Chinese painted/button quail

[Emmaxx]

I meant sit long enough! Your buttons must be very happy Emma to produce babies!!

Thank you!

 

[Emmaxx]

I missed the other replies while I was typing sorry.

The two on the outside were our original pair, the one in the middle is their chick that was living with it's siblings until they started attacking her.
(good excuse to share a photo)

Their behaviour is most likely due to the way things are currently set up, but space is an issue for me, (and like you wasn't really expecting to end up with so many so quickly) hence why she had to move back in with mum and dad! But also there have been no issues since, so they might have just decided they don't like her!

 

[hebe5]

I missed the other replies while I was typing sorry.

The two on the outside were our original pair, the one in the middle is their chick that was living with it's siblings until they started attacking her.
(good excuse to share a photo)

Their behaviour is most likely due to the way things are currently set up, but space is an issue for me, (and like you wasn't really expecting to end up with so many so quickly) hence why she had to move back in with mum and dad! But also there have been no issues since, so they might have just decided they don't like her!

Aw how cute are they!! So good that mum and dad didn't mind her moving back home with them!

 

[JaeG]

I've found the Buttons are more friendly in an aviary environment. They will come up and peck my shoes and take food from me depending on what I'm offering but they do not want to be touched at all. If you want to pat and hold your birds go with the Japanese quail. In smaller cages they seem much spookier and especially if you are reaching in from above they will freak out. I second the incredible Houdini powers of these birds! Cages where you are reaching in from the side allow the birds to feel like they can move away and not be in danger.

Button chicks are initially sweet and cuddly but as soon as they hit about 4 days old they freak out every time they see a human. Some groups are worse than others, and some are jumpier than others. You would have to be with the chicks 24/7 for them to see you as their parent. But they are much less domesticated than their larger cousin so they are still a wild bird at heart. I love the Buttons for their beauty but I adore the Japanese for how docile and friendly they are.

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

@FirstTimeClucky not to skip over the good info you gave, or to hijack this thread, but did you use the sand in the tanks? I tried (with bird sand) and found it such a pain! Maybe I was using the wrong scoop or should have done it more often.....

The tanks themselves were a bit of a pain. For one thing, they were heavy to lift when it was time to wash them out. I used pine shavings as bedding because they were easier to change than the sand. However, with the shavings, food dishes and eggs would get buried. I found it impossible to keep their water clean no matter what kind of waterer I used, until I put small water bottles in the tanks. They learned to use them quickly. Trouble was, there was nowhere to attach/hang the bottles. I tried suction cups (kept falling down) and hardware cloth attached with double sided tape (also kept falling down). If you want to use sand, you can get special reptile sand scoops at shops that sell reptile products. The scoops are made for use in glass terrariums, and have a "corner shaped" tip so you can get into the corners to scoop. You can also get smaller bags of reptile sand in different colours if you don't want to lug a 40 lb bag home.

If I was doing this again, I'd buy hamster or other small animal cages for them. You can get the ones with bars on the top and a plastic tray on the bottom that keeps the mess in. Don't use rabbit cages for buttons because the bars are spaced too far apart. If you do use a rabbit cage, cover the bars in hardware cloth or window screen so the birds can't escape, and line the roof of the cage with soft netting, bubble wrap or cloth to prevent "boinking" injuries.

 

[hebe5]

The tanks themselves were a bit of a pain. For one thing, they were heavy to lift when it was time to wash them out. I used pine shavings as bedding because they were easier to change than the sand. However, with the shavings, food dishes and eggs would get buried. I found it impossible to keep their water clean no matter what kind of waterer I used, until I put small water bottles in the tanks. They learned to use them quickly. Trouble was, there was nowhere to attach/hang the bottles. I tried suction cups (kept falling down) and hardware cloth attached with double sided tape (also kept falling down). If you want to use sand, you can get special reptile sand scoops at shops that sell reptile products. The scoops are made for use in glass terrariums, and have a "corner shaped" tip so you can get into the corners to scoop. You can also get smaller bags of reptile sand in different colours if you don't want to lug a 40 lb bag home.

If I was doing this again, I'd buy hamster or other small animal cages for them. You can get the ones with bars on the top and a plastic tray on the bottom that keeps the mess in. Don't use rabbit cages for buttons because the bars are spaced too far apart. If you do use a rabbit cage, cover the bars in hardware cloth or window screen so the birds can't escape, and line the roof of the cage with soft netting, bubble wrap or cloth to prevent "boinking" injuries.

I was thinking about the problem with the water situation if I went for a tank! If you have a small animal cage how do you manage to keep the sand in?

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

So coturnix quails have nicer natures but as they're bigger they're going to be more stinky?!! And button quails are psychopaths??

Coturnix aren't really stinkier, they're just bigger. If you're just keeping them as pets, most people only keep a few. In small numbers they don't stink, as long as you clean their cage regularly. If you keep them commercially (for eggs and meat) you would want to keep more and keep them outside, because they will stink in larger numbers. I think if button quail were the same size, they'd smell the same.

Button quail are just very flighty and neurotic. I don't know why my males turned on the hens, unless it was because they were older and the hens weren't laying as much. Male poultry in general can be very bossy and pushy with the hens if they don't cooperate with his advances. Quail are rough breeders, the hens usually end up with bald patches on their heads and backs from the male grabbing them during mating. Also, some males will relentlessly harass and chase a female who's refusing to lay, or refusing to sit on eggs. One of my diamond dove males almost killed his hen because she was refusing to incubate eggs. I separated them for a few days, removed the eggs from the nest, and when I put her back with the male they were fine.

 

[Emmaxx]

I'm starting to wish we'd gone for Japanese quail now

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

I was thinking about the problem with the water situation if I went for a tank! If you have a small animal cage how do you manage to keep the sand in?

I find that sand doesn't make as much of a mess as pine shavings. If you use the kind of small animal cage that has a plastic tray bottom, it should be fine. Those cages are built to keep the animal from throwing its bedding out of the cage. Sand on the bottom should be at least 2 inches deep for button quail, add an inch or two for coturnix. If you still find they're making a mess, you can use window screen, netting, coroplast (plastic cardboard) or tarp to make a guard that goes round the bottom of the cage wire. It can be attached to the cage bars using cable ties.

 

[hebe5]

I've found the Buttons are more friendly in an aviary environment. They will come up and peck my shoes and take food from me depending on what I'm offering but they do not want to be touched at all. If you want to pat and hold your birds go with the Japanese quail. In smaller cages they seem much spookier and especially if you are reaching in from above they will freak out. I second the incredible Houdini powers of these birds! Cages where you are reaching in from the side allow the birds to feel like they can move away and not be in danger.

Button chicks are initially sweet and cuddly but as soon as they hit about 4 days old they freak out every time they see a human. Some groups are worse than others, and some are jumpier than others. You would have to be with the chicks 24/7 for them to see you as their parent. But they are much less domesticated than their larger cousin so they are still a wild bird at heart. I love the Buttons for their beauty but I adore the Japanese for how docile and friendly they are.

It's a pity the Japanese can't be

I'm starting to wish we'd gone for Japanese quail now

You're all turning me off the buttons now!!