introducing buttons

[flg8r]

If they seem to be getting along, dare I hope we're in the clear? Adult female seems very relaxed, sleepy at times, they've eaten together and sat together. Does aggression usually show quickly?

We had a brooder full of coturnix with one button and separately, an adult female button rescue (kind of a long story) and we wanted to introduce the two buttons eventually. The adult female seemed to become stressed/lonely if we moved her cage away from the babies and called for them. The coturnix are about 3-4x the size of the baby button so size wise the adult is now the better match, I just worry about aggression. I'm not totally sure how old the baby button is but s/he is fully feathered but about 1/2 the size of the adult. My guess is about 4 weeks since s/he's had feathers and been singing since we got her a week ago.

Any advice on what to look for? Does it sound good so far?

 

[GrandmaBird]

4 weeks is still young enough to be in a brooder with extra heat. If she/he is acting fine and the room is warm enough it will be okay. The adult might let it smuggle with her but if not the baby might need more heat. just watch them. As for getting along you never know...and all you can do is watch. Be sure the chick is eating and drinking other then that a sand or dirt bath would be nice and do place a dish of crushed oyster shell for them as well. good luck and enjoy!

 

[Whittni]

Male button quail are aggressive to each other but I think if you raise them together and have enough hens they should be fine.

 

[flg8r]

Day 1 seemed to go fine. They were cuddling and seemed happy. The button cage is right next to the brooder so I think they were plenty warm.

A little unexpected adventure though - baby button escaped while we were gone for two hours. I guess the slats on the button's cage are a bit too wide. Fortunately she could see her "siblings" in the brooder and stayed next to it. Our beagle has been obsessed (not sure if it's aggression, mothering or just curiosity) with the chicks so I'm glad she didn't get hurt. Our pit bull is absolutely terrified of all them so she was cowering a safe distance away from the monster 2" chick.

We're going to reinforce the sides with 1/4" mesh before we try again! Thanks for the tips, we will keep an eye out next try.

 

[flg8r]

We tried again and all seems well. We put screen around the button cage, secure tight. The adult button kept calling loudly for her friend while she was back in the brooder, it was so sad. Now that they're together, they're happily doing their soft little songs. Now here's hoping baby button is a boy, but either way both seem happy which is what we wanted in the first place. A lonely button is so sad!