New (unusual) Button Quail Chick

[lena_]

I think mine is a boy! Red feathers appearing near vent and on belly. He is gorgeous. Sorry for the poor pic quality, bad lighting today and was trying to censor my face.

OH MY GOSH I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE OTHER PICS ARE. I'll have a look now

 

[lena_]

Here's another one

 

[JaeG]

He looks way more white in person, but with blue- grey accents

Gorgeous! I know there are three shades of grey in the coturnix (which we don't have here ) - blue (darkest), silver, and platinum (lightest). It's a lethal gene (so don't pair up two greys) and the grey appears to be the pharaoh pattern. Sounds like it's a dominant gene too. Thats what this site has taught me anyway!

 

[JaeG]

I think mine is a boy! Red feathers appearing near vent and on belly. He is gorgeous. Sorry for the poor pic quality, bad lighting today and was trying to censor my face.
View attachment 1252905
OH MY GOSH I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE OTHER PICS ARE. I'll have a look now

Here's another one
View attachment 1252915

So cute! It'll be interesting to see how they turn out. I know my cinnamons go through such a dramatic colour change, especially the boys.

My three younger 'brownie' ones have almost got their tail feathers so hopefully they'll let me know soon what they are going to be.

 

[lena_]

Should I allow my younger siblings to handle the button quail. I know coturnix's are fine with kids, but the buttons are very skittish. Do you let your kids hold the button chicks?

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Gorgeous! I know there are three shades of grey in the coturnix (which we don't have here ) - blue (darkest), silver, and platinum (lightest). It's a lethal gene (so don't pair up two greys) and the grey appears to be the pharaoh pattern. Sounds like it's a dominant gene too. Thats what this site has taught me anyway!

thank you, good to know, currently all of my colors are together. Space is an issue right now with snow and cold going on i still want to try to get you a better picture of him

Should I allow my younger siblings to handle the button quail. I know coturnix's are fine with kids, but the buttons are very skittish. Do you let your kids hold the button chicks?

i allowed my daughter to handle day old cots but i would think it depended

i set my daughter on the floor of the bathroom and shut the door and let them have free reign, but maybe for buttons a tub would work better

 

[JaeG]

Should I allow my younger siblings to handle the button quail. I know coturnix's are fine with kids, but the buttons are very skittish. Do you let your kids hold the button chicks?

The Buttons are so skittish I try not to handle them more than I have to. The first couple of days they are so cute and cuddly, then they become terrified of you, which is kind of sad. Our 10 year old is good at catching and holding them if necessary.

We have two adults out in the aviary who are friendly but they still don't want you to touch them. That is one reason I love the coturnix. They are so docile.

thank you, good to know, currently all of my colors are together. Space is an issue right now with snow and cold going on i still want to try to get you a better picture of him

I definitely still want a photo! He looks so pretty!

 

[lena_]

So, I have another question. I really want more coturnixes, however don't have an incubator and I hate letting a broody do all the work only to take her new hatched babies away. So, can a chicken raise quail? Most of our hens are bantam crosses, so quite small, however the only broody we have at the the moment is an Australorp. I could put quail eggs inside these hard plastic eggs that we got for easter if I drilled some holes in them. I read somewhere that chickens can transmit so many diseases to quail. Is this true?

 

[DwayneNLiz]

So, I have another question. I really want more coturnixes, however don't have an incubator and I hate letting a broody do all the work only to take her new hatched babies away. So, can a chicken raise quail? Most of our hens are bantam crosses, so quite small, however the only broody we have at the the moment is an Australorp. I could put quail eggs inside these hard plastic eggs that we got for easter if I drilled some holes in them. I read somewhere that chickens can transmit so many diseases to quail. Is this true?

i had one of my oegb/silkie crosses hatch some for me
and another mutt bantam i had lived with them for awhile while she was healing something

not sure about diseases, esp in your area

 

[JaeG]

So, I have another question. I really want more coturnixes, however don't have an incubator and I hate letting a broody do all the work only to take her new hatched babies away. So, can a chicken raise quail? Most of our hens are bantam crosses, so quite small, however the only broody we have at the the moment is an Australorp. I could put quail eggs inside these hard plastic eggs that we got for easter if I drilled some holes in them. I read somewhere that chickens can transmit so many diseases to quail. Is this true?

We don't have Coryza in NZ which is the biggest danger. Hens are too busy to be good quail mothers (I have tried) as they are so intent on scratching around finding food that they tend to stand on and kick little quail babies who would rather be cuddling than eating. Quail are a lot cuddlier and needy in that first week than chicken chicks. Hens make good incubators though. I found I had to put the eggs in a dish to keep them under a hen as otherwise you'd get one or two rolling out and the hen wouldn't notice. I like the Easter egg idea though.