Plucked quail, Suggestions?

Shellybean02

Chirping
Aug 30, 2015
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I feel like I'm starting too many threads, but there's no limit to how many questions a person can have, right?
My buttons were raised with two coturnix quails. The coturnix quails are both female, and one has cross beak. Yesterday I noticed my blue breasted button hen was going bald and her feathers were messy on her back. She sleeps with my silver red breasted male and a white (unknown gender) button, so I thought it was nothing. Today all three of the buttons have it! Still no injury. I thought I had removed the aggressive male button with his lady a long time ago... I did, but now the remaining are losing feathers. I don't suspect the coturnix lady with cross beak. She has it too severe to grab feathers. So is the healthy coturnix girl being a bully? What should I do about this, since I have no more hutches or containers? And if I do separate her, she will be lonely
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suggestions? Thanks!
 
You do start many threads ^^ But I haven't heard of a limit, no :p
You could try staring at them from a distance, for a looong time, to try to catch the culprit. If you don't have time for that, maybe you can make some kind of temporary cage for either the cots or the buttons. If the cot is the culprit but doesn't pick the other cot, you don't have to keep her all alone.
 
I would not keep these two together. Buttons are too small to put with the cots and the cots will pick on them its natural. Another good point on the single pairs of button quail in one cage. If you have seen the hen and the male mating then remove them to another cage. the 3rd one should be matched up if you can. You could try putting all the buttons in one cage but I would watch to see if this is where the aggression is coming from. Good luck.
 
Oops I didn't think of that hehe thanks. I'll try that. I'm thinking of getting one of those huge plastic storage bins like what I have my pair and their chicks in. Would the three buttons be okay in that?
I wonder if two male buttons can share a female (wild colored female, white male, silver rb male, or wild colored and white females, silver rb male). I've seen trios of a male and two females. Are trio's as likely to have chicks as pairs?
 
I would not keep these two together. Buttons are too small to put with the cots and the cots will pick on them its natural. Another good point on the single pairs of button quail in one cage. If you have seen the hen and the male mating then remove them to another cage. the 3rd one should be matched up if you can. You could try putting all the buttons in one cage but I would watch to see if this is where the aggression is coming from. Good luck.
They have been doing fine all this time, it's strange how natural instincts can kick in out of nowhere... I've never seen any of the nice buttons trying to mate, they all just act like one big family. I'm guessing they actually want to be a trio.
 
In general, I don't think two males and one female would be good. Over mating, aggression, stress and so on. But there might be special cases. And for the plastic storage bin.. If it works for two, I guess it'll work for 3, but keep an eye out for any aggression. About the pair/trio/group thing, I have never had pairs, so all I can say is that my male+3 hens = 26 chicks (I'm counting chicks out-of-the-egg here, not chicks surviving to adulthood) in 6 months. Guess I'll have to buy some roos so I can place at least one of my female chicks alone with a roo, so I can see for myself whether it's better or worse than groups ^^
I was actually at a bird exhibition today, though. There were 3 cages with buttons. One with a lone roo, one with a roo and hen of some special color - very pretty by the way, they almost looked wild colored but some of the usually very dark feathers on top of their heads and backs were a light yellowish-brown - and one with a roo, a hen and a few almost-grown chicks. I noticed that the hen in that cage had very ruffled feathers on her lower back and my conclusion was it was probably from over mating.
Based on my current knowledge on the matter, I think it is very individual from bird to bird, what works. Some roos might not be suited for just one hen (some would say such a roo shouldn't be bred), some hens might not be suited for groups..
Right now I have the parent group, a group of 3 roos that are about 4 months old, a group consisting of their two sisters, and a group of 6 roos and 7 hens that are about 8 weeks old - those are almost sexually mature, so I really need to separate them to prevent the roos from fighting over the hens.. It's turning into a button quail farm! I only managed to sell two roos this far. I might end up giving most of them away, as I really can't accommodate that many birds.. But that's a different topic ^^
 

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