Help with a few quail related question.

[Finchlover26]

This is my firs time here an I figured I'd see if I could get some questions answered since this site seems full of people with experience.

I now have 8 king quail after a clutch of 5 hatched before late November, 2 being parents and 1 extra male from a previous clutch.
I've seperated the father since he has gotten aggressive with the other young males of his that have now fledged.
I plan on passing him on to another quail enthusiast and keeping the young ones as well as mum.
But now I'm having second thoughts as to keeping them at all.
I had planned to purchase extra females once I've constructed a larger aviary but I have read that can be somewhat dangerous, with males attacking and sometimes killing newcomers, so I'm at a loss as to what to do.
To make matters worse, it seems my original female has now laid eggs and sitting on them, could one of her sons have impregnated her?
I realise I may look noobish..
Any help would be very appreciated!

 

[dc3085]

This is my firs time here an I figured I'd see if I could get some questions answered since this site seems full of people with experience.

I now have 8 king quail after a clutch of 5 hatched before late November, 2 being parents and 1 extra male from a previous clutch.
I've seperated the father since he has gotten aggressive with the other young males of his that have now fledged.
I plan on passing him on to another quail enthusiast and keeping the young ones as well as mum.
But now I'm having second thoughts as to keeping them at all.
I had planned to purchase extra females once I've constructed a larger aviary but I have read that can be somewhat dangerous, with males attacking and sometimes killing newcomers, so I'm at a loss as to what to do.
To make matters worse, it seems my original female has now laid eggs and sitting on them, could one of her sons have impregnated her?
I realise I may look noobish..
Any help would be very appreciated!

You should read the info on this site so you have a little better idea of the social structure of king quail (coturnix chinesis).

King quail (in the US we call them button quail) are monogamous and mate for life, just like doves. Your birds will be severely distressed to the point that you could lose both of them if you keep them separated. When they lose their mate their health will often decline quickly, with the bird losing weight and becoming more nervous the entire time. The female if left with a male chick from her clutch, she will most likely take him as a mate. If they lose a mate, it can (and should) most often be replaced. If it can be avoided, it's best not to break pairs up that have been established, stress causes most of their destructive behaviors.

King quail should always be kept in pairs, they're very aggressive and territorial, you'd be surprised how quick they can kill or maim each other. As soon as the babies hatch they can be removed to a brooder and brooded like any other quail. If left with their mother they should be removed around the end of the 4th week once they're fully feathered but before their hormones develop and they begin to become aggressive.

When raising button chicks from one family you are left selling chicks mate-less or pairing them off with their siblings. Parent x chick crosses can be used when line breeding, but sibling pairs have a miserably low fertility/hatch rate on top of other potential genetic issues. Button quail aren't very sought after birds except by hobbyists and aviary keepers so they can be hard to get rid of.


Edited by Staff