Chinese button quail identification please ?

[plecostrum]

I think
Silver pearl left. But cock or hen ??
Darth vader hen middle I hope
Right silver cock

They are 5/6 weeks old

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[plecostrum]

 

[plecostrum]

I'm hatching as many eggs as I can to get these back again
My beloved darth vaders.

But why does everyone mix there pens

 

[dc3085]

I think
Silver pearl left. But cock or hen ??
Darth vader hen middle I hope
Right silver cock

They are 5/6 weeks old

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I'm pretty sure you'll have to vent sex the two that you aren't sure of, they don't accurately color sex that i'm aware of. GrandmaBird knows better than I do so she may be able to tell you.

I'm hatching as many eggs as I can to get these back again
My beloved darth vaders.

But why does everyone mix there pens

Because CBBQ are one of the most mis managed bird species I've seen raised in captivity. Buttons are slowly becoming more like coturnix, who lack any wild instinct and can be fairly described as "stupid" because of the thousand years of hapless breeding done. Buttons should be kept in pairs, and they mate for life. Instead many people, large breeders worst among them, raise them by the dozens in aviaries forcing them to live in coveys despite their instincts.

 

[plecostrum]

I like to keep mine in trios. ;-) so one hen gets a rest
I have run together 2 cocks and 6 hens. They seemed happy enough
One even went broody and hatched her own chicks.
Are they really lone birds in the wild. I would of thought due to there size safety in numbers
Ill do some research or any good books you could recommend.?

I like colours to be pure no mixing where possible

Most aviary people bung them in as an after thought or as a Hoover. And expect them to survive on dropped seed its a shame ;-(

 

[dc3085]

When you raise them in coveys like that you are forcing them to override their natural instincts. They mate for life so when you have multiple mates present it actually substantially raises the stress level of the birds, and most often lower fertility because the birds are distracted.

 

[GrandmaBird]

Wow where to start...guess I will start with the color of the 3 birds you have pictured. I think you have2 silver and the one you are calling a darth vader (female?) is referred to as a black faced? is this right ...anyway they are still young enough that it is a bit hard to tell and I would suggest waiting a couple more weeks and they should start crowing and have definite male behavior.
I can suggest Jodi McDonalds book: A Closer Look at "Button Quail". she has it on her web site www.brackenridgeranch.com as well as Amazon. She has lots of reference information on the natural quail lives.
As to the coloring I agree with DC that these poor little birds are being forced to live in coveys and as such they have been bred with lots of different colors. Wither bred to be these colors it is not the "normal" colors for them. That would be the blue breasted wild.
I would keep them in pairs if you are trying to get true colors be that darth vader or any other. If you don't care what color then you could continue to have them any way you want. To bred true it is easier to keep track of who parented which chick if kept on single pairs and enclosures.
I do know that the birds are handled differently in ever region of the world, these are the opinions of myself in the USA.
Good luck

an after thought I just had my female sit on and hatch 2 eggs so it can and will be done. they are so **** cute!

 

[plecostrum]

So do Japanese quail only live in pairs. In the wild?

 

[dc3085]

Sometimes in pairs, sometimes in small coveys. Most examples of domestic coturnix roos are too aggressive as breeders to be left in a pair. Most likely because they have been bred in captivity with no oversight for over a thousand years. Some things I've read suggest coturnix were even domesticated before chickens. Domestic cots can't survive outside their cages because they lack so many wild instincts. In fact I've only ever seen proof of two examples of a domestic coturnix hatching it's own eggs. They won't flee predators, they've been bred too heavy for good flight, and as mentioned cannot raise their own young.

If people continue to breed CBBQ the way they are now, they too will end up as "dumbed down" as coturnix. Buttons that will brood their eggs are becoming more rare already, and most examples of the wild color are already too impure to bred true to color.