hello new egg here!!! have four Button Quail nesting keep finding dead babies

sourhernoldie

Chirping
5 Years
Sep 17, 2017
26
26
99
southern Louisiana
I have button Q in aviary with canaries, finches and Diamond doves. They have tons of eggs and I keep finding young running around; have tried placing them back under a hen but no good find them dead are missing. There are 12 button Q male and female
There is one that made it but think only because doves had yourg on ground and they nested under them. if I take them nest and all; place them in private cage could that work?
 
It probably could, yes. No need to bring a nest to the other cage, just mom and babies. Make sure there are no gaps they can get stuck in and only VERY shallow water - put pebbles in it to make sure the chicks can't get wet.
Mom will probably be stressed by the move, but hopefully she'll calm down and keep the babies warm. Otherwise you can use a heat lamp.
The reason it doesn't work in the aviary is probably that you have multiple pairs in there. The babies try to follow all of them, but only mom will care for them - the others might even peck them. So the babies go cold running around after the wrong birds. Just 10-15 minutes without heat is enough to bring them to a point where they can't walk anymore and thus can't save themselves. If you only had one pair, both mom and dad would probably care for the babies and thus the babies would never be chasing a bird that wouldn't care for them.
It's not recommended to keep several males in an enclosure that has females - the males chase each other and might over breed the females.
 
I have a button quail pair and recently the female started sitting on some eggs. She has chased the male to the other side of their enclosure and chirps at him when he gets near her nest. Just yesterday I found him outside of their enclosure (I keep them as inside pets). I'm guessing she chased him out, but I separated them now. Should I move him back in after the chicks hatch or is there a risk that they'll fight?
It probably could, yes. No need to bring a nest to the other cage, just mom and babies. Make sure there are no gaps they can get stuck in and only VERY shallow water - put pebbles in it to make sure the chicks can't get wet.
Mom will probably be stressed by the move, but hopefully she'll calm down and keep the babies warm. Otherwise you can use a heat lamp.
The reason it doesn't work in the aviary is probably that you have multiple pairs in there. The babies try to follow all of them, but only mom will care for them - the others might even peck them. So the babies go cold running around after the wrong birds. Just 10-15 minutes without heat is enough to bring them to a point where they can't walk anymore and thus can't save themselves. If you only had one pair, both mom and dad would probably care for the babies and thus the babies would never be chasing a bird that wouldn't care for them.
It's not recommended to keep several males in an enclosure that has females - the males chase each other and might over breed the females.
 
Some hens are very territorial around their nests and will chase anything that gets within 2-3 feet of the nest.
If the enclosure isn't big enough to allow the other bird(s) a reasonable amount of space to move on away from the nest, then some kind of separation can be necessary. However, if you do separate them, and in particular if you do so by moving the male to an enclosure where they can't see each other clearly, the female will likely perceive him as a threat if you introduce him once the chicks have hatched.
If he hasn't had chicks before, he might actually BE a threat - some roos have no clue what to do about chicks and might peck them. The same actually goes for hens, but their hormones after being broody are more likely to tell them what to do.
The hen could however also accept him back once the chicks have hatched - and if the separation hasn't been too long, the roo might not be so desperate to breed that he chases her around. But there is no way to tell exactly what will happen.
If I were you, I'd keep them separated but as near each other as possible, for now. If it's possible to divide their current enclosure (without creating gaps a chick could get stuck in) with a single layer of very fine wire mesh, that would be the best way to keep them near each other.
Otherwise, just do the best you can and then try to introduce him once the chicks have hatched. If the hen won't accept him, if he chases her or or if he pecks the chicks, remove him and try again a couple of weeks later. By then the chicks are much more hardy and don't need mom much anymore, so they can take a few pecks and won't be too affected if mom chases the roo a bit or gets chased a bit herself. Just don't leave them unsupervised unless you are completely certain they'll be okay.
 

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