They have a higher protein requirement so regular chick feed isn't right for them. I fed the button quail chicks gamebird starter. You might need to use a lid from a reusable food container or a small tray till they get big enough to reach a regular sized chick feeder. Put flat backed marbles in their water container to prevent drowning and make sure the feed container is low enough that they can reach it to eat. Since some of the regular size shavings were bigger than them, I thought the smaller particles would be better for them. I switched from my regular flake wood shavings to fine shavings for the button quail chicks. You'll need to take a few extra precautions to make sure the tiny chicks stay safe. Keep in mind that since button quail are so small (literally the size of a grape!) they can fit through slats in cages, get stuck in regular chick feeders and easily drown in waterers. Setting up a button quail brooder is almost exactly the same as a chick brooder. Sadly, we lost one that night before I got their brooder properly set up. When I brought them home it didn't occur to me that they needed a heat lamp like chickens do. I ended up with 2 girls and 1 boy from my first set of baby button quail. Button quail are a ground dwelling bird, so everything in their brooder or cage needs to be ground level. In fact, they don't have the right kind of feet to grip a branch or perch.so they couldn't roost even if they wanted to. I had already cut holes in it and put a perch in before I realized that button quail do not roost. Since I was keeping my button quail in the house I used a rubbermaid storage tote that I occasionally use as an extra brooder. Button quail definitely smell more than a parakeet and their cages need cleaned much more often! I really didn't expect that! They have a much smaller habitat requirements than chickens do and they smelled a whole lot less, but they still smelled a whole lot more than I expected. Instead it was more like miniature chicken.birds. I thought it would be a lot like raising parakeets or other house bird. They had just had some babies and she offered me some so I took them home that night. On the table was a small aquarium with tiny white button quail in it and I asked about these cute little birds. Once there she invited us in the house while her husband went to get the chicks. I had gone to a breeders house to get some silkie chicks. I didn't set out to raise button quail actually.
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