Quail with red patches

[New to Quail]

Hi, I have 5 button quail that I have hatched out of an incubator 3 weeks ago and I noticed that one of the quail has a small red patch on her/his side and also on the bottom/end of her body.Does anyone know what it could be? Is it blood. Also how do you indentify the gender of a 3 week old button quail?

Thanks

 

[New to Quail]

 

[007Sean]

Hi and
I have several of the same coloration on my button quail. Slate/red feathering. It's not blood!
The easiest way to tell if it's male or female is to see if it has a bib. Males have bib's under their neck. Females do not. You can also vent sex them but Im not that good at it, so I just wait till they feather out to determine the sex.

 

[DK newbie]

It's hard to tell from the picture as the color is not clear, but I think what you are seeing is actually proof of the bird being a male. Apart from the bib (which is not present in all mutations) one of the best ways to tell the sex is the presence of rust red feathers in the vent area/belly/sides of male birds.
They usually get those when they are 2-5 weeks old and only birds that are completely white in the vent/belly area lacks them. The bib - if present - shows up at age 3-6 weeks. Don't mistake a white patch or stripe for a bib though - only the full array of black and white stripes that are seen on a wild colored male means the bird is for certain a male.
The red breasted mutation makes the rust red feathers extend further up the sides and chest and that might be why you are seeing a patch relatively high on the side of your baby. Females never have red vent feathers.

 

[007Sean]

Thanks for chiming in DK, I haven't raised buttons very long, so Im certainly not an authority on buttons.

 

[New to Quail]

Hi, thank you both for the replies as I was seriously worried and could not find any suitable explanation on the web.

Another question is that I have one pure white quail and 2 white quail but there backs are slightly silver. They are all 3 weeks old, how would I find the sex of them?

 

[DK newbie]

With the pure white one you'll have to wait for it to crow (or croak, might be a better description), tidbit or lay an egg.
You might be lucky that the silver/whites (sounds like silver tuxedos) will get a few pink (in silvers the rust red gets diluted and looks more light pink) feathers if the silver color gets close enough to the tail - otherwise it's the same as the white.
If you place each of them alone with one you are certain is male in a few weeks, that might provoke them to start 'croaking'.
Most of the sounds males and females make are similar and hard to tell apart, but when croaking (a quite low sound, like quaarrrrrk) the throat gets all filled with air and I have never seen a female do that.
Males usually only do it to attract females though, which is why I suggest you place them with a male to make them do it -if there are already females around, they are not as likely to do it.
If placing them with a certain male to make them croak doesn't work, you can try placing them with a certain female to see if they'll tidbit - holding a piece of food in their beak while calling the female with a series of low peep-peep-peep-peep's. Females do this to their chicks, but I've never seen one do it to another female, so if the bird does it you are pretty certain it's male.
If that doesn't work either, you'll just have to wait for it to lay an egg.

All of these method require the bird to be at least 6-8 weeks.

 

[007Sean]

With the pure white one you'll have to wait for it to crow (or croak, might be a better description), tidbit or lay an egg.
You might be lucky that the silver/whites (sounds like silver tuxedos) will get a few pink (in silvers the rust red gets diluted and looks more light pink) feathers if the silver color gets close enough to the tail - otherwise it's the same as the white.
If you place each of them alone with one you are certain is male in a few weeks, that might provoke them to start 'croaking'.
Most of the sounds males and females make are similar and hard to tell apart, but when croaking (a quite low sound, like quaarrrrrk) the throat gets all filled with air and I have never seen a female do that.
Males usually only do it to attract females though, which is why I suggest you place them with a male to make them do it -if there are already females around, they are not as likely to do it.
If placing them with a certain male to make them croak doesn't work, you can try placing them with a certain female to see if they'll tidbit - holding a piece of food in their beak while calling the female with a series of low peep-peep-peep-peep's. Females do this to their chicks, but I've never seen one do it to another female, so if the bird does it you are pretty certain it's male.
If that doesn't work either, you'll just have to wait for it to lay an egg.

All of these method require the bird to be at least 6-8 weeks.

DK, when you say "croak" are you referring to the "hissing" sound males make or is it a frog-like "croak"?

 

[MageofMist]

DK, when you say "croak" are you referring to the "hissing" sound males make or is it a frog-like "croak"?

It is sorta like a revving sound. ^^

 

[007Sean]

It is sorta like a revving sound. ^^

Yep, that's the sound Im talking about....sounds like something you'd hear on a horror film. For such a small bird, it's really loud.
The first time I heard it, it woke me up from a deep sleep....thought some strange animal had got into my house! LOL