CHINESE PAINTED OR BUTTON QUAIL

       

Yes, they really are “cute as a button”.  The eggs are dime-sized so the babies are extremely tiny when they hatch, and ever so cute! These birds are way too small for eating; however they do make lovely pets and are good in aviaries to pick up spilled feed. In general, they will get along well with other types of birds. Buttons are pleasant sounding but make a variety of cute little noises. It takes about 6 weeks for them to mature.

S  T  A  T  I  S  T  I  C  S

Scientific name: Coturnix chinensis

Incubation period: 17-18 days

Humidity for incubator: 50-60%

Move to hatcher/stop turning: 14 days

Matures at: 6 weeks

Benefits of raising: These birds are too small to eat! They make lovely pets, are beneficial in poultry houses to pick up spilled feed or in the bottoms of tropical bird aviaries to pick up spilled feed. They typically get along well with other types of birds.
 
Size/Weight: 4 1/2” tall, app. 3 ounces at maturity.

Sexing: Males have a white bib under their chin, females do not.

Space/pen requirements: 1’x2’ space per bird is preferred, although smaller areas may be used. Be cautious of wire cage spacing, as only adults can walk on 1/2x1/2” mesh and 1/8” spacing on pet bird cages is preferred. Cedar shavings are poisonous to birds and should never be used. Newspapers, especially on young chicks, can cause leg and foot problems. For secure footing for young chicks, I recommend rubbery shelf-liner. These birds fly well, their cage or pen must have a secure top even as young chicks, they can flutter well at just a few days of age.

Breeding ratio: Mated pairs is best, or one male to three females is acceptable if given enough room and hidey places.

Special needs: As hatchlings, most waterers are too big for them! We’ve found that a pop-bottle waterer on the floor with three marbles in it works best, and without fear of the babies running out of water in a jar lid. You may also want to grind Game Bird Starter in the blender or in a coffee mill, as it is hard for a day-old Button Quail to eat those big chunks. Give ground feed alone for first three days, then slowly introduce whole feed as well until the bird are eating whole Game Bird Starter. They are exceptionally quick when they hatch, can fly well at a week and have a tendency to “popcorn” or jump straight up when startled, especially at 2-4 weeks of age. Ours typically outgrow the habit with a little socialization with their caregiver aka “maid”. They are ground-dwellers and NOT perch-type birds, they need a lot of horizontal space, as well as vertical space due to “popcorn” tendencies, and they DO fly especially well. They like “hidey places” to get away from it all, and enjoy a variety of foods. Game bird starter is a good staple diet, but you can enrich that diet with no more than 50% high quality small bird seed. (If feeding bird seed, it is especially important to provide the birds with grit as well.) They also enjoy insects, wax worms, meal worms or fly larvae if you can handle feeding them - yes, those are maggots! Treats of food and vegetables are much appreciated as well. Do NOT feed avacado, as it is poisonous.

All mature birds should have access to grit and calcium, female button quail especially need their calcium. They will lay eggs every day which depletes their bodies of calcium and it can be detrimental to the hen if she doesn’t have the proper nutrients.


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