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Many breeders would like to identify Button Quail chicks as soon as they hatch. This can be easy for some varieties and impossible for others. Below are a series of 2 day old chicks of different down colors that will enable breeders to identify some of the more obvious color varieties. Some varieties especially combination of colors such as Silver Pearl and Smoky are nearly impossible to separate at hatching. Same is true for most combinations of Cinnamons. Use these as a guide and keep in mind that there will be variability even in many of the same color.

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• Normal Chick - note the dark brown down and prominent reddish strips on the head and back.
• Normal Red Breasted Chick- note the lighter yellow color under the throat and breast and a dark face and rump. The back and rum has bright yellow stripes. Second photo of same bird.Normal Red Breasted chick
• Golden Red Breasted chick (aka Darth Vader) a very boldly marked chick with bright yellow to the throat and breast and a darker rump. Very obvious. Second photo of same color variety.
• Golden Pearl chick - note the prominent yellow color on the top of the head and lighter yellow stripes on the body, easily confused with normal chicks. Second Pearl chick
• Cinnamon chick - note the bright golden brown down and the reddish stripes on the back.
• Cinnamon Blue Face chick - similar to the above but with a darker reddish hue to the overall down and a considerably darker face.
• Double factor Cinn. Blue face, hard to be certain. but this is a darker reddish chick.
• Cinnamon Blue face Grey form, slightly darker that the above,
• Normal Single factor Blue Face chick- a very dark nearly black but usually dark reddish brown chick,
• Normal Double factor Blue Face chick - a nearly all black chick, some individuals have white facial and chest down markings. (note white on facial area of this chick)
• Silver chick - a light silver Grey down with some lighter stripes on the back and head.
• Silver Pearl - hardly worth mentioning as it is nearly impossible to tell from the regular silver, but it is lighter and does have a brighter more yellow crown.
• Silver Red Breasted chick - lighter down than standard silver Note the bright yellow breast and head. More contrast than a regular silver. Fairly easy to tell from other silver color chicks.
• Slate chick - a dark silver down almost slate grey in color, much darker than any other silver type chick. even has darker legs than other silver chicks
• Smoky chick - not easy to discern but a slightly darker silver down than regular silver with a dark face but over all color not nearly as dark as a slate chick.
• White chick - a bright all yellow down chick, very easy to tell apart from other types. The only bright all yellow button quail chick.
• Pink Eye Dilute chick - light down color, sparse down with bare areas showing and bright light red eyes. This particular chick happens to be a Red Breasted Pink Eye Dilute.
• Pied chick, photo by Don Eisenbeisz, a variety developed by Jim Heffeman in Michigan, USA