Foster Rearing Button Quail Chicks An attempt at a return to natural breeding by Nancy Bent, Brookfield, IL Why another article about the But­ big thicket on one side for their nest ton Quail, or Blue-breasted Quail ~ attempts did not prompt any nest­ Coturnix (Exca!!actoriaj chinensis as it J/ building behavior from the pair I had is more accurately known (Clements at that time. I gave a number of eggs 1991)? Certainly there has been a lot to friends for artificial incubation and written about this tiny game bird over '.' =, :,'j: hatching, but I was only interested in '. ~..~ .J..,. " the years, so why did I feel the need to ..::, ,/ having chicks from parents which had add my two cents worth? This paper ....-r cared for them. will describe my efforts to facilitate the At this point I called Cathy House, a natural breeding of Button Quail, and well-known breeder of Button Quails, offer some ideas for teaching naive This is when I discovered the "typical" button and explained that I was looking for a birds to raise their own chicks. Quailfemale who will not build a nest, pre­ daughter from a female that would sit I have kept and bred Button Quail felTing to scatter eggs around the enclosure on her own eggs and raise her own with no thought ofincubation. on a small scale for about 10 years chicks. She was kind enough to pro­ now. I purchased my first pair from a (Radford 1986 & 1987, Rutgers and vide me with just such a female (she local pet store and set them up for Norris 1970), my male never bothered also very generously donated a pair of breeding in a thirty gallon "long" fish the female while she was incubating. quail to Brookfield Zoo, where they tank. Having been a bird keeper at the He did have to be removed when the resided in our mixed-species finch Brookfield Zoo for a number of years, chicks hatched though, as he tended exhibit until their deaths). This female I was convinced of the desirability of a to peck them when they tried to brood immediately paired with my current, naturalistic habitat to get the birds to under him. very gentle male. She built a nest in the feel comfortable enough to breed. This . This pair raised a number of clutch­ thicket, lined it with grasses that I pro­ fact was also noted by Hayes (992) es, many chicks from which went to vided, laid a clutch, then incubated. and Parrot-Holden (988). ]ohnsgard friends and co-workers. Many of the Unfortunately, her idea of the incuba­ (988) states that these birds are found females from this pair who were later tiol} period varied from two to nine in the wild in open grassland habitats, paired with males also proved to be days-nowhere near the required 16 and Ali and Ripley (969) describe the good sitters. After four successful days. nest as a "scrape lined sparsely with clutches myoid female died and I pur­ A friend requested some eggs, leaves and grass placed in a clump chased her replacement at another pet which I was glad to provide, and of short grass." I therefore set up the store. hatched a number of chicks. One of tank with a substrate of corn cob bed­ This is when I discovered the "typi­ the female chicks proved to be beauti­ ding, a tangled clump of artificial cal" Button Quail female who will not ful and calm and was shown at a num­ plants in the corner as a nest site, and build a nest, preferring to scatter eggs ber oflocal bird shows where she won plastic leaves wired to the cage top to around the enclosure with no thoughts several ribbons. Meanwhile, her moth­ prevent injuries should the hirds spook of incubation. This new female always er developed egg peritonitis in the and try to fly straight up. appeared more nervous than my orig­ midst of laying her latest clutch and I just naively assumed that the birds inal female, and tended to spend much had to be euthanized. In desperation, would then nest and raise their own ofthe day pacing around the tank. The knowing that I didn't want to lose this young. I was totally unaware of the male was much rougher with her than "sitting" bloodline, I begged my friend problems often encountered with this he was with his original mate. for the prizewinning female. Since she species, that they are often "too ner­ Thinking that he could be part of the did not want to breed Button Quail my vous to care for their own eggs and problem I traded him to a friend for a friend graciously complied. young unless conditions are absolutely gentle older male that she had. This This new female proved to be as ideal" (Radford 1987). Either I was calmed the female enough that she at calm as her mother, and from her first blessed with a female who had not least deposited all of her eggs in a nest serious egg-laying she built nests in the read any of the dire predictions about in the artificial plant clump, but the thicket area and incubated the result­ her species, or the pair was very com­ concept of incubation still eluded her. ing clutches. But, like her mother, she patible, or the cage was just what they After several more tries with differ­ only incubated each clutch for part of preferred, because from the first egg ent birds I began to realize what a trea­ the reqUired period. She always sat she laid the female was a good sitter. sure I had had with my original very tightly for eight days and was not And though several authorities also female. Even a move to the floor of a disturbed by her mate or the other suggest removing the male right away large mixed-species flight cage with a birds in the cage. In fact, her mate afa WATCHBIRD 13 E their young, both in the wild (Ali and quiet and undisturbed. This also had tIl ">. Ripley 1969) and in captivity (Harrison the advantage of being out of vocal g Z 1973, Rogerson 1966). However, since range of the male's crowing. >.'" .0., I had negative experiences with my g> .~ original male, and since I would be o attempting to teach a presumably ner­ Tlie lieat {amp.. ana aust vous, naive female to care for her off­ mop were inc{uifea as arti­ spring, I decided to reduce the stress fjcta{ orooaers in case tlie on the female by leaving the male out lema{e refusea to care for In fact, her mate would often join her on her of the equation. 'lier cliicK...s. nest, sitting next to her infull body contact. The second decision was where to perform the experiment. Would the The tank was furnished with corn female be more comfortable in the cob bedding, a heat lamp, a dust mop, would often join her on her nest, sit­ large mixed-species flight she was food and water. The heat lamp and ting next to her in full body contact. used to, or should external stimuli be dust mop were included as artificial Harrison (968) also observed this reduced by moving her to a cage by brooders in case the female refused to behavior. However, .on the ninth day herself? Wood-Gush (971) cites sever­ care for her chicks. Food consisted of she would come off her nest in the al studies where broodiness was gamebird starter, small pieces of leaf morning and never go back. induced in domestic hens by placing lettuce, and small mealworms in a After six or seven clutches following them singly with small chicks. This shallow container (a Tupperware lid). this same pattern I decided to try a dif­ seemed to be the best approach as it Water was also presented in a ferent tactic. I wanted to see if this removed the distraction of the other Tuppelware lid, filled with aquarium female would care for her chicks once species in the flight. I therefore set up gravel so that the chicks couldn't they were hatched. I hoped that the a thirty gallon "long" fish tank in our drown. Vitamins were added to the stimulus of tiny chicks would awaken basement where the birds would be water. the female's maternal instincts, despite On day 16, six out of eight of the' the fact that she had not completed the eggs hatched (the other two were entire nesting cycle with its hormonal clear). One chick had crippled feet and and behavioral changes..Wood-Gush had to be euthanized when it became (971) describes these changes for the clear that it could not walk, but the domestic chicken, which would pre­ other five dried off normally and were sumably also operate in their tiny rela­ ready for the experiment. They were tives. placed into the tank and allowed to explore their surroundings for about an hour. The chicks eventually found the dust mop "mother" and went I liopea tliat tlie stimu{us under it to be brooded. I then intro­ of tin}! cliict; wou{a awaK...­ duced the female. en tlie fema{e s materna{ She wandered for a minute, but then found the food and began to instincts} aespite tlie fact This also had the advantage ofbeing out of tliat slie liaa not computea liOcal range ofthe male's crowing feed. The chicks woke up, saw her, tlie entire nesting c!lc[e and immediately ran out from under the dust mop and tried to brood under I set up a Marsh Farms Turn-X incu­ bator at 99.5° and 55% relative humid­ ity and waited for the next clutch.