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November 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| my button quail
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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November 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| 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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November 2nd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| 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. | |
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November 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Adorable! | |
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November 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| 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. | 
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November 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Tigerlily  Awwww... how sweet that she's fostering the finch. Will be interesting to see how that plays out.
| The finch is now flying around the cage. Not quite all grown up, but almost... | |
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November 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| aww! they have grown alot! the finch is cute btw | |
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November 9th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Aw... Their all so cute! Thanks for sharing the photos Gremlin. | |
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November 9th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Hello Gremlin.  Always nice to see your Quail. Great photos! The Quail are beautiful. What a good Mom she is!
Ken | |
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November 9th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Hello Gremlin!
Great photos and how awesome to see the finch adopted.... Keep us posted!
Robin | |
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November 9th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by gremlin The finch is now flying around the cage. Not quite all grown up, but almost... |
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.
Last edited by Tigerlily; November 9th, 2009 at 12:41 PM.
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November 9th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Tigerlily
EDIT: Okay, I read some of your previous threads... questions answered. I am hoping there are some pictures of your whole setup. | I guess I'll have to start a thread of my aviary. hmmm - I guess I better get some halfway decent pics. | |
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November 9th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Just Curious.... have you ever eaten quail? like... you dont eat them do you? | |
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November 9th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony G. Just Curious.... have you ever eaten quail? like... you dont eat them do you? | 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. | |
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November 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| 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 | |
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November 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| 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. | |
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November 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Hi Gremlin,
From your photos, I'm sure the birds are quite healthy! That can be your next experiment - to bring a baby in and raise it to be tame...
Robin | |
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November 11th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by gremlin 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. | 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. | |
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November 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| I have a hard time keeping more than one male. They usually fight with each other. I have had Daddy quail who have pecked their sons. I have always had females that sit on the eggs and mind the nest. The Daddy will sit with Momma at night and will help care for the babies once they hatch. I have a good Daddy right now, he doesn't bother his son. I have 2 males (daddy and son) and 5 females right now. | |
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November 11th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| It could be a reaction based on space. Some animal's breeding habits will become very different when space becomes limited. That could be the reason that they aren't considered capable of rearing their own young. Maybe if Mom and Dad only have a 2'x2' cage, they won't properly raise their children. This may help avoid overcrowding in times when food is too plentiful or predators too scarce. | |
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November 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Bought some mealworms for a treat for my quail. Here are a couple pics of them. | |
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November 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| It is actually a woven grass hideout for gerbils, rabbits, etc. that I ordered from Dr's Foster & Smith (small animal division). The quail love them. I have two in the cage and the quail run through them and use them as nests. And yes, the mealworms are live. Nice big juicy fish bait mealworms from WalMart. The quail LOVE them. | |
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Ick.. but if the babies like them then that's ok!!