Button Quail
Originally, I got a few buttons to live in my house as pets. I had gotten budgies a few years ago and that WAS NOT FOR ME. I just did not care for them at all. They were so loud. Then I discovered button quail while visiting Rebecca and the Button quail sounds are so soothing and not harsh. One question led to another and well, 4 button quail chicks enter the Roost. That turned into a whole thing when Kevin moved back from Alaska and he fell in love with them. He decided those would be his project and a bit of incubator room rearranging had to happen! Always a space issue in the barn it seems. We are are now at 5 breeding sets and testing fertility before sales open up. He has been taking care of them while I study the genetics. We have them separated into a white group, silvers and wilds. We are using coffee cans as hides and they lay their eggs behind the cans instead of in them.
We have the button quail housed in aquarium's with reptile screens on top. We are using stall pellets and pine shavings as litter and they love to play in it. It doesn’t seem to be putting off much dust either. We feed the buttons a 22% layer feed we have run through a grinder. They are also using a chick waterer.
One thing I was told was that they escape and boy do they! They can fly, well like a bird! In order to clean them up, we make sure the doors are closed so if they escape, they are at least contained to the room. We do have a boy living in a brush pile by the greenhouse tho, cannot catch him! The popping up starts at about 10 days, flying starts at 2-3 weeks.
The button quail chicks have to be kept very warm. I do not use heat lamps and I was told it would be hard to keep them alive with heat plates, but I did it and I will share with you! I use 10” brooder plates and I took the legs all the way down on one side and left them about an inch up on the other side. I ground the starter food and sprinkled it onto a puppy pad under and around the heater. The waterer is tall for them and you do have to help. I did finally decide one or two coturnix chicks in with them do help keep them active. Button quail chicks are very small, about the size of a quarter. The do not make hardly any noise. The button eggs are about the size of my pinky fingernail.
We will be selling live birds locally and shipping hatching eggs. These birds will make great conversation starters and interest to your house similar to a hamster or a parakeet. They will not be more than 4oz or so. You will also see them called Chinese Painted quail or King Quail, and you should check them out!