Button male (with females always crowing

[Ptarmigan]

Hi everyone, any help at all is appreciated.

I had a pair of button quails for about two years. The female died suddenly a few weeks back, and afterwards the male crowed constantly out of loneliness. 4 to 5 days later I was able to get two more females. I divided the cage and kept him and the new females on different sides so they could get used to each other. After a few days he stopped being so aggressive towards them, and I took the divider out. Everything's been peaceful between him and the females, they sleep huddled together and the females even groom him, but he still crows excessively. Its particularly bad at night because I live in an apartment and there's no where I can put the cage where I can't hear him.

Further details: When I first got this boy I had him for a week before I was able to get a female, and he crowed constantly during that time to, including at night. After I got the female he stopped, and would only crow maybe once a day. He would crow more than usual when she was broody and not spending time with him, but it wasn't this bad and wasn't at night. He also bonded very strongly with that female, they were always grooming each other, and whenever I gave them treats he always gave his to her (ie he would make the food noise, and offer her the food and not try to eat it. He could keep this up for a long time until she finally decided to take it. He's a dedicated little guy). They raised two clutches together, and if they couldn't see each other (like if one escaped) they would call to each other constantly.

He hasn't bonded with the new females like that. They groom him, but I haven't seen him groom them, and he doesn't like sharing his treats with them. He's noticeably calmer now that they're around, but he still crows incessantly.

I'm at a loss as to why he's still doing it, and would love any advice on the matter.

 

[DK newbie]

I'm not going to say it's only a matter of time, then everything will be fine - but there is a chance it will. Sometimes we underestimate these little birds. Maybe there is such a thing as love between buttons - and although he accepts the new girls, he doesn't love them and wants his old girlfriend back. But in time, he might end up bonding to them as strongly as he did with the old girl and quiet down.
There is also a risk, though, that even if he starts offering them treats and grooming them, he might still be noisy. Their habit of making noise at night, is one of the reasons I - unlike most other users on this forum - actually consider buttons a pet best suited for keeping outside.
It might be worth considering keeping him with just one female as well. I don't know if it'll make a difference, but perhaps he'll have an easier time bonding with just one female, since buttons are monogamous.

I hope you end up finding a solution for keeping him quiet.

 

[Ptarmigan]

Thanks for the reply @DK newbie

I actually resolved the problem, and thought I'd post here in case anyone else had the same issue.

Because my boy was constantly calling at night, I thought the issue could be that he isn't bedding down with the females. Since they're in my apartment, they go to bed whenever I turn the lights off, which is pretty variable, so they don't have time to properly settle themselves before the lights go off. When I first got the girls, I noticed they settled down to sleep at sundown, even though my lights were on, so they do seem to have some instinctive measure of time.

I decided to give them a strict bedtime of 7pm. I put a cover over their cage to block out the light, and if I listened to anything in the same room as them after 7pm I used headphones to minimize the noise. After a few days of this I noticed them settling down just before 7, and the boy stopped crowing at night. Since then I have had no more issues with him.

I don't know if I was right about the bedding down with the females thing, or if inconsistent lights-out just left him unsettled and lead to nighttime crowing, but either way it fixed the problem.

 

[maadroj]

Since you mentioned separating the males and new females until they got used to each other, I hope you might have some advice for a different problem. I separated a female from a brood of chicks because she was injured. In the meantime, the rest got released into their new outdoor aviary. When I reintroduced her later, some of the males were moderately aggressive. The aggression increased and spread so that now she is constantly hiding from the rest of the flock in the aviary. She was so happy to rejoin them, it's heartbreaking to see her bullied now. Might it help to keep her in a visible but separate section for a while so they hopefully stop harassing her? I don't really know why they're attacking their own sibling.

 

[DK newbie]

In their mind, she's a stranger trying to invade their space. The visible but separate section might be a good idea. I'd try to put one or more of the not aggressive birds with her. If they are all aggressive, I'd wait a few days for the new section to become 'her' territory, then try to put a single other bird with her. They are less likely to be aggressive to her, when they are put into 'her' enclosure, and with just one new bird she's not outnumbered. If all goes well with one new bird, you can add another one or a couple more after a few days.
The idea is that once you reintroduce them, she's got friends with her so she'll be more confident and they are all a little 'new' to the main enclosure, so it (hopefully) won't be just her that's being chased constantly and the aggressive ones should give up (if they even try to chase the 'new' ones). But it's important not to reintroduce them before the ones you've sectioned off have accepted the 'stranger'.