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Newly hatched button quail chicks aren't eating. What should I feed?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Bird | Unknown - Bird | Male

Hey, my button quails chicks have hatched. The mother isn’t paying attention to Them. We put them in a rectangle with good like geens and bird seeds. They don’t seem to eat from the food. What do I do? They are about a few hours old.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on December 19th, 2018

Baby quail will need to be fed a starter/grower mix designed for game birds. Most feed stores will carry this in addition to other poultry starter foods. Once the chicks are old enough you can then begin to feed them the same diet as their parents. You'll also want to have a heat lamp in the brooder that they can move to and away from as needed in order to better regular their temperature until their adult feathers come in.

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    Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

    Licensed Veterinary Technician

    Published on September 12th, 2017

    You'll need a brooder or box with a heat lamp. Set heat at 95 F and decrease temps by 5 degrees F every week until the chick is fully feather. This is about 5-6 weeks. Make sure there is a warm side and a cool side so the chick can cool off when necessary. A shallow water bowl is also needed. You can feed a game birds chick starter (NOT chicken starter) initially. The following link has more details and the website www.backyardchickens.com is an excellent resource for information regarding raising domestic fowl. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-care-for-baby-quails.980659/

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