gremlin

Took some pics of my last batch of button quail. They are all pretty much grown up now and Momma is sitting on another batch of eggs. She has also "adopted" a young finch that left the nest but isn't full grown yet. The first pic is of the only male of the last group - the other 3 youngsters look to be females. Daddy is still leaving his son alone, so I'll keep them all around for a while.

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gremlin

Then here are the pics of Momma on the nest with the baby finch under her. The first two pics it is hard to see the finch. You can just make out the white tail feathers sticking out behind Momma's wing and a bit of white fluff under the front of Momma. The last two pics I took from inside the cage and Momma decided to get up and see what was for lunch...

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bolivianbaby

Those are some great pics, Gremlin! I really like the pics of the zebra finch. We used to have them. They are prolific, for sure. We had babies every 21 days.

Martinismommy

Adorable!

Tigerlily

Awwww... how sweet that she's fostering the finch. Will be interesting to see how that plays out.

We have Gambrel's Quail here in the high desert of Western Colorado. I love seeing them running around my property. Mama and her thumb sized babies all in a line.

gremlin

The finch is now flying around the cage. Not quite all grown up, but almost...

Tony G.

aww! they have grown alot! the finch is cute btw

peacemaker92

Aw... Their all so cute! Thanks for sharing the photos Gremlin.

aquarist48

Hello Gremlin. Always nice to see your Quail. Great photos! The Quail are beautiful. What a good Mom she is!
Ken

Robin4

Tigerlily

I was looking at some websites for Button Quail. The are as cute as can be. Apparently some people keep them in their house. Do you keep yours inside or outside? Do you raise finches too? Will the finch stay in with the quail? Questions, questions... I love animals, often more than people. LOL

EDIT: Okay, I read some of your previous threads... questions answered. I am hoping there are some pictures of your whole setup.

gremlin

I guess I'll have to start a thread of my aviary. hmmm - I guess I better get some halfway decent pics.

Tony G.

Just Curious.... have you ever eaten quail? like... you dont eat them do you?

gremlin

I love quail. However, the ones I have are not the kind you eat. I have button quail (aka Chinese Painted Quail). They are quite small, the adults will fit in one hand. Even if I wanted to try eating one, each quail would be equal to 1/2 of a chicken wing, if that. They are just too small.

Robin4

Great that you don't eat them then!!! If they could read, they would be very relieved!!! I would love to see more pictures of your whole set up. Could you keep these quail in your home?

Robin

gremlin

Quite a few people (from what I've found on the internet) consider button quail to be an inside pet type bird incapable of raising their own young. I've been told that I am a cruel person because I do not take the eggs from the parents and raise them in an incubator and brooder. I'm sorry - my quail do just fine outside. Pratt's loves my birds because they are healthier and nicer looking than others that are brought to them. They are always willing to buy my extras (provided they have room for them).

Button quail would make a very entertaining pet. Mine aren't really tame, but they will (sometimes) come and take a mealworm or earthworm from my fingers. Usually it is either the very young or the older parents that are willing to take a worm from me. If you brought one in very young and interacted with it every day, it would probably become quite tame.

Robin4

sirdarksol

I'm guessing that these people don't realize that Dad is usually the ones that incubates the eggs (it's actually odd that Mom is doing it), and maybe even separate male and female, or try to have one male for a group of females, like some farms have with hens/roosters. In fact, buttonquails are precisely the opposite; one female usually has a "harem" of males incubating her eggs at any given time.

Many places in North America aren't suitable to keep these animals outdoors; they're from a fairly warm place. Arizona's a pretty warm place, though. It's like the idea of having a pond in your backyard. The local climate dictates what plants and animals will do well there. So while I wouldn't be able to keep them outside year-round, there's no reason that you shouldn't be able to. Some people just don't really think about what they say.