Help!!! My Button Quail turned on her mate!!!!

[jbobs]

Personally if I was not there to monitor them and make a judgement call at this point, I would separate them while on vacation just in case. Put them next to one another so they can see each other, just in different cages or tanks. A large clear tupperware with an oven grate on top makes a good emergency cage, but with buttons I would worry about them smashing their heads in on it, they are good for that.

 

[PoultryQueen29]

sounds to me like she's just being a little so-and-so. I used to have dozen of buttons and most of them lived happily in a group setting but every once in a while I'd get one that would develop an attitude overnight. I would ask myself the following questions

1. do these birds have a big enough cage
2. does this cage offer enough "spaces" and sight barriers to let the birds get out of sight from one another
3. Has anything in the environment changed recently when this agression started - ie the birds moved to a different location, change of anything in the cage, separated from another group of birds, etc etc.

Right now I would add another food and water dish so they don't have to share resources. It sounds like she is just posessive of the food and doesn't really have a hate on for him in general. Is the food available all the time or does it run out during the day? What kind of cage are they in?

Food is available all day and is always full. They are in a 5 square foot cage with tons of hiding spots, and nothing listed in number 3 has happened recently.

 

[PoultryQueen29]

Also to answer your other post, can I put a wire mesh barrier in the cage or will that not work?

 

[jbobs]

it might work, as long as it's safe. They might injure themselves trying to get at one another. I would try putting another food and water dish on the opposite side of the cage out of line of sight from the original ones before i tried anything, personally. or better yet, just ditch the food dishes all together and sprinkle the food over the bedding and make them scratch for it - it will keep them occupied for hours and reduce competition for resources.

 

[dollychickens]

I have two female button quail and one male, one day I came home from work that male button quail is dead. I assume those two females attacked him.

 

[Kherome]

I have two female button quail and one male, one day I came home from work that male button quail is dead. I assume those two females attacked him.

Sad, but a good example of why a monogamous bird shouldn't be kept in a group setting.

 

[GrandmaBird]

sounds like she has bonded with your hand or all of you! She is just protecting her space and wither its you, the male or someone or something else it is her space and she will be aggressive like all buttons can be. She might calm down if you dont mess with them so much, cut down to once a day feeding and water changes at the most. Do you have a nesting box in the enclosure? Sounds like she wants to nest. You can curb some of the aggression by having lots of hiding spots for them to go to when you are in the cage cleaning and such. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[dollychickens]

I feel my button quail are very shy and not get use to human contact. They will freak out even I just change their water. I collect my eggs once a while, every time after I took their eggs away, they will not lay again until they clam down a week later or even longer. They are also very flighty which I susspect they had a flight and killed my male button quail. Because of this, I have sold my remaining button quails and bought some Jp quails. So far I think the larger breed works out better for me. Thanks