New to this..

[BEvansButtons]

Hi all! We purchased our first winged animals last night. We are now the proud owners of 4 Button Quail (3F-1M). I'd love to ask - what advice can you give me as a first time quail owner? Is there anything you wished you had known sooner?

We'll be keeping these beauties inside... and I want to make sure they have the happiest and healthiest life possible.

Thanks!

 

[dc3085]

Hi all! We purchased our first winged animals last night. We are now the proud owners of 4 Button Quail (3F-1M). I'd love to ask - what advice can you give me as a first time quail owner? Is there anything you wished you had known sooner?

We'll be keeping these beauties inside... and I want to make sure they have the happiest and healthiest life possible.

Thanks!

This is going to sound rude so I apologize in advance. Button quail are monogamous (they choose one mate for life, like doves) so the first thing I'd do is get males for those extra females or get rid of the extra hens. People often improperly suggest breeding buttons in trios or quads and it is doing a disservice to the species, as well as forcing them to ignore their instincts. Another factor of consideration is that as they mature each will become more territorial and often hens will attack each other which can result in injury or death.

Here are some sites that discuss the monogamous habits of button quail as well as outlining feeding, care, housing, treats, etc.

http://www.brackenridgeranch.com/
http://www.cyberquail.com/index.html
http://thebreed.yuku.com/topic/316/Chinese-Blue-Breasted-Quail-AKA-Button-Quail#.U87kvfldXBc
http://www.featheredobsessions.com/Button_Quail_Care.html

Some will contain repetitive information but they each have something to contribute.

 

[BEvansButtons]

We're actually going to be trading one of the females for a male.. so we will have two couples - in separate habitats.

 

[GrandmaBird]

I am glad to see you will be keeping them in pairs! Well said dc!

You can learn a lot from bracken ridge ranch - Jodi is a guru on buttons. Do yourself a favor and buy her book it is loaded with tons of info.

If you have any urgent questions please feel free to ask. Best advice is to keep them warm and lots of fresh water to drink and a high protein game bird or meat bird food/crumbles. this can be mixed up to 50% with a good quality pet finch seed mix, wild is not good enough. Always give them oyster shell for calcium and they love a dust bath, I keep a 8 inch round cake pan full of play sand, bought at Home Depot, in the enclosure at all times. My male will just sit and bathe for the longest time. I limit meal worms to 5 worms per week per bird as they are the candy of the button world and fattening. Do give them fresh veggies like broccoli, spinach, and even diced apple without the skin or seeds. Mine love the sunflower seeds I chop them up and give only once every couple weeks. Try lots of different fruits and veggies. No avocado, chocolate or the apple seed and skin.

I have a female sitting on 7 eggs now, last time she sat on 4 and hatched 2 pretty male chicks. I am getting excited to see what happens this time. Then it should be rest time as the season is changing and she normally stops laying in the winter. But you never know with these silly birds. Good luck and ask away!

 

[BEvansButtons]

Thanks for all the great advice dc3085 and GrandmaBird!