Button quail fighting or getting jiggy?

[Green Bean Quail]

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.

When I had an extra male, he started pecking the head of my “weaker” male! Do you know how to vent them? There are some good “sticky” threads in the Quail forum on how to vent sex them!

 

[MotherOfMoorhens]

It may well be space issues making them cross then. I had to turf them out of their big crate a couple of weeks ago so I could put a swan in it (perils of waterfowl rescue!!). I plan to get a 2-tier rabbit hutch for them, so they can avoid each other if they want to.

 

[MotherOfMoorhens]

When I had an extra male, he started pecking the head of my “weaker” male! Do you know how to vent them? There are some good “sticky” threads in the Quail forum on how to vent sex them!

I tried to look the other day but they absolutely hate being handled and shed feathers everywhere. Any tips for handling? Ducklings are so much easier!

 

[Green Bean Quail]

I tried to look the other day but they absolutely hate being handled and shed feathers everywhere.

If you can manage to cover their heads in a small towel while you flip them it may help. I struggled with holding my birds too at first! Not to be crude, but if you catch a quail “humping” another one by grabbing its head feathers and hopping on its back, probably a male. Also if they crow. (It’s a very distinctive sound!)

 

[MotherOfMoorhens]

Q3 and at least one other do the loud QUAI-QUAI-QUAI noise, but nobody ever whooshes.

 

[SunsetHomestead]

Hard to tell from the pic for sure but to me Q3 looks like a female because of the spotted chest.
I found King quail (button quail) do best in pairs and pairs only, unless they were all raised together since birth. I have a group of 5 males and 3 females that were born together and they all get along. But add in one from an outside group and it's a disaster.
Even in a group of 1 male, 2 females, if they weren't all raised together, my males would kill off the "extra" female. That's just my experience. May be different for others.
If you can separate them into pairs, that's your best option.

 

[MotherOfMoorhens]

Hard to tell from the pic for sure but to me Q3 looks like a female because of the spotted chest.
I found King quail (button quail) do best in pairs and pairs only, unless they were all raised together since birth. I have a group of 5 males and 3 females that were born together and they all get along. But add in one from an outside group and it's a disaster.
Even in a group of 1 male, 2 females, if they weren't all raised together, my males would kill off the "extra" female. That's just my experience. May be different for others.
If you can separate them into pairs, that's your best option.

Thank you. Q3 was the rescue quail and the other 4 are siblings who came to keep her/him company when we couldn't find a new home - now I understand why that was the case!!

 

[Green Bean Quail]

Thank you. Q3 was the rescue quail and the other 4 are siblings who came to keep her/him company when we couldn't find a new home - now I understand why that was the case!!

Perhaps Q3 would do better with a single male, although the fact that multiple have injuries may indicate the siblings aren’t getting along well anymore either. I can’t speak much for buttons, sorry, but I’m sure there are some people on this forum who know more about pairing them up!
Also, the way I apply spray to my injured birds head (sorry I didn’t remember if I’d added this before) is snatching him out of the hutch, and wrapping him firmly, not too tight, in a spare towel. I hold him close to my chest (I’ve found a lot of handling related anxiety is when the birds feel like they’re suspended) and spray with one hand. He’s gotten much better with spray!

 

[FloorCandy]

It may well be space issues making them cross then. I had to turf them out of their big crate a couple of weeks ago so I could put a swan in it (perils of waterfowl rescue!!). I plan to get a 2-tier rabbit hutch for them, so they can avoid each other if they want to.

Be careful of pens with multiple stories as they often avoid the top level. I did turn the largest size dog crate, like st Bernard sized, into a grow out, I covered the whole thing with hardware cloth, and I put wire over the bottom tray. I put another level of wire floor over that, but only about 10 inches up. There’s free space about 20-24 inches high above that level. There’s a middle cutout of about 16x 22 inches in the center of the top layer, and a 1 ft wide ramp made out of hardware cloth leading between the two levels.

Mine are Coturnix not buttons, but I often find several hanging out up top, and they don’t use the ramp, they usually fly up, or part way up to the top of the ramp and jump up the rest of the way. I think the open air above, the consistent flooring on all levels and the ramp, and their introduction at an early age has made them comfortable with it. They have become agile and accurate short distance flyers.

 

[MotherOfMoorhens]

Thank you, a dog crate might be more adaptable for them.