The king quail

[Caesar]

Hi guys and gals,
I recently got the bug for the cute king or button quails .They so cute and fun to watch.
Has anyone had any experience with these little guys they can pass on to me?
Cheers

 

[RavensGryf]

I know nothing about Quail... except I wanted to say that I love to see them. Quail are adorable!! I've only seen them in outdoor aviaries. Do they have to be? I have no idea. Good luck researching.

 

[Julianna]

I don't know much either, but they are adorable! Sounds like a cool idea...maybe these links will help:
Chickens As Pets: think carefully before you decide to give quail a try | Chickens As Pets
Keeping quails for eggs and breeding | Pets4Homes

 

[veimar]

Oh, I'm very interested to know as well. I was planning to get a few Coturnix quail for eggs, but I was wasn't sure how to care for them.

 

[Betrisher]

I kept King Quail a zillion years ago. They're very easy to look after and will rummage around the bottom of your aviary munching up all the edibles that fall from the feeders above. I used to provide mine with millet and lovebird mix as well as fresh grass and kitchen greens. They need a few places to hide in as they can be quite shy at first. I just used plastic containers with a hole cut out and placed upside-down. Dried grass or hay can line the inside and the quail will make a comfortable home for themselves.

The one warning I have is that, if they nest, you MUST have very fine mesh around the bottom of your aviary. The babies are so small (about the size of a common marble with toothpick legs), they will abscond if you're not careful. Like most gallinaceous species, the quail young are precocious, which means they can live independently pretty much right from birth.

Brief story:

My King Quail did breed. They laid twenty-seven eggs and then failed to incubate them. They laid a second clutch of nearly as many again. Same thing: no sitting; no babies. Third time: I hadn't realised they had laid again and the hen was sitting. The first thing I knew happened one cold and frosty mornin'.

I had arisen early to feed the animals. As I bent to open the quails' cage, I heard an almost supersonic piping sound. It was barely audible and at first I thought I must be hallucinating. As I bent again, to lift the hatch-door, I saw 'something' moving around in the dogs' bucket of water. It was two-dozen tiny quail!!! They had hatched in the night and plummetted out of the cage and straight into the dogs' bucket!

You have never seen anything so adorable as baby King Quail! They're like minute puffballs of striped buff and chocolate. Their teeny tiny eyes are perfectly intelligent and knowing and their weeny little legs can carry them along at an amazing speed (just try catching them when they want to run away!!!) They have squidgy widgy little wings, too, about a quarter of an inch long and they hold these out at their sides as they run. Sadly, I was not prepared for the arrival of these two dozen darling babies and one by one they fell prey to our family of cats. I was completely unable to keep them contained as they managed to find their way out of everything I set up for them. If I had baby quail again, I would put them in a fishtank until they were large enough to be housed in a proper cage.

PS. I was fourteen at the time and did my absolute best to care for the babies. I know better now.

 

[Allee]

Trish, your description of those babies was almost like seeing the scene unfold. Sorry it turned out that way, I know you did your absolute best for them. I've never seen newly hatched quail, thanks for sharing.

 

[RavensGryf]

Trish, Ohhh!!! You had me just DYING there from Cuteness Overload!!! I would pay to see that!!

I'm sorry they ended up as prey, but at 14 you did a good job I'm sure

"Common marble with toothpick legs" LOLOLOL!!!! So the babies are that much smaller than adults? Seems like a lot bigger ratio of size difference between babies and adults than many other bird species.

 

[Betrisher]

King Quail are tiny little birds, about the same size as a budgie with fluffier feathering. Their eggs are tiny too and so the chicks are really, really small as well. I'm talking about Australian King Quail here - maybe there's another, larger kind in the US???

 

[henpecked]

I havent had the King/button quail, but several of the other larger species, Bobwhite and now the Coturnix. I keep afew in the bottom of the aviary to clean up and pen raise others for food/eggs. My issue with quail is the amount of eggs they lay, almost everyday. Some would brood but they can't brood all the eggs in the nest. (many hens laying in the same nest). I also find quail stink, more so than the parrots. They are very good with bugs and also mice in the aviary. I have tried to "free range" them with little success, they run off or get eaten.

 

[RavensGryf]

Quail..... with a nice Chardonnay...
Look at the little boiled eggs too!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/~/me...ix Quail/071 coturnix quail 6 roast quail.jpg

 

[henpecked]

We sold the pickled quail eggs at one time, way too much work shelling hard boiled quail eggs, LOL.

 

[veimar]

You actually can eat quail eggs with shells and that's very healthy!

 

[Caesar]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I just brought 4 cinnamon 2 boys and two girls and a silver **** with two normal hens .
I have them in a large rabbit hutch here near my computer and I already have two eggs.
I love watching them scurry about when I put mealworms in or some kale.
Its turned into a mini project while I wait for my larger birds to get moving.