Male or Female Button Qail?

[Peeper]

I have 4 button quail 2 are a pearl grey color and two are dark, one with a white mask, pretty sure he is a guy. How can I tell which are boys and which are girls? The 2 dark ones "laugh".

 

[shelleyd2008]

Missed this post somehow.....
Anyway, both males and females do the 'hee hee hee' thing. The males 'crow' is the one that sounds like Darth Vader breath, or a perculator coffee maker, whichever you prefer

Some females will also have bibs, so that isn't a sure-fire way to tell. One way that you can tell, almost for sure, is by the color of the vent feathers. If they are red, rust, or pink, then it is a male. ONLY males get these. But, not all males get them, so it is kind of confusing. One way to tell for sure is to put them by theirselves in a cage. If you find an egg in the cage, then it is a girl

 

[Akane]

White mask? No idea what that is. Males will have a white line under their throats in most colors. Not all the grey/silver colors though unless it's paired with red breasted. If they have a red breast they are males. Try http://www.zebrafinch.com/NewButtonquail/QuailMutation.html and http://www.ncws.com/mcdonald/colors_6.html for some pics and descriptions.

 

[quailbrain]

I don't see pictures and that would help but from what it sounds like....

Males are usually the one that will crown. Which i'm assuming you mean by laugh?

Also males are the one who get a white "bib". Some males depending on the color mutaion will have a large white bib or only small white lines where the "bib" is. These markings are found on the throat of the males.

I would say just from the info you have given that you have two dark males. Without more info I would only be guessing. If the other two do not have bibs or crown I'd guess hens.

Good luck! Buttons are addicting!

 

[citalk2much]

I guess the first question is how old are they. Bibs are found in both males and females. They both make a "crow". The only sound that only males make us the air sound like Shelley said it is a "darth vader"air sound. Most always males have red toned vent feathers, thou not in white and someone had a silver that did not have it. If you post pictures we can help you with color names and sexing them. Also we just like to see pictures LOL

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I think I posted this in my earlier response, but if not I'll do it again.

The white bib is not a 'male only' trait, as I have a df silver hen that is bibbed

 

[citalk2much]

Quote:
I think I posted this in my earlier response, but if not I'll do it again.

The white bib is not a 'male only' trait, as I have a df silver hen that is bibbed

I have several hens with bibs thou I have noted that in mine their bibs are not the true white of the males that have bibs. Bibs are not the best way to sex as there are a ton of mutations that have no bib.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Yeah, my hen's bib is smaller than the males bibs, but it is obviously there.

 

[citalk2much]

Oh ya they are hard to miss LOL

 

[Akane]

None of my females bibs are white. I wouldn't be surprised if dark blue faces are an exception though since they do sometimes get white markings. My DF hen had white throat markings but they went away as she finished feathering. I thought it was a male because of that.