Button Taming?

[ChikinInThePines]

Hey everyone! I have successfully hatched all 4 eggs of my buttons that were given to me. I've been feeding them the "Manna Pro Gamebird/Showbird crumbles" which I chop up to a finer grit. They are all doing very well (except for one that I helped hatch he is a bit smaller) and are starting to get beautiful white feathers. Since I really am just going to keep these guys at pets...are they tameable? I literally put my hand into the brooder and they flutter, jump, and scream like the sky is falling on them. Any tips on how to get them more comfortable?

 

[bigredshaverhen]

Button quail are naturally more flighty, making them harder to tame, but it IS possible.
Try putting your hand in the pen often, offering them food, and even holding them.

My quails quite like to be gently stroked along their back

Good luck with your buttons!

 

[mandalorian]

what bigred said

chicks are easily swayed, if you represent good things like treats or food ect., they'll want to investigate you since you no longer fit the predatory/dangerous/suspicious creature category in their heads

try not to think of it as "taming" though, more like making friends.....it's silly, but I find quail are very responsive to respect and mine seem to like it when I get down on their level

they'll approach me just to look at my eyes on their little tippy toes it's very cute

 

[DK newbie]

From what I've read, you usually need to start taming them before they are a day old - and even then not all will become tame. Take them out of the brooder and sit with them in your lap in the evening and such - but as you have noticed it doesn't take many days before they become too scared to sit still long enough to realise you are not killing them, which is why you need to do this from day 1.
That said, someone on here recently had a grown button hen getting picked on by her cage mates and they separated her to let her wounds heal. They say she's tame enough to sleep in their lap now. But that's actually the first story I've read of an adult button becoming tame.

I never actually attempted to tame any of my buttons. Some will eat from my hand - I could probably get all of them to with a little patience. One of them becomes very curious when I clean her cage (I do this while she is in the cage) - initially she goes to the opposite end of the cage but it doesn't take long before she comes to check out what I'm doing. I can't touch her, but at least she doesn't panic every time I go near. She's probably the tamest one of mine.