Coturnix chinensis
I purchased this quail as a "silver quail" but I believe it is a silver mutation of a King Quail and is often referred to as a Button Quail also.
Sexing -
The male has a white and black "bib" under its
beak (female pictured)
Noise -
Low. I have yet to hear any noise from my king quail.
General care -
Quail are generally low maintenance and help keep the aviary floor cleaner. They can startle easily at night causing them to fly upwards and startle the other birds in the aviary. I have chosen to clip one wing of this female.
Breeding -
As I have only one female I wont be breeding this quail at this time. However they generally lay there eggs scattered on the ground then gather them up in a nest made of dried grass and sit on them for approximately 20 days.
It's a silver hen. Silver bird can range for fairly pale grey to almost a light metallic grey. If you have a pair their chick will hatch a silver blonde colour. Silver is the most common mutation of King Quail.
ReplyDeleteBreeding info: Lays 5 to 16 eggs. Incubation 16 days (not 20). They do not generally lay their eggs scattered on the ground if an appropriate nesting area has been made for them. I use plastic plant pots and place them upside down with a door way and large lump of pasture hay inside.
They make nice little nests and lay all their eggs in there. The only way my eggs get out of nests are from larger chicks that like to play football with them. Usually the father rolls them back into the nest again. They do not start to sit on the nest until the last egg is laid. This means all the chicks hatch at the same time.
I do not consider my king quail aviary floor cleaners. They are just as important as my canaries and share the same aviary. You need make sure the floor area is kept clean. King Quails do not eat poo. They need to be provided a good poultry layer crumble, finch seed, shell grit and should not be homed where the floor is wire mesh. Good flooring are any or all of these sand, wood shavings, sugar cane mulch or pasture hay.
I think it is cruel to clip the wings of your King Quail, as this is their only escape mechanism they have. If a bird accidentally escapes they are able to fly to safety. They can fly up to 700 meters. Would you clip a canaries wings? I have lost a few that way, but most are caught and returned to their family. They can be located when they call out to their flock. So, yes they do make noise. They all make a peee weee noise and just the males make a hissing noise, like air leaking out of a tyre.
The only thing that ever made mine startle at night were mice. Maybe you need to see if that is the problem?
Also, I recommend keeping at least three. They are herding animals and startle less if there is more than one. Two females to one male is the best breeding set up. Multiple males can tend to attack and chase each other, where the dominate male with pluck the feathers out of the tail of the less dominate one. You can tell a female is mating with a male, as the male grabs her by the head it can leave these feathers out of place or even plucked.
I have been a breeder for many years.
I hope this has helped you understand these beautiful little birds better.
Thank you Martha for the feedback, I have written this blog for collaboration and education purposes for both myself and others.
ReplyDelete- I will definitely give you nesting box idea a ago, sound like a great idea.
- All I mean by cleaners is all my parrots generally shift a lot of good unused seed on the floor of the aviary in the process of eating but my quails also get access to fresh seeding grasses, vegetables, fruits and leafy greens left for my other birds. I run a concrete floor that is cleaned once a week.
- I haven't noticed my quails startled much but I had gotten some advice from couple of bird breeders that a said startled quail may cause a commotion in the night and scare all the birds in the aviary and cause the other bird to hurt themselves.
- Thanks again for the feed back you obviously have a lot more quail experience than me