The Do's and Don'ts of Button Quail (CBBQ)

[ChickieBooBoo]

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HOW do you manage to get them to let you do THAT?? Most of mine freak out if i just walk near their cages no matter what i do to bribe them......

I only have 3 of them so they all get quite a bit of attention, they also live with a chicken chick thats pretty friendly so he sets an example to the Buttons. I just have to be careful not to make sudden movements and spook them because it takes awhile for them to come back.

 

[mhwc56]

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HOW do you manage to get them to let you do THAT?? Most of mine freak out if i just walk near their cages no matter what i do to bribe them......

I only have 3 of them so they all get quite a bit of attention, they also live with a chicken chick thats pretty friendly so he sets an example to the Buttons. I just have to be careful not to make sudden movements and spook them because it takes awhile for them to come back.

so no magic tricks to it huh?too bad ,i would love to figure out how to calm them down enough that i can feed etc without them nearly dying of heart attack........i had 1 of my hens die yesterday b/c she got out of the cage while i was feeding and it was just too much for her i guess....now the poor male has been calling for the past 24 hours for her......it's soo sad!

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

awe, poor girl. I think it also helped that I hatched them and handled them all the time from a very young age. Some days they are really tame, others not so much, depends on what mood they are in lol

 

[thekid]

do you have to keep them in pairs if not how many females do you reccommend per male?

 

[Robo]

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Yep, pairs are the vest way to do it.

 

[thekid]

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Yep, pairs are the vest way to do it.

Thankyou

 

[Griffin Nest]

wait, what do you mean by "don't 'play' with them"?

 

[shelleyd2008]

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Don't handle them too much. They get spooked very easily and can seriously injure themselves or even 'stroke out'. They are strictly for looking at, if you want something to 'play' with get a coturnix.

 

[shelleyd2008]

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I'm sorry that I missed this. I'm sure by now you've figured out that they don't even have to struggle to get through 1" wire. But for others who may read this thread, buttons need at least 1/2" wire on the sides and top of their cages unless you plan to let them hatch babies. Then the wire should be no bigger than 1/4" or the sides of their pen should be solid at least 3-4" from the bottom.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
HOW do you manage to get them to let you do THAT?? Most of mine freak out if i just walk near their cages no matter what i do to bribe them......

I only have 3 of them so they all get quite a bit of attention, they also live with a chicken chick thats pretty friendly so he sets an example to the Buttons. I just have to be careful not to make sudden movements and spook them because it takes awhile for them to come back.

When I've 'raised' buttons with chickens (usually Serama chicks since they are comparable in size) the buttons usually are tamer. But they still freak out when I reach in their pen. I do have a few that don't freak on me but they are from my original hatch and are almost 3 years old. I guess they've finally figured out that I don't plan to eat them