solo button quail

[motherhenA]

We 'won' a pair of button quail and watched one fly away out of the box...so we put the newly named spike in an old hamster cage in the living room...he/she is mostly bald on top, but will talk to us occassionally...we keep him partially covered by a towel as he seems much less nervous...is there a way to tell if it's a boy or girl to find him a friend next year?...we are giving him a mixture of chicken feed, home bird seed, grit and vitamin drops and he seems okay with it...any advice would be appreciated by us and by "spike" as the kids named the little guy...girl...guy, sigh.

 

[spookyevilone]

Depending on colour, it could be kind of hard. If it has a white 'bib' under the neck, it's a male but lack of bib doesn't necessarily mean hen. The feather loss could be overcrowded picking from before you got it or breeding picking. (Or some other reason, but those are the most common)

The only way I've found with most of mine is: wait. The quail will be nervous for a few days, but after that, it should chill out a bit and if it's a male, it'll start crowing. If you hear insane doll laughter or Pillsbury dough-boy laughter, go sit and watch and if you hear a small set of "rev up" noises "rrrrr .. rrrrrraaaww..rrrrrrrawwwww", it's definitely a male. Females usually peep like they're calling chicks but they can also do the high crowing noise as well.

Mine were all so bald or dull coloured when I got them, I had to guess when I paired them up. Both my splash male and the dull, cinnamon coloured bird he was in with crowed, but only the splash made the revving noise.. and the other day, the dull cinnamon laid an egg.

Good luck with your bird!
-Spooky

 

[shelleyd2008]

This site has a lot of pictures of button quail. It should be relatively easy to sex the bird by its color, even with the bald head. As long as it has feathers on its face and chest you should be able to tell. The males are very colorful and well marked, and the females are colored more to 'blend in'. Hope this helps. You could always post a pic and we could help you as well.
http://www.zebrafinch.com/NewButtonquail/MainQuail.html