Bizarre Button Quail behavior **UPDATE!**

[FlightsofFancy]

**UPDATE!!**
Coming back to this post because you can see my set up on the first post.


Ok, I have had these Buttons since November. All housed together and they seemed fine, except for escaping, but that was fixed. Now one has attacked the other...I believe both are males fighting over the third I believe to be a female. I immediately pulled the submissive male who has severe head injuries. I had no idea they could be so aggressive!!
My question is how do some people keep them in groups? Do I just need more space and another female or is the only way forward with separate set ups? Will the injured one be ok be him self? I worry about him all alone. His injuries are severe! but he seems to be bouncing back.

 

[Pavo Royale]

Kelly, Maybe the escaping was a result of the fighting. Sounds like the little guy preferred to tangle with the dogs than the other button. It is my luck to have too many males and now you are paying for it! Hope you can find a good solution. BTW, how is Applesauce and Porkchop? Mitch

 

[FlightsofFancy]

Hey Pavo...no worries! I am still trying to figure these little guys out. I absolutely love them! Especially the crowing..or cooing. I hope now that all the hormones are raging we will have babies!! Lets hope the third BQ is a hen...no eggs yet.

Pork-chop and Apple Sauce are great! They have learned to jump the goat fence and walk around the property, but haven't figured out they can jump back in. So they wait for me on the compost pile to catch them and put them back in, with out a fight. Silly Peafowl!! At least they are taming up and have decided I am not so bad. Apple Sauce will even call for me if she is ready to go in before dark. DIVA!!

 

[Pavo Royale]

Silly birds! Sent you a PM. Mitch

 

[Akane]

You have to have a lot of space to have more than 1 male with females. I keep mine in pens of 1-2sq ft each bird and I still only put 1 male with a group of up to 4 females. They'll randomly rip each other to shreds one day. Months can go bye and then one day they'll decide it's a good day to mate and all hell breaks loose. You end up with at minimum one eyed buttons and sometimes dead buttons. Make cages of all males or only 1 male to a group of females unless you have something like a large aviary or outdoor run (someone on here has an entire spare room for their birds) so they have a ton of space.

 

[smallbluejellybean]

I would just get more females and put the other guy back in. If there are say 2 females to each male the fighting should stop, but I would put a divider in that big of a tank and put 1 male and 2 females on each side. Once they get use to each other and their little areas the divider can be taken out and then they may flock. If they don't just pop the divider back in. Thick wire is good because they can still hear each other and see each other.
I would just advertise on here for anyone that wants to take extra males for free. Multiple males can be placed in aviary's without too much fighting. Also if there isn't a female around they don't seem to fight each other either, as there is nothing to fight over.
Has the injured male gotten better? If so just put him by himself, untill the others breed. You might get some more females for him.

 

[Prettiest Frog]

Make sure you also have a lot of hiding places. That way a male that loses a fight and is injured has a place to escape to, otherwise the victorious male will kill it. I'm keeping a close eye on my button cage right now, as they are nearing being old enough to mate and I'm still not entirely sure which are males. I've got 2 males to 7 females with my Pharaohs and they seem to do okay.

 

[smallbluejellybean]

I think all she needs to do is get more females and have some icecream containers or old shoe boxes with an openning cut open (cheap hiding places) put them around in that huge aquarium for them to hide in and they will calm down and stop fighting.
My male went nuts after two of his hens eggs hatched. He tried to attack the chicks. I took him out with the third female for a week and a half.
I put him back in yesterday, now the chicks chase him around. He is scared of them. But the other female is getting chased by the two mothers. So I put some ice cream containers in there on the lower level for the scared ones to run in and hide. After an hour it seemed to work.
I would love to put another 7, 3/4 grown chicks in there too, but will give them another day or two to calm down again and will put in some more hiding places.
I have a seperate inclosure that I am getting Friday for my silver chicks. I want them to breed to see what I will get and use the aviary for the wilds.