It's about that time of year again when button quail lovers are dying to begin hatching and right now is the BEST time to start! For those that don't know what a button quail is they are the smallest quail in the world, growing up to 6" tall in only a couple months. Their proper name is Japanese (OR Chinese) Painted Quail but they are commonly called button quail. They are seed eaters but will eat insects and greens. Eggs are small enough to easily sit on a penny and the chicks are the size of a bumble bee when hatched. Buttons are a tiny and adorable little quail that you can raise in your house in an aquarium or hamster sized cage. They are ground dwelling birds so you don't need perches as you would for other caged birds although they can fly quite well even if they never have. Chicks can fly when they are only a couple weeks old and special care has to be given to the babies from the time they hatch until they are adults, because they are so small. Males can live several years while the female usually lives about one year if she is laying normally. They take only about 2 months to begin laying and about 2 weeks for the eggs to hatch. The males have an awesome little crow and other chirps and calls. These birds come in an array of colors and for the most part the males are distinguished by their white face markings however there are so many new colors being developed this isn't fully true anymore.
These birds are normally kept in aviary breeder pens with finches, cockatiels and parakeet type birds as they are terrestrial and will eat whatever they find on the floor that the other birds have dropped. Button quail help keep the floor of the cages clean and do not compete with the perching birds for space/food. Males can be extremely territorial and most of the females are too. Males can be kept with up to six females if you're looking for fertile eggs and of course the more room they have the less trouble you will get out of fighting males.
Hens will set and hatch their own eggs with or without the help of her mate and sometimes the male will do all the setting himself! There's NOTHING as cute as a daddy button raising his babies.
If you love little birds like these then give them a try. They are really very easy to raise after they reach adulthood and even though they are TEEEEENY the eggs are considered a delicacy.
To find out more about these birds and where to get them check out this site:
http://www.geocities.com/butonquail/index.html
http://www.voy.com/13979/
Also ebay and eggbid.com sell lots of these birds and/or eggs besides some big poultry hatcheries that have just begun to start selling them in the last couple years.