Button quail flock ratios/questions

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

I've never raised or owned buttons/king quail before but have started helping care for a family member's flock of now 5.
It originally was 6, two males and four females. They all live in a smallish outdoor aviary with 9 lovebirds. Recently one of the males was attack by something, whether it was the other male, mice or even the lovebirds I have no idea. He died a couple days ago.
While we don't have any immediate plans of breeding them, I would like to at least have the option at some point and am concerned that if something was to happen to the last male then I'm going to be stuck trying to find another before being able to hatch.
So basically I'd like to get another male soonish. And the hens are actually currently laying so I'm considering do a hatch despite it being way sooner than I expected. Before doing that I want to find out if it's likely the male was attacked by the other one and if my ratios are off or something? His injuries were not to his head/neck like I've normally seen with quail but more to his legs and up under his wings/side of his body.
Again this is my first time with this particular species and would greatly appreciate any help/advice/tips anyone is able to offer!

 

[VDes]

So different keepers tend to house king quail in different ways depending on the purpose of the bird. They're typically monogamous in the wild and people with intentions to breed can either separate them into pairs on their own or give them a large sized enclosure where each pair can spread out. I've personally never had an issue with too many males or overbreeding as in my aviaries females pair up with one male and together they'll keep the other males in line. Occasionally a female low in the pecking order will be pursued by multiple males, or if the males out number females. I've had the same amount of males as females and never had issues as long as there's enough space for everyone to spread out if they want. If you have more females then males then the boys can have trouble covering all the girls so you may have an increased chance of infertile eggs. Also, from your post it also doesn't sound like your male died of injury from another quail as it's neck or head would have been clearly targeted. There's a variety of ways a quail can die, from disease to parasites, so that may need it's own dedicated post for others to help out with detective work. I wish you good luck with your quail!

 

[Nabiki]

Buttons do best in pairs. I have always kept mine in pens with 2 square feet or more per bird with plenty of hiding places.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

A bit of an update.
I did do a hatch and got 11 lovely little babies. They're growing amazing.
I also measured the aviary and I believe it's about 28 sq ft (I don't work in ft so that may or may not be off...). Would it be suitable for me to keep enough males from the babies to create pairs (4 pairs) in there? Or is that pushing it? I will absolutely be increasing the number of hides and such.

 

[Nabiki]

A bit of an update.
I did do a hatch and got 11 lovely little babies. They're growing amazing.
I also measured the aviary and I believe it's about 28 sq ft (I don't work in ft so that may or may not be off...). Would it be suitable for me to keep enough males from the babies to create pairs (4 pairs) in there? Or is that pushing it? I will absolutely be increasing the number of hides and such.

4 pairs will be very happy in that amount of space, especially with plenty of hiding places.

 

[CliftonQuail]

A bit of an update.
I did do a hatch and got 11 lovely little babies. They're growing amazing.
I also measured the aviary and I believe it's about 28 sq ft (I don't work in ft so that may or may not be off...). Would it be suitable for me to keep enough males from the babies to create pairs (4 pairs) in there? Or is that pushing it? I will absolutely be increasing the number of hides and such.

What are the dimensions of your aviary in meters? 28 sq ft would be about 2.6 sq meters so 1 meter x 2.5 meters, or maybe 1.5 x 1.75 would be pretty close to 28 sq ft and would certainly be plenty for 4 pair of buttons.