Button Quail Behaviour Questions

[ButtonBag]

It’s 3 & 4 from this thread (they’ve both changed a bit and feathered in more by now): https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/button-quail-colour-id-sexing.1406169/

The jumping seems weird to me because it’s not mating, it’s number 1 from that thread, who is just boinking up against the netting sometimes 2 or 3 times in a row, every 10 minutes or so from about 9pm to 3am every night. I’m pretty sure it not a fear response as the others don’t even flinch, and it looks like she plans it if you know what I mean! It’s getting quite stressful.

The poo eating seemed to be something everyone was in on I’ll see if I can take a photo today.

 

[Quaicken108]

It’s 3 & 4 from this thread (they’ve both changed a bit and feathered in more by now): https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/button-quail-colour-id-sexing.1406169/

The jumping seems weird to me because it’s not mating, it’s number 1 from that thread, who is just boinking up against the netting sometimes 2 or 3 times in a row, every 10 minutes or so from about 9pm to 3am every night. I’m pretty sure it not a fear response as the others don’t even flinch, and it looks like she plans it if you know what I mean! It’s getting quite stressful.

The poo eating seemed to be something everyone was in on I’ll see if I can take a photo today.

Aww those two would be so cute together. I’m a bit unsure about the jumping because any time my quails do it, it’s because I’ve startled them by accident and then they make a big fuss about it. As for the poo, if everyone’s doing it than and they want to eat the good poo, than you’re probably right about your quails.

 

[ButtonBag]

Well, the poo eating continues... one will pick dry bits out of the bedding, but the rest go straight for cecal poops, the more wet ones. It's not like they're stumbling across them and being curious, they see one of them poop, then run over for it.

I'm feeding them a mix specially sold for button quail, it's just a gamebird crumb mixed with finch seed and a bit of grit totalling 19.5% protein. They have water and egg shell available at all times and some days I'll give a bit of spinach, egg, cucumber or something like that. What could I be missing nutritionally?

Thankfully the night jumping has stopped! I'm going to start separating them out this week though as it's started getting a bit chasey and manic in there sometimes

 

[ButtonBag]

So I separated them into pairs this week, the first two to mate have been getting along famously, breeding quite a lot but the female looks okay.

The second pair seem very sweet together, and I've spotted them mating at least once.

The third pair though… well the male makes a lot of attempts, offers food, puffs up and drops his wings, but the female only ever sprints away. She's taken food from him and there's never any aggression, but I haven't seen them mating at all over a few days. I'm feeling a bit sorry for them and wondering if I should try swapping pairs 2 & 3…

 

[Quaicken108]

Has the poo eating stopped now that they’re separated? And yay that you’ve got 3m and 3f! Also I guess you could try swapping them but when a pair is bonded then they’ll really be together for like forever. Kings/buttons are just so relational!

 

[Quailobsessed]

You could try swapping them and see how they react. You could also try putting all four together again and see what they do. It's up to you.

 

[ButtonBag]

I tried to put all four back together (Humbug and Biscuit back with Twiglet and Blondie) but they didn't seem very happy, one of the males (Humbug) made a couple of jabs at the female he wasn't put with before (Twiglet), so I split them up again.

Humbug and Biscuit are the pair that were together but haven't been mating. I've seen Humbug puff up before and fan his wings out while running around the enclosure, and Biscuit just runs away scared. I thought I'd read this is mating behaviour, but could it be aggressive instead? I've just now noticed that Biscuit has a tiny bald patch on the crown of her head, although I've never seen Humbug actually grab her, only chase a bit, and they just chill out together most of the time. Maybe a bit of overly vigorous preening from him?

Has the poo eating stopped now that they’re separated? And yay that you’ve got 3m and 3f!

I know, we got SO lucky with the genders! And yes… they all still eat poop

 

[ButtonBag]

I've just seen Humbug preening Biscuit (the one with a small bald patch) and he does seem to fixate on that spot and pull quite hard… but she doesn't try to get away. It almost looks like he's trying to pull and eat the small feathers. What's going on? Do I need to separate them too?

 

[Quailobsessed]

I've just seen Humbug preening Biscuit (the one with a small bald patch) and he does seem to fixate on that spot and pull quite hard… but she doesn't try to get away. It almost looks like he's trying to pull and eat the small feathers. What's going on? Do I need to separate them too?

Are you sure on genders? They may just not be the right match. I had a hen that was aggressive to everyone else but her favourite male. It's a shame though because the other pairs sound good.

 

[ButtonBag]

I really hope I've got the genders right! The male, Humbug, is 100% certain because of his colouring and crowing (with the wind sound). I haven't seen any male behaviour at all from Biscuit and thought from her pattern that she's a red breasted tuxedo hen, but would love a second opinion:

You can see a little tiny gap on the back of her head where some feathers are missing, so it doesn't seem bad (looking from behind when she looks down like that you can see the skin). She also takes food from Humbug when he offers, and they cuddle up together quite a lot so it feels like they get along ok. I've given them some egg and mealworms in case it's some sort of protein issue with the feathers, but will keep a very close eye and separate them if it gets any worse.