Please help! Quails being attacked

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Flight Feathers
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Please help! Quails being attacked

Post by Flight Feathers » Fri Feb 02, 2018 8:22 pm

Please help! Today I bought 2 new female Chinese button quail. As soon as I introduced them to my original pair of Chinese quails, my male put his wings out and started aggressively attacking them ?!? So I have removed him to the other aviairy for the time being. Now I come back to look at the other quails and my female is chasing them around! So she's been put in another cage and now it is just the 2 new females by themselves in the finch aviairy. Is this normal for quails to attack new ones as full on as this ?! The poor new quails are missing a coupe feathers now tho luckily nothing serious. What do I do? I don't want to leave them seperated for ever! I'm getting another male in 3 weeks and the plan is that he goes with my original female plus one of the new ones and then my infertile male (original male) will just go with one of the new females in the parrot aviairy so that he is not alone.
Is this a good idea or should I just keep the original pair together ? The reason I want the original female with a fertile male is because my original female is a really good sitter and layer and will sit on her eggs no matter what even if she is completely drenched from the rain getting in. Thanks in advance for any advice!
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lovezebs
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Re: Please help! Quails being attacked

Post by lovezebs » Sat Feb 03, 2018 10:22 am

Although I don't (and never have) keep Quail, I have heard from other folks that they are quite aggressive.

Not sure what to recommend...
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Re: Please help! Quails being attacked

Post by Fernando » Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:43 pm

Hello!
As I didn't know which bird this is I just used the search engine for button quail - they are gorgeous birds! - and in the first entry I found this : "Cocks must never be housed together however, as they will fight viciously."

I also found there are many many places dedicated exclusively to this species and other quails, so, if you don't get enough infos here, have a look there too.

If these ground dwelling birds are territorial, you can't ever put new ones to the ones that already live in the aviary. Unless the aviary is very big - to allow two or more territories - you could try entering all birds at the same time to a previous unknown aviary.

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Re: Please help! Quails being attacked

Post by Flight Feathers » Sat Feb 03, 2018 3:11 pm

Fernando wrote: Hello!
As I didn't know which bird this is I just used the search engine for button quail - they are gorgeous birds! - and in the first entry I found this : "Cocks must never be housed together however, as they will fight viciously."

I also found there are many many places dedicated exclusively to this species and other quails, so, if you don't get enough infos here, have a look there too.

If these ground dwelling birds are territorial, you can't ever put new ones to the ones that already live in the aviary. Unless the aviary is very big - to allow two or more territories - you could try entering all birds at the same time to a previous unknown aviary.
@Fernando - thank you!

No, I would never house two males together but I didn't realise the pair would get so territorial! I posted this on another forum also and at the moment I have the original pair in a small cage inside the aviairy so they can see the other quail but can't hurt them and then after 3-7 days I may try moving them all to my other aviairy and see what happens.
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Re: Please help! Quails being attacked

Post by Flight Feathers » Sat Feb 03, 2018 3:12 pm

Flight Feathers wrote:
Fernando wrote: Hello!
As I didn't know which bird this is I just used the search engine for button quail - they are gorgeous birds! - and in the first entry I found this : "Cocks must never be housed together however, as they will fight viciously."

I also found there are many many places dedicated exclusively to this species and other quails, so, if you don't get enough infos here, have a look there too.

If these ground dwelling birds are territorial, you can't ever put new ones to the ones that already live in the aviary. Unless the aviary is very big - to allow two or more territories - you could try entering all birds at the same time to a previous unknown aviary.
@Fernando - thank you!

No, I would never house two males together but I didn't realise the pair would get so territorial! I posted this on another forum also and at the moment I have the original pair in a small cage inside the aviairy so they can see the other quail but can't hurt them and then after 3-7 days I may try moving them all to my other aviairy and see what happens.
And yes I agree they are absolutely beautiful wee birds!
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Re: Please help! Quails being attacked

Post by Celeris » Tue Feb 27, 2018 3:31 pm

Flight Feathers

This is an old enough post that I wager you've found a solution, however, just wanted to pipe up with my two cents. Button quail are, like Elana said, extremely aggressive and territorial birds. Just throwing a new bird in with established birds is a recipe for disaster. Gradual introductions are best. I recommend introducing the birds through a cage. You could set two cages next to each other, to give them time to observe and grow accustomed to each other. Or place a cage in an aviary of the established birds so that the newcomer is protected from the established quail. (Just make sure the newcomer has somewhere to hide and feel safe.)

These birds are not as easy to swap out as finches. Most folks suggest that they are monogamous, so swapping out a cock for a new one may never work for you. (Other people successfully keep them in colonies without trouble.)

I currently have a male housed with two females. I divided their cage originally and observed them for a week as they grew accustomed to the presence of the others until I was confident enough to remove the divider. I still sometimes have issues with one of the three getting singled out by the other two. (Sometimes the girls pick on the boy, sometimes the original pair pick on the "newcomer." It seems to depend on the day.)

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Re: Please help! Quails being attacked

Post by Flight Feathers » Tue Feb 27, 2018 7:25 pm

Celeris wrote: Flight Feathers

This is an old enough post that I wager you've found a solution, however, just wanted to pipe up with my two cents. Button quail are, like Elana said, extremely aggressive and territorial birds. Just throwing a new bird in with established birds is a recipe for disaster. Gradual introductions are best. I recommend introducing the birds through a cage. You could set two cages next to each other, to give them time to observe and grow accustomed to each other. Or place a cage in an aviary of the established birds so that the newcomer is protected from the established quail. (Just make sure the newcomer has somewhere to hide and feel safe.)

These birds are not as easy to swap out as finches. Most folks suggest that they are monogamous, so swapping out a cock for a new one may never work for you. (Other people successfully keep them in colonies without trouble.)

I currently have a male housed with two females. I divided their cage originally and observed them for a week as they grew accustomed to the presence of the others until I was confident enough to remove the divider. I still sometimes have issues with one of the three getting singled out by the other two. (Sometimes the girls pick on the boy, sometimes the original pair pick on the "newcomer." It seems to depend on the day.)
Thank you for the advice! They are one big happy family now, no fighting whatsoever! I am pleased they settled in. I did keep the original pair separate in a cage in the aviairy so they could get used to each other and it seemed to work. Next week I'll be getting my new male so guess I shall see how that goes with separating and switching the quail around.
~Flight Feathers Bird Home~

14 Zebra Finches, 4 Budgies, 3 Cockatiels, 2 Canaries, 7 Chinese quail, 3 Bengalese Finches, 1 Turquoise Parrot, 1 Goldfinch

Now a member of the NZFBA!


http://www.thepictaram.club/instagram/f ... thersbirds

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