Please help!! :c

[Cutebuttons]

Hello thanks for clicking!

So I have three button quails, one female and two males. (Which was my first mistake) I first bought two, one male and a female. When I bought them I wanted to put them in my Lovebird Aviary but my lovebirds attacked my male and he passed away.

I went in and bought two more (those turned out to be males) and moved them inside in my room. I went and bought a huge 40 gallon tank for them because I want the best for them (and I felt bad bc they were in a tiny 10 gallon tank I had in the house) and put a bunch of fake plants, rocks, hiding places etc.

So here is where the problem is, the male kept picking on my female and she started bleeding really bad and was very lethargic. I started freaking out and used my birdie first aid kit to fix her up. I put septic powder and nursered her back to health. (She is my favorite, of course I love all my animals) So the original plan was to keep them seperated until she fully healed then reintroduce them and also get another female for my other male. I seperated the two males from the female. The males are doing great in the 10 gallon tank, no fights or issues. The female is in the 40 gallon tank.

So while she was healing she laid 6 eggs and is incubating them religiously. I waited until she fully healed and then today I tried reintroducing the male(that she mated with) but they started fighting almost immediatly. I think she was protective of her nest.

I want them all to coexist in the 40 gallon tank but now Im not sure what to do.

Should I wait until the eggs hatch and try again?

I don't plan on keeping the babies, I will probably find them nice homes.

Please please help me :c

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Hi, I dont know a thing about quail but I would love to see your 40 gallon set up . Sounds really nice.
I imagine she is protecting the nest for sure. 2 males cant go with one hen. I would try and keep a couple more girls and maybe try the other male you have ? That way they wont be related.

 

[Cutebuttons]

Button Quail 40 Gallon Tank Set Up

• Cutebuttons
• Jul 27, 2017
• 1

Here is what the tank looks like now. I change it every so often. This picture was taken before I separated them.

Thanks for answering!

I am hoping others can give me insight on this issue as well.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

I love that ! Thanks.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome aboard!
We are glad you joined our flock.
This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

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[JaeG]

You can keep single sex groups, or a pair, or two females and a male. You'd be best with a pair (same sex or one of each) in that size tank. But if one nests be prepared to remove the other bird/s as males can be unreliable (if they themselves weren't raised naturally by their parents) and females will be protective of their nest. I have no problems with a trio in my aviary when a hen has been nesting but inside, in a smaller set up, I've had to remove the other birds.

 

[DK newbie]

As JaeG said - don't expect to be able to keep two pairs in the same enclosure. Males are usually fine alone together, put more than one male in an enclosure with females and you have trouble.
If the male you introduced was the one that scalped her, she might be terrified of him and this could cause her to be defensive over her nest.
Some hens are defensive for no apparent reason though, but a good roo can keep a low profile and mostly avoid being attacked until she accepts him, if the enclosure is big enough - which yours might not be.
I recently introduced a male to a female with 4 2-week old chicks. She didn't like him and he did spend a while hiding on a shelf in the cage the first day - the next day he was tidbitting in her presence and she didn't attack.
I was curious to see his reaction to the chicks, but there were no apparent issues.

Her previous boyfriend - the father of the chicks - became excessively violent when she went broody and when I tried to reintroduce him when the chicks were a week old, he ignored them and went straight for her. He might have simply wanted to mate but she was terrified and ran all over the place. I took him out and put him in a new cage that housed two females and he was a lot calmer there.

If I were you, I'd try the other male as well. If she doesn't like him either, leave them be until she stops being broody. Then remove the eggs, rearrange the fake plants to make her feel less territorial and try again, one male at a time. Do not try to put both males in there.

I really recommend shelves of some kind in the cage. They don't have to be more than 5 inches or so high. Mostly the birds will just hide under them, but if a female doesn't want to mate or the birds are being aggressive to each other, the one being chased usually finds its way to the shelf and the one chasing it rarely does. This might be able to save the scalp of a bird another time.

You will probably notice that if she accepts a male, the other one will become very loud and stressed. They hate being alone. So either return him, sell him or get a new friend and a larger enclosure for him.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

This is based on what we do with chickens, put mom and eggs in their own area until eggs are hatched and mom has some time to nurture them. We keep them close so they can still see each other, maybe you could put the fish tanks next to eachother. But I would research this first, so they don't harm themselves running into the glass. Good luck

 

[Cutebuttons]

Thanks, everyone I appreciate it. I will keep the males separate from her until she hatches her eggs and once the babies find new homes. I will try to reintroduce them again with another female added.

 

[DK newbie]

You don't mention how long she had been on her own when she laid the eggs - but to me it sounded like it was some time. There are different opinions on how long a female can keep laying fertile eggs after being mated, but I wouldn't expect her to for more than a week or two max. Meaning if she'd been alone for more than that when she laid the eggs, I wouldn't expect them to hatch at all. You can candle them to look for development though.
Also, it still sounds like you intend to house both males with the female. I won't say there is no chance at all that it will work, but the chance that it won't certainly exceeds the chance that it will - no matter how many extra females you add. I wouldn't risk the health of the birds like that.