Everything About Button Quail!

[Lilorp14]

Three to five females per male is the recommendation for coturnix quail, which are flock birds. Button quail aren't flock birds. If you put a bunch of them in a big enclosure, they tend to pair off, like bobwhite quail. If you get lucky, you might find a group of more than two that gets along, but they can seriously injure or kill each other if they don't get along or if their opinions of each other change. It's not worth the risk.
If the female has space and hiding places to avoid the male, they'll be fine in just a pair.

The breeder is potentially focusing on profit rather than the animals' welfare. How do you know there are no problems? Have you sat and watched the birds for long periods of time to be sure? I wouldn't put three pairs of buttons in anything less than triple that space, with a lot of cover and escape routes.

A 40 gallon breeder tank is about 4x4 feet, and 1 1/2 feet high. The breeder fills it with pine shavings, fake plants, and scatters seed throughout for them to find. I visited her to see her setup yesterday and all of her birds get along fine. We talked in the room she keeps the BQ in for almost 3 hours and there was no conflict between the birds at all. She's a very nice woman who also raises pheasants and other quail breeds, along with rare breeds of chickens. Her birds are very well taken care of and are adored. They had full, healthy plumage and were chirping happily the whole time, foraging with their mates.

 

[Lilorp14]

x2

What's your setup like?

 

[ldawntaylor]

They're sort of like hamsters in general care. Tiny, fragile ground-dwelling prey animals.

I tend to think from a top view they look rather like dwarf hamsters too, at least when they are chicks.

 

[Fishkeeper]

When I say they're like hamsters, I mean partly that they're small, round, adorable things, partly that they have some similarities in behavior and care. They both eat seeds, plant matter, and insects, they don't do well in groups, and they need enrichment of jumping/running/climbing and places to hide. Both are small prey animals that tend to be timid at first and aren't fond of being handled. If you set up a suitable habitat for button quail, then add a bunch of substrate for burrowing, that's pretty much a hamster habitat once you swap the food out. Also, both need more space and enrichment than they're often given. They certainly aren't the same, but they remind me of each other. I wouldn't put them together, though, hamsters are surprisingly aggressive and should NOT be kept with more than one hamster per enclosure. I'm pretty sure a hamster would terrorize a button quail.

A 4x4 foot tank is not a 40 gallon brooder. I have a 65g that's 3 feet by 18 inches by 2 feet. Not sure what gallon size a 4x4 is, but that's definitely enough room to at least attempt multiple pairs, with loads of hiding places included. Sounds like you have a good breeder there! That sounds like someone I'd be happy to support.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

What's your setup like?

50 gallon aquarium with breathable lid lots of shavings and places to hide and one pair. I still am trying to upgrade because it seems to small.

 

[Hot Pepper Man]

A 40 gallon breeder tank is about 4x4 feet, and 1 1/2 feet high.

Those are only 4.5 square feet, definitely not 16.

EDIT: I still don't know if I'd worry about her setup if the birds weren't acting stressed. I've had so many people quote me "minimum space" requirements per animal that were actually "minimum space with zero hides and enrichment" or "minimum space if you can't be bothered to check whether the cage needs cleaning" or "minimum space if you only have a single animal" or "minimum space if you're never going to let it out" or "minimum space assuming the most aggressive animals" or...

When you see experienced keepers' ideas of how to comfortably keep a pair of button quail ranges from one square foot to more than four square feet, it appears that there's some wiggle room.