Chinese Painted Quails

[OohFeeshy]

Still interested in these Thought it was easier to start a new topic because the other one has a lot of bumph in.

Anyhoo, I've found one source of 'living' ones as opposed to eggs- obviously they're outside. So natural question is whether it's fine to bring them inside to keep.

If that's not possible, my next option is to get eggs off Ebay, which has both ad and disad vantages. Now, there's no point buying an incubator for a few eggs, so I've seen a few plans for DIY ones which seem simple enough, but what sort of hatch rate can be expected? I've seen estimates as low as 50% for DIY incubators, but have no idea if that's just being pessimistic.

So, that aside. Depending on size of quails/numbers, I've got several housing options. The first is a converted aquarium- currently I've got a 3ft spare, but 'teva. I quite like the idea of converted storage containers, as they're cheap and lightweight. Mainly it depends on floorspace though- roughly speaking, what sort of area would I need for a trio? Certainly it's just as easy to DIY an entire enclosure, after all, not as if it has to be watertight...

Urm, what else. Diet? From what I can gather regular bird mixes aren't going to cut it (most mentioned chicken/turkey food)- so, reccomendations? What sort of supplements do hens require?

And anything else, feel free.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Bump Hoping to badger the parents into going on Monday, but who knows with them...

EDIT- Hrm yes, thought I forgot some stuff.

a) It seems that wood shavings are the preffered substrate, at about a 2" depth. Any qualms about that?
b ) What sort of deco do they like? It seems they like having things to hide in- I was thinking about nicking some bamboo (not sure on the species, or if it's even true bamboo, but it grows like wildfire) from the garden as it's nice and bushy (and non-toxic, both the cats and the bunny like taking nibbles), and obviously free. Perhaps adding some large flowerpots (wit the holes blocked up) to hide in.
c) Lighting- my current planned position is fairly dark (admittedly due to my non-opening of the curtains, but still...). Would they appreciate something like a small clip on light?
d) Just FMI- what sort of age are they when bought from a pet shop? And are they easy to tame?

 

[The-Wolf]

I take it that by 'chinese painted quail' you are refering to button quails

in case you havn't seen these
http/www.vesera.com/quail/button1.htm
http/66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:iSbmb9z...;cd=1&gl=uk
http/www.centralpets.com/animals/birds/d...ds/dbd3983.html

HTH fishy
and I want pics when you get them

 

[OohFeeshy]

Yeah, button quail is usually the US name, but from other sources it can also refer to a completely different species... But regardless, info from UKers means that I stand a chance of being able to find the same products Ty for the links, the first one was handy. Oh, I've currently got the names Scaramouche and Fandango in mind Although I'm stumped for the other one if I get a trio...

 

[The-Wolf]

I've currently got the names Scaramouche and Fandango in mind Although I'm stumped for the other one if I get a trio...

well if those are from the Queen song, and seeing as you use it in chat, what about beelzebub

 

[OohFeeshy]

I've currently got the names Scaramouche and Fandango in mind Although I'm stumped for the other one if I get a trio...

well if those are from the Queen song, and seeing as you use it in chat, what about beelzebub

Shhh, stop being psycic Actually, I was thinking Balthazar too, alhtough that doesn't quite go with the other two.

 

[WildernessLofts]

I've had these for quite a while. After looking at the sites, what else would you like to know?

 

[OohFeeshy]

I've had these for quite a while. After looking at the sites, what else would you like to know?

Mainly just any other input- while websites are fair enough, there are certainly some pretty awful fish info sites out there so I'd imagine it's the same with the quails. Nothing beats personal experiences. Also nothing's really mentioned whether it's OK to bring them inside (after being kept outside as aviary birds)- I'd presume there would be no problems but you never know.

 

[WildernessLofts]

I've had these for quite a while. After looking at the sites, what else would you like to know?

Mainly just any other input- while websites are fair enough, there are certainly some pretty awful fish info sites out there so I'd imagine it's the same with the quails. Nothing beats personal experiences. Also nothing's really mentioned whether it's OK to bring them inside (after being kept outside as aviary birds)- I'd presume there would be no problems but you never know.

I don't know what the climate is like where you live, but when I lived in Missouri in the USA, it was too cold to keep them outside year-round. I've always kept mine inside, so they should be okay. The only times you have problems with things like that would be when you constantly move a bird in and outside in extreme weather. Like, say it's below freezing outside, you bring it inside for a couple of hours for some reason or another, then take it back out. Bad deal. Same with the opposite.

Also, I would suggest you only keep them in pairs. I've tried the trio thing, and usually, one of the birds gets picked on. When quail start picking on eachother is when you start running into birds without feathers. When one bird starts plucking others, it won't be long until they all do it. Even birds raised together can have problems. I kept a batch of quail in the same cage even after they had reached maturity because I was trying to sell them, the males started fighting pretty badly even though they had always been together and were only six weeks old. I had to put them in fish tanks to save space until I could get them sold. (Fish tanks work pretty well for pairs or trios, but I prefer to give mine more space. I like cages that are about 2'x2' for a pair.

I feed mine gamebird starter. High protein. (Like 30%.) Always keep oyster shell with them, too. Sometimes I mix some normal chicken grains in with it as they seem to like them, but it's mostly just the starter and oyster shell for calcium.

Anything else?