Button quail fighting or getting jiggy?

[MotherOfMoorhens]

Hi, I have 5 button quail - well, I think they are button quail. One was found running around a school and was brought to our waterfowl rescue, the other four are a group of siblings we acquired to keep him/her company. Last week the quail were restless and I noticed two (Q1 & Q2) with blood on their heads. I separated them from the other three. Q4 or Q5 (they are near identical) now has a little bald patch. I wonder now if this was to do with mating, or a fight. I've attached pictures, I think quail 3 is a boy but the others don't have bibs. Not heard any whooshing noises from any of them. We get 3 eggs, sometimes 4 or 5

. Any advice welcomed! Thank you.

PS I've noticed Q3's mucky feet and will get them cleaned up.

 

[Kiki]

What do you feed them?

 

[MotherOfMoorhens]

A rotation of mixed seed, egg food, chick crumb. Sometimes lettuce and mealworms. Do they need something 'peckier'?

 

[muddy75]

Adults can eat game bird or all flock crumbles. They like mealworms, millet, and fresh greens as treats. If your feed is less calcium, you can supplement with crushed egg shells for your layers.

 

[MotherOfMoorhens]

Adults can eat game bird or all flock crumbles. They like mealworms, millet, and fresh greens as treats. If your feed is less calcium, you can supplement with crushed egg shells for your layers.

Ok thank you. This is pretty much what they are getting, there is millet in the mixed seed. Would diet affect behaviour though?

 

[Green Bean Quail]

Ok thank you. This is pretty much what they are getting, there is millet in the mixed seed. Would diet affect behaviour though?

Lack of protein can cause "cannibal" tendencies in the birds. Try adding in some extra hardboiled egg, mealworms, etc. Also, it may be due to sex and mating fights, the sooner you can determine gender the better. Q2's injuries look less like breeding-related pecking and more of a straight up fight because of how the skin is torn more around the eye and scalp. How are they doing right now? Do they have hides where they can "escape" from any aggressive bird's line of sight?

Juts random tidbits if you want some quail care tips, you can give them a little plastic tub of sand or dry, crumbly dirt and usually they love to dustbathe in that. You can purchase Bixx for Chixx if you are worried about the pecking injuries, or even spray it on their feet to prevent infection if you notice crud buildup (after a gentle soak of feet to dissolve crud). I clean my bird's feet maybe once every two weeks delibriately or more if needed (muddy, etc) and I've had no bumblefoot issues. They like hay piles to burrow in, mine love clover clippings straight from the yard but make sure you don't spray your grass.

Also, those are exceptionally beautiful little buttons. I'm planning on raising buttons one day and I love the coloration.

 

[MotherOfMoorhens]

Hi, thank you for the tips and the compliments! I've had to move them around again as I noticed Q5 had a bloody back. No eggs from any of them all week, which has never happened before. I've given them mealworms this evening and each crate has had a sand bath for just over a week now. I've given them a rock each to grind their beaks on and tubes to hide in. Their current crates are quite small, maybe 12" x 18"? This weekend I will build a quail palace to give them more space and interest, and hopefully they will go back to cohabiting happily.

 

[Green Bean Quail]

Lack of protein can cause "cannibal" tendencies in the birds. Try adding in some extra hardboiled egg, mealworms, etc. Also, it may be due to sex and mating fights, the sooner you can determine gender the better. Q2's injuries look less like breeding-related pecking and more of a straight up fight because of how the skin is torn more around the eye and scalp. How are they doing right now? Do they have hides where they can "escape" from any aggressive bird's line of sight?

Juts random tidbits if you want some quail care tips, you can give them a little plastic tub of sand or dry, crumbly dirt and usually they love to dustbathe in that. You can purchase Bixx for Chixx if you are worried about the pecking injuries, or even spray it on their feet to prevent infection if you notice crud buildup (after a gentle soak of feet to dissolve crud). I clean my bird's feet maybe once every two weeks delibriately or more if needed (muddy, etc) and I've had no bumblefoot issues. They like hay piles to burrow in, mine love clover clippings straight from the yard but make sure you don't spray your grass.

Also, those are exceptionally beautiful little buttons. I'm planning on raising buttons one day and I love the coloration.

I would probably isolate Q5 until his back is completely healed. They will keep pecking him if they see any blood. What you could try if he gets anxious is install a section divider of plastic wiring. I did that in my hutch because my male currently has the same injury and that way they can see each other but the offenders can’t get back at him! the lack of eggs may just be due to a lot of movement/stress so I wouldn’t sweat it too much. I don’t know what the male to female ratio is for buttons, but if you do figure out how many females you need, having the right number will do wonders to alleviate guarding/fights.

 

[Green Bean Quail]

I would probably isolate Q5 until his back is completely healed. They will keep pecking him if they see any blood. What you could try if he gets anxious is install a section divider of plastic wiring. I did that in my hutch because my male currently has the same injury and that way they can see each other but the offenders can’t get back at him! the lack of eggs may just be due to a lot of movement/stress so I wouldn’t sweat it too much. I don’t know what the male to female ratio is for buttons, but if you do figure out how many females you need, having the right number will do wonders to alleviate guarding/fights.

Also, general spacing is one square foot per bird, but that’s generally not including all the space feeders/water/etc take up. I think my hutch is about 5 ft by 3 ft? So 15 sq foot and I have 5 birds total. but I also had planned on having more birds and never got around to it! My current flock is a handful

 

[MotherOfMoorhens]

I think Q1 might be a boy as he has different colouring to his siblings, but even he has peck marks on his head. I have no idea! Q5 has fluffed up again so the red skin is hidden.