Button Quail

[arkansas4-Hmom]

I just accuired a male and 4 hens. A couple of the hens have no feathers on their back. I have searched them all over and can not find any mites. Is there anything else I should look for?
Thank you

 

[GrandmaBird]

button quail should be kept in pairs. the feather loss on the extra females is because they are fighting over who is top female. if you separate them you will soon learn which female the male has his eye on and you just leave the hens alone in a different cage or match them up with other males in separate cages.. if you chose to leave them all together you might find one dead some morning as they can get the taste of blood and then they become cannibalistic and will not be stopped. anyway good luck.

 

[arkansas4-Hmom]

Ok thank you. I will pull out the hens that have feather loss. They happen to be the hens that are laying. Should I leave one of them with the male? Can the hens stay together ok with no male? I only have one male and 4 hens.

 

[TheWeeBee]

I too have three hens and a male button, and made the mistake of housing them together when I first got them. The male bonded with one of the hens, had no interest in another, and nearly killed the third hen! I have the bonded pair housed separately from the two girls, but they're right next to each other. The two hens are perfectly happy with their set-up, and still lay eggs in the corner of their cage.

 

[gorabbitgo]

I also got a single male and multiple hens, and also observed fighting. My mated pair now lives blissfully in their own condo and the four remaining single ladies live in peace. They snuggle and preen together and like to lay all of their eggs for the day in the same place. It's really painfully cute watching them interact!

 

[arkansas4-Hmom]

Ok so here is my stupid question for the day. how can I tell who he is mated with? Plus how can you tell a male from a female? The only one I know for sure is the wild type male and female. The others ???? I have a silver, a pied, and cinamon looking one.

 

[GrandmaBird]

try taking all the females out of the cage but one if the male is happy with her and she with him you will know within a few hours. if not change out the female for a different one and keep trying until you get the right one. it would almost be easier to sit and watch them. The pair will chase the others away before mating. the roo will call and the hen will answer him during laying as well as before mating.
one of the best ways to tell males from females is the males will have red/rust colored feathers either on the body or the vent area. as for the white if they are pure white you may need to vent sex them. there are several web sites that show how to do this.
you could try posting photos here and we might be able to help. get shots of the belly area and vent if you can.
Good Luck!

 

[myfinefeatheredfriends]

Just to share my experience as is related to this topic I had a trio of buttons housed together, one male and two females. The male bonded so closely to one hen over the other that the two of them beat the other hen up one day and by the time I found her when I came home from work, they had almost picked her to death. Honestly it was so bad I thought they pecked her eyes out. With extensive rehab she came around. She still had her eyes but she was partially blind. Her head feathers never grew back and she remained bald the rest of her life. It was a miracle she lived at all and a tough lesson I learned about button quail. She now lives alone and is going to be 4 years old this spring.