My new button quails and setup

[avestruz]

Hi there.

Just posting some pics of my newest aquisitions.

It's a male and four females. A bit crowded I guess? But I am thinking about building them a new pen and getting another male so I'll have 2 trios in separated places.

Just one question: sometimes I see the male moving his head very fast and a lot of times (as if he is listening to music... like trip hop or something), not the same as the rest of the quails which are frequently moving the head as they walk. Is this normal?




Females:


With the boss of the house:



Going crazy:



And again:

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Wyogirl]

Very nice looking birds!!!!
Are they lavender in color???
Ayda

 

[avestruz]

Thanks!
The male is a normal one, I don't really know the variety's name.
The girls are: 1 silver, 1 cinnamon, 1 brown and 1 silver with some darker feathers. Anyway some of the females are only 2 months old so I guess they will still change their colours.
Do you think they can hatch the eggs being so many females in this cage? They didn't lay any eggs yet.

 

[Stellar]

Beautiful birds, may I suggest you pairing them up? Cbbq (button quail) are monogamous and pair breed. Trios and colonies are more for the coturnix.

 

[GrandmaBird]

I agree with Stellar they should be paired up not in trios or groups after about 10 weeks of age. The male looks like a regular CBBQ and the females look like 1 regular and 3 silvers. Have you vent sexed them? Do any of the silver ones have any red feathers in their tail? They maybe males if they do. If so they need to be separated from the other male before they fight over the females and territory. As for the hopping that is normal behavior it is called popcorning by some and boinking by others, I call it the look at me dance. lol anyway have fun with your birds.

 

[TheQuailLover]

Awwww! They are so pretty! I would love a blue quail!!

 

[avestruz]

Thanks for your hints. I don't see any red feathers in the tail yet.

I've separated 2 of them (females) to another place... quite small but it will be temporary.
The male was going after them like crazy and one of them had traces of blood in her feathers near the legs (I don't know if it was the male who pulled her feathers or if she did it to herself?!)

So now I have together: 1 male and 2 females (I think). The reason why I didn't put just the pair alone is because I don't have anymore room to the other female.

But anyway, one thing I still don't understand: some people say that button quail should be paired up and some say they should be in trios because "the male may become agressive if paired with single hens".... ( http://www.singing-wings-aviary.com/buttonquail.htm ) I don't really know which theory is the correct one!?!

The truth is that my male was being agressive to all four females when they were together (picking a lot on their feet and running after them like crazy) and he is being agressive now with two females. I am also afraid to remove one more female and leave only the pair alone... what if he redirects all his anger to that single hen?!??

Some more hints please...

 

[GrandmaBird]

it maybe that the one you think is a female is not and is a male? or he maybe happy with just one female. I have mine as a pair and have never had blood on either of them. the females will be okay together but the pair will be happier as just a pair. this is my 2 cents worth anyway. I would leave the browner one with the male and put the 3 white ones in an other cage. if you are worried about space put the pair in a small cage and the 3 in the bigger one. they only need a square foot of floor space or so per pair. good luck keep us posted.

 

[avestruz]

Ok, I see most people have the opinion that I should keep just the pair.
So I did that already and I followed GrandmaBird's opinion: I joined the brown one with the male. He still picks on her feet quite often (I think he has a foot fetish).
Anyway, as I left the three grey ones together in the bigger cage, I saw one of them doing that noise with her/his throat (the Darth Vader sound). Isn't this sound made only by males?
Cheers