks of your own you should consider incubating. I'm pretty sure you can separate the chick as soon as it's dry and fluffy but not straight away. You want to separate it soon enough so that it does not get attached to the parents, that way it won't be calling a lot.
2. It depends on the father if he's violent or not. I've never had a violent male towards their chicks, they'de always take great care of the chicks. But if the father gets violent you'll want to separate the mother and chicks. Also, any other quail in the cage will probably attack or peck at the chicks. You must isolate the mother and the chicks.
3. To tame quail you must tame them as soon as possible. There's no 'magical trick' to tame quail, you just handle them a lot when they are young. Though keep in mind that some quail will always be skittish and I find that no quail likes being held or approached from above.
4. I fed my chicks and the hen a game bird feed that was high in protein, seemed alright to me. But make sure that the chick can eat the food, you might have to grind it up into smaller crumbles.
Few tips on raising chicks:
1. I wouldn't keep the chick alone for all it's life, later on you'll need to get it a mate. Quail can get pretty depressed if they are lonely, they're social birds. Though I'm not sure whether plenty of human interaction will keep it happy or not.
2. Set up a brooder for the chick if you're going to separate it. A cardboard box will do fine as a brooder. You'll want to add paper towels in the brooder so that you can clean up the chicks poo easily.Also add a couple of bowls for the feed and water to go in. Make sure they're small bowls and that the water bowl isn't deep so the chick cannot drown in it. Add some pebbles in the water bowl to make it more shallow.
3. Provide a source of heat for the chick. If you're not keeping the chick with it's mother then you'll have to make sure the chicks warm. You can purchase a heat lamp or a light bulb for the chick. The temperature should be 99 Fahrenheit and lower it by five degrees every week until it reaches room temperature. A rule of thumb when telling the temperature of chicks is that cold chicks will huddle under the heat source and bunch on top of each over whilst hot chicks will try to get away from the heat source.
4. Check on the chick daily. At least three times a day is enough. Accidents can happen which is why you want to check on your little chick.
What not to do when raising chicks:
1. Don't use newspaper as a bedding. Newspaper is slippery so it can cause leg problems in your chick.
2. Don't feed your chick avocado, chocolate, alcohol, citrus fruits, stems and leaves of tomato plants, uncooked potato, salt, sugar, etc. These aren't good for your little quail.
3. Whatever you do, keep the chick away from predators/pets. Birds, dogs, cats, raccoons, rats and snakes will get to your chick if you're not careful. I've had a small dog dig under my housing and attack all my quail and a bird peck of my males head through the wiring before. I've also heard of raccoons grabbing the quail through wiring and pulling their heads off, very gruesome!
Looking after growing quail:
1. When your quail grow, provide them more space. When they mature you should give them 1 square foot of floor space each as a rule of thumb. But personally, I'de provide extra space as it keeps them happier.
2. If you do incubate more chicks, when they mature, make sure to separate them. Males cannot be housed together, they'll kill each over. However, I do house my males together without no fighting but that is because they have lots of space and I try my best to keep them happy. Also, if your quail get hurt or wounded, remove them as soon as possible and let them heal. Quail will kill the wounded.
3. Start giving them treats. You can give them veggies, fruits, table scraps, bugs, mealworms, etc. But remember, quail are very fussy! They will eat what they like and leave what they dislike so you'll soon know what to feed them next time.
4. Provide sand for dust bathing. Quail love to dust bath, giving them sand will definitely keep them happy.
5. Chuck some clippings into their cage. My quail enjoy eating and playing with fresh grass, I'm sure yours will too.
6. Supplement your quails diet with grit for grinding down food and a source of calcium for laying hens. Calcium can be found in crushed egg shells or crushed oyster shells.
Extra info:
1. Your female quails will lay a few weeks after maturing. They'll lay one egg per day if kept happy. Though I find that button eggs are too small to eat.
2. Buttons can be kept in aviaries with finches and canaries. They'll clean up the seed at the bottom of the cage which is handy.
3. I find that my buttons go broody very easily. In fact, they hatch out too many chicks which is not what you want when you don't have much housing for them. If this ever happens to you just collect the eggs each day instead of leaving them in the cage like me.
4. You can find out the sex of your quail by checking the colouring of the feathers or by looking at the vent. If the vent has a small bulge or some white foam coming out, the quails probably a male. If it doesn't have any of these it's probably a female.
