One of the leading button quail breeders in the country is Jodi McDonald. She and her husband, Bruce, are owners of Bracken Ridge Ranch in California. Jodi is shown at left holding a blue faced button quail and in the picture at right collecting button eggs from their breeding cages. Raising these darling little quail is enormously popular as they are easy to raise and can be kept in a very small amount of space. Look for another great article on keeping and breeding button quail in the very next edition of the Gazette! Jodi's Bracken Ridge Ranch also sells very attractive and functional button quail breeding cages. You can get an informational brochure by writing to Jodi at mcdonald@ncwebsurfer.com. Or go to their marvelous web site. They also have an advertisement in each issue of the Gazette.

"On raising and brooding quail, pheasants, and chukars, John Anderson says, "Brooding baby quail, pheasants, partridges is both a science and an art. In most instances, heat must be provided to the newly hatched quail and pheasants to provide a proper brooding temperature. That plus the equipment used and the housing conditions for the quail, partridges or pheasants makes up the "science" of brooding. There is also the "art" of brooding which is the way breeders manage the brooding equipment and housing facilities.

We have all heard many times that we should watch our young birds in brooders and determine from their actions if more of less heat is needed. When the birds huddle close under the brooder or near the heat source, they need additional heat. When they huddle away from the heat source, like around the inside of the brooder guard, the birds are too hot and are trying to get away from the heat source. The idea is to have the chicks almost evenly disbursed within the brooder guard ring. For brooding quail in particular, I recommend people use a beginning brooding temperature of 95° F for the first day, 94° F for days 2 and 3, and 93°F for days 4 and 5, then drop the temperature one degree each day over the next 18 days. Following this procedure, the brooding temperature will be 75°F when the birds are 22 days old. The temperature should be left at 75°F until the birds are 6 weeks old. After 6 weeks, the temperature can be lowered gradually to acclimatize the birds to the naturally occurring weather conditions."

Margaret Anderson asked: "What type of quail are recommend for someone like me who is a beginner in raising birds? I have also just sent you my check for a two year subscription to your Game Bird Gazette magazine." You will find a lot of information on how to raise bobwhites and other quail in the Gazette so you'll be getting a lot of good information when your first magazine arrives. I often recommend bobwhites, coturnix, and button quail to people just starting out. They are inexpensive and generally easy to care for. Bobwhite hatching eggs can be purchased from advertisements in the classified section of the Gazette for as little as $20.00 to $30.00 per hundred and coturnix and buttons are really cheap as well. The quail can be easily hatched in one of the basic incubators available in the magazine and the young are easy to raise using methods that are discussed in each issue of the magazine.

Back to Game Bird Gazette Main Page

Raising Swans

Hungarian Partridges

Raising Mountain Quail

Breeding Ringneck Pheasants