My very sweet outside dogs have become my very sweet, very big inside dogs.   It has been a week of very cold weather, and we have no dog barn up for them. In Alvin, we had a barn that was 8 x 10 with one of those hot red lights in it for when it got chilly.  When it got down right cold, the dogs were in the house.

But here we have nothing up for them yet.  And I won't let them stay outside in the cold all night, that would be cruel.  So, I don't get to use the sofa to watch movies...it always seems to be occupied when it gets cold outside...

Annie and Jasmine guarding the sofa (and dumping my purse...)

The pictures in the articles below are of Kai on a carrot hunt.  Little brat was determined to get carrots.  I have a feeling I have spoiled him rotten...

Despite a problem with an exploding egg in my incubator, most of the quail eggs I have hatched (and some are in the process of hatching).  The button quail eggs were so tiny, that I accidentally broke two during the incubation period while turning the eggs.

I prefer hand turning to machine turning.  It seems more involved; plus, toward the end of incubation, when the chicks are pipping, I talk to them and they then know my voice and aren't quite so jumpy when I am around.  (Yes, I know that makes me sound mental, but hey, it works.)

Scanned image of button quail egg and Coturnix quail egg (blurry, I know)

The tiny button quail are so much more active than the Texas A & M White Coturnix, it is like watching tiny Japanese Black Tail Whites and Dark Cornish chicks; it seems the tinier the bird, the jumpier it is.

The button quail also seem to recoup faster from hatching.   They were up and running almost instantly, whereas the coturnix lay under the brooder lamp for several hours before getting up and eating.

Relative sizes of button quail chicks and coturnix; the button quail are on the left.  The coturnix quail, the two on the left, came from smaller eggs, but are still huge in comparison to the buttons.

The first batch of quail I hatched is just about old enough to start laying; I am happy to be raising birds where I don't have to wait 6 months for an egg....