Button quails hurting and killing their chicks

[Maben84]

Hi!
I have two female button quails who have been sitting on their eggs and when the egg hatches they have been attacking and hurting their chicks. I’ve lost two babies so far. Today I was able to rescue one chick before the mothers could hurt it. Why are they doing that? And how do I raise this little baby that just hatched today?

P.S. I separated the males from the females a couple of days back. The two females have a large 1meter x 1meter cage to themselves, so that’s plenty of room.

 

[blackoaktammy]

Buttons can be mean little buggers. Do you have an incubator that you can put the rest of the eggs in to hatch? For a newly hatched chick, you want the temperature to be 95* on the warm end in a draft free container (I use aquariums). Each week, drop the temperature back 5* until they are at room temperature. Make sure you have a high protein feed, like gamebird starter, for the chicks. Put marbles or small stones in the water so they don't drown.

 

[Maben84]

Well I don’t really have a good incubator. The incubator I have is just the basic one where I can only set the temperature and can’t really control the humidity. So I really don’t know what to do.
For now I’ve put the rescued chick in a reptile tank with the tortoise lamp in it for heat.

 

[JaeG]

It's worth trying to hatch the rest of the eggs, or grabbing them as they hatch.

I once kept a male I wanted to breed from specifically because he was parent raised (which is supposed to make them good parents). As the babies hatched he attacked them. They are very unpredictable little things.

Removing the male might have stressed the hens out to the point where they don't feel able to raise the chicks. Male Buttons play a crucial role in parenting. The mother keeps track of the bulk of the babies, keeping them warm (the male does take turns) but the male goes and gets chicks that have strayed too far, warming them up before leading them back to rejoin the family group.

I don't think putting the male back with the hens will make the situation any better, but you could see if he will raise the chicks himself. It's a long shot, but much better than having a lonely quail chick crying constantly.

 

[Maben84]

Good idea ....Will try putting the male in with the chick and hope that he will raise the chick .. fingers crossed

 

[Maben84]

I tried putting the father with the chick but it didn’t work. He was trying to attack the baby too

 

[Green Bean Quail]

I tried putting the father with the chick but it didn’t work. He was trying to attack the baby too

You may have to keep it in a brooder. If you plan on raising it by itself and cannot successfully reintroduce it to its parents, you may want to hatch or order some chicks for companions. Baby chicks do best with friends, and he/she will get vocal if lonely. Poor baby

 

[JaeG]

I tried putting the father with the chick but it didn’t work. He was trying to attack the baby too

Oh bother. Are then hens still sitting on eggs at all? Is there a chance they might hatch out a friend? Even a coturnix/Japanese quail would be a companion for your lone baby if you can find one or two to buy. Button quail are high needs babies. Do keep us updated.

 

[Quailobsessed]

I have gone through this before with one of my pairs. They kept rejecting their chicks and even attacking them. I had to raise one chick on her own and she became sweet and tame and went on to raise her rejected siblings. It's really tough to go through. Keep us updated.