Hi There! I've been reading around on this forum for about a month now, when I first got my button quails. I wanted them as pets. I LOVE animals... and love having "unique" pets. I found a farmer on Craigslist in my state (three hours away from me) that was selling quails. I got three of them. After doing some research, I think I have two females and one male. He's much smaller and has a white "bib". So now the females are laying eggs. So I decided, that I would begin to hatch them. Well it's been about a month, and I didn't get anything in the eggs. Here are a few things that are working against me. I live in a subdivision, so I can't have these birds running around. I also own five dogs... There is a pet store in my area now selling button quails for $35 each (as pets). So my "thought" was... I would hatch a few eggs, sell them, not for $35 though, I think that is a little steap, and then hatch some more. I know on here people hatch a lot of eggs. I can't very well do that, because I don't have a lot of room, and my township has rules about the number of pets you can have. So I was thinking, at the very worst, if all the eggs hatched, that is the number of quails I would have if they didn't sell. So my question is... what is a good number of eggs to hatch? The last run I did, it was six. Also, where is a good place for me to store the eggs while I'm gathering them? And I know for some reptile eggs this is an issue, but do I have to make sure the eggs are the same side up from when I gather them? Meaning, if I "store" them in an egg carton do I have to make sure that it's the same direction before I put them in an incubator? Right now I have a still air incubator, and it's set at 99.5. I'm just so confused! I'm really out of my element here. Thank you all in advance for your time, hopefully after a little learning, I will be able to help people on here soon! Kristin
You wouldn't want them running around anyway. They are not birds you would typically have outside (unless in an appropriate climate in a very protected aviary setting and brought in during winter). You also wouldn't want them running around inside. They should be housed in very short cages 10-12 inches high to avoid accidental suicides (they "boink" upwards and can break their necks.) I'd suggest waiting to breed them or try to sell babies, until you've had a bit more experience with taking care of them. Perhaps just enjoy the ones you have for now.
I will help you. I hatch a few of mine to sale but mostly I sale my eggs on ebay. If you hatched more than you could sale, you could always check with the pet store to see if they would buy from you or sale your on consignment. It doesn't matter how your eggs are stored other than keeping them cool and dry. If they are kept in air conditioning they should be fine. They are not like reptile eggs so you can lay them any way but I always put mine in a carton with the pointed end down. The pointed end up or down is another big debate issue with hatching eggs but I won't get into that. 99.5* for up to 20 days should be fine. do you have a turner or are you hand turning them. I usually put mine in the turner for 14 days and then take them out for hatching on the 15th day. Here lately, they have been hatching in the turners on the 14th day. if you have any other questions just ask!
Also remember, Button quail are monogamous (one male, one female), so before you even consider breeding them, you will need to set up proper housing. The babies can be kept in a colony until sexually mature. But I would do some research before breeding. You can browse my website on proper care.
Yes, Like Bobwhite Quail, Button Quail are monogamous in the wild but can and will breed with more than one female in captivity. Not many are breeding Button Quail in the wild and have to work with space limitations so working with a 1:2 or 1:3 ratio makes more sense. I would suggest keeping your colors true and only house and breed correct colors together.
