Pairing Button Quail Male - Female Only?

[mudmonkey]

I keep finding that articles I read about quail don't pertain to the Button Quail that I have!
We need a sticky that lists all the "Quail Facts" that don't apply to buttons...

For example many articles talk about keeping groups of quail together.
From what I've read the Buttons only like to be in pairs.

Do those pairs have to be Male/Female pairs?

Will 2 Females or 2 Males still get along if they are by themselves?

What about Trios and Quads?

 

[mudmonkey]

Is there anyone out there who can give me some information about this?

I found this bit of information in an online article:
"Males can become aggressive if paired with single hens so it is best to pair them in a one male to two female ratio."

So are trios the best way to go?
If they need to be with other birds to be happy what happens if you find yourself with several of one sex?

 

[MissCluck]

I asked this question last week and got some hopeful answers.

From what I've read and with the experts on here it's BEST that they be kept male/female pairs but I have only one hen and five males.

What I've done is put one lucky male in with the hen and the other four together for a short time. They are still young and not fighting yet. I need to get another cage to support the third pair of males and then everyone will be in a pair.

I'm hoping it will work. If they are not happy then I'll need to try to buy some hens and get everyone paired off or sell some of the males.

 

[Plain_View_Farm]

I have 2 bachelor cages with 5 males in each. They seem to get along alright. These been getting antsy as breeding season is coming around but I've not seen any real signs of aggression. Females together I've never had a problem with. They seem to get along as long as their cage is large enough. 1 sq foot of cage per bird.
Again, not recommended but doable. You just have to watch them for aggression.

David

 

[mudmonkey]

I guess what I don't understand is what you do if you end up with too many males.
For example if you hatch 4 eggs and end up with 3 males and 1 female.
Obviously you put the M/F pair together but you end up with 2 males.
What do you do with those males?
From what I've read they will not be okay alone, so you shouldn't split them up...
but then I also read that they can't be kept together?

What's the solution then!!??

 

[Plain_View_Farm]

I personally would put them together. As I said I have several bachelor cages and they get along for the most part.
You will find they growl a lot calling a mate, but if they are not near the cage with the Female in it they might get along just fine.

David

 

[cpbirds407]

Sorry but I must comment on this...

This subject has come up many times in this forum and others. I am a firm believer that they should be kept in pairs of one male and one female. It only takes a split of a second for that male to wake up from the wrong side of the bed and injure the other.

I have to say that at one point, I was getting more males than females and I had the same problem that you are having. Whats did I do with the extra males? Either I tried to fing good homes for them that can provide a female OR I would try to get then females from other sources.

Now, the problem of getting more males than females can be corrected by adjusting the type of lighting. There is an absolutely amazing book that can help with figuring out why this is happening. I'd suggest you cosider this book. I worked for me and now I'm getting a more even numbered chicks once I adjusted the lighting requirements and my hens are going broody!!! It was absolutelly amazing! I have over 35 pairs of buttons and almost every female wants to sit on their eggs! I just don't let them

If I were to hatch every egg that they lay... I woldn't be here typing this!!!

I hope this helps!!!

Here's the link for the book that I'm talking about.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=330539

 

[daniellestansbury]

I have 2 male butten quails together because when I separated them they called to each other. ( they were hatched and raised together ) I have 40 butten quail eggs in the incubater in hopes I get some girls and maybe a few more pairs!!

 

[FloorCandy]

I have 2 male butten quails together because when I separated them they called to each other. ( they were hatched and raised together ) I have 40 butten quail eggs in the incubater in hopes I get some girls and maybe a few more pairs!!

This thread is 11 years old, so it’s unlikely you will get many replies. Welcome tho.

 

[Lookingforbirdhelp]

This thread is 11 years old, so it’s unlikely you will get many replies. Welcome tho.

Well, it's helping me rn. I got given 2 "female" button quails. (One was a male). So, I'm looking through old forums for help. It's always the 10+ year old forums, huh.