Quail driving me crazy

[Sians quails]

Hi everyone,

I live in Perth, Australia and I'm new to quails.

My male quail is driving me crazy with his calling (which would be kind of cute if it wasn't so constant).

In cage 1 (top cage) I have a pair of CPQ's which I purchased as a pair. I've had these for probably 2 months. In the last 10 days the female has layed 7 eggs. Showing no sign of sitting on them yet.

In cage 2 (under cage 1) I have had a male CPQ and have had him for about 3-4 months. He used to live in an aviary with lots of other quails and budgies but as my friend was selling all her birds I chose to take him and start my own mini quail farm.

Yesterday I finally found 'cage 2 male' a female silver button. I put her in the cage but she has barely moved and seemed very frightened. I moved her tonight into her own cage (afraid of her not eating or drinking if left in there) but keeping it next to the 'cage 2 male' so they can see each other and hopefully get used to each other.

Since these cages are one on top of the other one pair cannot see the other but can obviously hear them.

So my problems are :

How do I get 'cage 2 male' and new female to at least be friends and then hopefully mate and have little baby chicks?

And the second problem is that the 'cage 1 male' wont stop calling and cooing when it gets dark. He does it constantly. I have videoed him (which took me playing his own calls back to get him to call while I was in front of him). This has only been since I brought the new female in. But he cannot see her and she doesn't seem to be making any noise to make him call. How do I find out what it is he wants?

I would love to find them both another female each but its hard to buy just females here. I'm checking all the time for more females.

Any advice would be much appreciated and sorry it is so long I just wanted to make it as clear as I could.

Thanks,

Sian's Quails

 

[Peacerose]

I am new to quail, too. I think you are doing the right thing to acquaint your new couple. It will take a few days.

You could try covering your cages with a blanket to block out even the smallest amount of light. This might help Mr. Noisy hush up and go to sleep.

 

[GrandmaBird]

Hi everyone,

I live in Perth, Australia and I'm new to quails. Welcome to the wonderful world of Chinese Blue Breasted "Button" Quail,

My male quail is driving me crazy with his calling (which would be kind of cute if it wasn't so constant). this is normal, he is marking his territory by calling/crowing

In cage 1 (top cage) I have a pair of CPQ's which I purchased as a pair. I've had these for probably 2 months. In the last 10 days the female has layed 7 eggs. Showing no sign of sitting on them yet. some buttons will incubate but most do not if you want to hatch them I would put them in an incubator

In cage 2 (under cage 1) I have had a male CPQ and have had him for about 3-4 months. He used to live in an aviary with lots of other quails and budgies but as my friend was selling all her birds I chose to take him and start my own mini quail farm. Okay

Yesterday I finally found 'cage 2 male' a female silver button. I put her in the cage but she has barely moved and seemed very frightened. I moved her tonight into her own cage (afraid of her not eating or drinking if left in there) but keeping it next to the 'cage 2 male' so they can see each other and hopefully get used to each other.
Sounds like a good idea but be sure they can see each other well and try again in a day or so they may bond but you can not make them a pair.
Since these cages are one on top of the other one pair cannot see the other but can obviously hear them.

So my problems are :

How do I get 'cage 2 male' and new female to at least be friends and then hopefully mate and have little baby chicks? slow interaction may work

And the second problem is that the 'cage 1 male' wont stop calling and cooing when it gets dark. He does it constantly. I have videoed him (which took me playing his own calls back to get him to call while I was in front of him). This has only been since I brought the new female in. But he cannot see her and she doesn't seem to be making any noise to make him call. How do I find out what it is he wants?if it is a crowing sound he is marking his territory and you wont stop that he maybe just talking to his female you would have to watch and see what is going on.

I would love to find them both another female each but its hard to buy just females here. I'm checking all the time for more females. Do NOT keep them in trios they are much happier in pairs and will live longer as well.

Any advice would be much appreciated and sorry it is so long I just wanted to make it as clear as I could. Check these two sites for more information link below message

Thanks,

Sian's Quails

~ALL ads belong in Buy Sell Trade, please!~


enjoy your birds,
Robin

 

[Sians quails]

Thanks Peacerose that's a good idea. When I went out there this morning he was still going! I'm so glad I can't hear it from my room.

Thanks Robin for your advice, I'm glad you said about pairs as it's really hard to just get females, and I also wanted them all unrelated which I have so far.

I'll check out those sites today.

 

[Sians quails]

So just an update, she is currently sitting on her eggs. There are 9 or 10 eggs.. i couldn't quite tell. So im pretty excited to see if they hatch!
She is a bit small to sit on soo many eggs..does this mean some definitely ont hatch?

 

[GrandmaBird]

Do not be disappointed if she gives up sitting. mine has tried several times but has always given up at about 10-12 days in. Now she is sitting on some and is on day 15, I hope to hear peeps soon.
When your hen is ready she will tuck the eggs under herself and do so with precision it is really quite amazing to see all those eggs under one little bird!
Good luck hope she stays with it!
Quick question for you : Is the entire floor covered in sand? It is fine if so, just wondering, mine is pine shavings and they have a container of sand to bathe in.

 

[Sians quails]

Hi Grandmabird i hope she doesn't give up my fingers crossed.. if she does am i able to move them to the incubator or will they have already died? i see she gets off them to eat but not for very long. When i first saw her off them i was a bit worried and i was checking every minute and then she got back on them. Phew

My entire floor is mesh and I put a kitty litter tray in each one (I found some with short sides for the buttons and higher sides for the Japanese) and in the litter tray I put 1/3sand, 1/3fireplace ash and 1/3 jarrah sawdust. I'll attach some photos of the cages I built, each one is 1metre wide and 60cm deep and about 60cm high. They probably aren't quite high enough for them when they shoot up but i wasn't planning on keeping the buttons when i built them.
I'll have to find something to cover the floor when/if the chicks hatch. Or am I supposed to move them to a brooder? I really want her to do everything on her own.

So the first photo is the one the CPQ buttons are in and the 2nd one has my Japanese chicks in it (I still call them my chicks) and the 3rd is the litter tray she uses, i also added some hay for her to make a nest with after she had about 6 eggs.

 

[GrandmaBird]

the wire floor is really hard on their feet. could you put some wood shavings or the like for them to walk on? I have mine with padded rubber shelve liner then wood shavings on top of the wire bottom. It is easy to clean just scoop out the shavings and add clean about every 2 weeks for just one pair. I also use a pan with sand for bathing, I do not have access to ash or sawdust but they love the sand. I love your cages, mine are in a regular bird cage that I modified so they think they have a short top and they are happy so guess its okay with them. happy quail keeping.