Hello everyone! i have been reading on this site as a Guest for the past few weeks and now i think its time i become a member. well i dont know how you will feel about WHY i got some Quail eggs...But...Here we go.. Its for my snakes Whoa, glad i got that out of the way. Anyway. After doing some long hard Research....that took all of 10 minutes i ordered some eggs, Button quail eggs, since i read some place they Hatched faster then many others. thinking...."COTURNIX" Was the very same bird. just another Name for it. since the Easy Info i could get on here was about them..so i thought "Oh same thing" well its about 4 days now till they hatch and i have been reading more and more about them. thinking "Hey i could raise some and see what they Taste like since many people say they are awesome" then i realized tonight...button and Coturnix are to Different quails...Much smaller..And seem to be a bit harder to sex? since i cant find any good info on it like the Coturnix. Anyway. so here are a few Questions 1) What Breed or kind of Quail is more Quiet...or are they all the same..Have you guys had any Neighbors complain of the noise? i live in a aparment. and i dont want to get anyone mad at 3am because my Birds will not shut up. lol 2) i Understand buttons are much smaller.....are they worth it to even raise for Meat. or should i try again with Coturnix 3)am trying to read as much as i can about the birds. and i think am hooked. so one way or another am going to get this right! Any helpful tips?
I only have coturnix and even then only a few that resulted from my first attempt at incubating them a few months ago. As I write, they've been laying for about a month. As you noted, button quail are much smaller. However my understanding is also that button quail are a tropical species so have different requirements than coturnix, that do okay in colder climates. Also, if I'm not mistaken, buttons do better in pairs, whereas coturnix do well in colonies of 4-5 hens per roo. I'm curious though about your comment about snakes. Are you planning to grow them as food for the snakes? What kind of snakes are you feeding? I keep cornsnakes and had a similar idea although when it came right down to it, the only one I was able to feed live was one that was crippled and I knew wouldn't make it. A couple died in the first few days and I fed them, and I also opened all the unhatched eggs (several made it to full-term but just didn't hatch) and fed off the fetuses to the snakes. I will say they were a big hit. However even coturnix, which are much bigger than buttons, weren't much more than an appetizer for my adult cornsnakes. You'd need a lot of buttons to be a decent meal, I think. Edited to answer your question about noise. Coturnix are NOISY. The first of mine to start crowing did so at 5 weeks and although they are outside and it is summer and the windows are closed and the a/c running, I could hear him. It wasn't an unpleasant sound but it was astonishing that such a small bird could make such a loud noise. Also, he crowed around the clock. He was the first one I processed since I ended up with more roos than I needed and the colony was far quieter after I did. The roos I have now let out the occasional crow and never at night, but you'd barely notice it and I'm sure the neighbors don't distinguish it from a wild bird call.
Hey! Welcome to BYC - even if you've been a lurker for a whlie. I have no answers for you about the quail, but I'm sure someone will soon! I just wanted to know what kind of snakes you're feeding. I'm a reptile person as well. I have about 50 geckos and two snakes: Cali King and Red Tail Boa I'd really love a pied ball python. They're beautiful.
Buttons re worthless for meat unless you like to work extremely hard for a single bite Coturnix would suit better but the males can be a little loud.
i breed and raise lots of reptiles from geckos to corn snakes and even crested geckos.. i have corn snakes and they eat Mice/rats but i have One snake...that will Only eat Quail...So am doing this all for him. So far he can eat a 2 week old No problems. Hard to tell since i have not seen another Larger quail then a 2 week old. but none of these Quail will go to Waste. i have alot of Reptiles that will eat them as well. i just thought "Well if am doing all this work...I want some too!" lol so it seems After this Batch coturnix will be my next choice. only thing am worried about is a bit is the Noise. city law isn't very clear on what i can and can not keep. all it reads is I must keep the coop 50 feet away from the house, which i can. However i don't want city code checking in because someone Complains about the Noise. since then it says something like "its up to them to choose if you can keep the birds" As-long as they are not constantly calling and not calling at night i think it will be Ok.also... Which keep better in colder Temps, If i do Get in to breeding...they will go outside and I live in iowa, we get Very hot summers and Super cold Winters. maybe am thinking to far ahead of myself. but just so i know. what breed does better outside.
Buttons would freeze easily. Coturnix shouldnt make much nightime noise unless under light . Imo you would do best with the coturnix and use younger birds to feed your smaller reptiles and still be able to have larger birds for your larger reptiles and you.
Button quail are not coturnix. They are Excalfactoria chinensis. Coturnix are Japanese quail, Coturnix japonica you can check out my website for good info
Live In An Apartment And Worried About Noise? Best Advice... Keep Buying Frozen Quail For Your Snake...
