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A Curious Fact about Button Quail
- Thread starter chompie_puppy
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so cute and tiny!!!
Who shall take my button chickies if I have some? I will keep a couple, but I'll surely have more than I can handle 
Carole, Susanne?????
Carole, Susanne?????- Joined
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Thank you for all the lovely comments on my babies! 
When I first started out with my girls I couldn't find a lot of information on Button Quail anywhere! So I phoned some avian vets and also some native Australian quail keepers for some information. I thought I'd share since some of you seem to be considering these very quiet, non-messy and easily pleased birdies.
My girls really are fantastic little girls to have around. And when I say girls, I mean GIRLS!
Male Button Quail can be (and almost always are) exceptionally aggressive. Never, ever house more than one male in an enclosure unless you have an absolutely huge area for them to be in with lots and lots of hiding places. Males tend to kill other males. They peck at the back of another male's head until the peck through the head!
It is also not wise to house one male with only one female. Males are very... virile... and they will constantly pester the female to mate. So much so that they could accidentally end up killing the female.
If you want to house a male with other Button Quail then you should give him a minimum of three females in his enclosure. That way you can give two of your females a break at a time while he goes off and pesters the other one.
Single females housed with a male will often have a shorter lifespan as it is very stressful to be constantly chased and pecked into submission.
That is why they best combo to have (in my opinion) is any number of females. They are very docile little girls and they will almost never fight. Just keep in mind that Button Quail love company. My two girls will always sleep on top of each other at night and they will do absolutely everything together. Very cute!
Their diet consists of:
- A good quail seed mix
- Shellgrit
- Veggies (they love broccoli, carrot, beetroot, cos lettuce)
- Mealworms and Crickets
- Insectivore Mix
- Native plants and branches (paperbark is a big hit because it has all sorts of creepy crawlies hiding in there that they can peck out).
They are prolific egg layers and I get an egg from each of my girls every second or third day.
However, Button Quail tend to be terrible mothers in captivity. They will almost never incubate their eggs. If they do manage to hatch their eggs then they might kill the chicks because they seem to have no idea what they are.
It is very important to consider their housing before bringing Button Quail home. They have this tendency to "popcorn". This means that if they get a fright (which is quite often) then they will shoot up in the air at a million miles a second. They can shoot up over three meters in the air! I actually lost a little girl Button Quail this way. She popcorned while inside and she broke her neck against the ceiling. Very traumatic! So their enclosure should have netting or cloth draped under the ceiling so they have something to bounce back on.
It is 2m x 1m x 1m. Here are some photos of when my partner and I first brought it home:
It now has a wind shield, heat lamp and sprinkler system installed inside.
Any insects really. It is actually very interesting to watch them "hunt" their insect prey. I've seen my girls snatch moths and flies right out of the air!
I've never had a male so I can't imagine the sound.
Have you heard the female "evil clown laugh"? I was scared stiff when I heard it the first time! It is a whispering sort of evil laugh that they make when it's dark. The girls used to sleep in my room while becoming acclimatising to outside living and the first night as soon as I switched off my light I heard this terrifying sound! They would actually keep me up at night because I wasn't sure if they were calling or if it actually was an evil clown under my bed!
Just keep this in mind before you order some eggs. There certainly are people who can do this successfully (Kristy being a prime example), so don't let all my rambling information dishearten you. They really are fantastic pets to have and I would recommend them to most people. 
When I first started out with my girls I couldn't find a lot of information on Button Quail anywhere! So I phoned some avian vets and also some native Australian quail keepers for some information. I thought I'd share since some of you seem to be considering these very quiet, non-messy and easily pleased birdies. My girls really are fantastic little girls to have around. And when I say girls, I mean GIRLS!
Male Button Quail can be (and almost always are) exceptionally aggressive. Never, ever house more than one male in an enclosure unless you have an absolutely huge area for them to be in with lots and lots of hiding places. Males tend to kill other males. They peck at the back of another male's head until the peck through the head!
It is also not wise to house one male with only one female. Males are very... virile... and they will constantly pester the female to mate. So much so that they could accidentally end up killing the female.
If you want to house a male with other Button Quail then you should give him a minimum of three females in his enclosure. That way you can give two of your females a break at a time while he goes off and pesters the other one.
Single females housed with a male will often have a shorter lifespan as it is very stressful to be constantly chased and pecked into submission.
That is why they best combo to have (in my opinion) is any number of females. They are very docile little girls and they will almost never fight. Just keep in mind that Button Quail love company. My two girls will always sleep on top of each other at night and they will do absolutely everything together.
Very cute!Their diet consists of:
- A good quail seed mix
- Shellgrit
- Veggies (they love broccoli, carrot, beetroot, cos lettuce)
- Mealworms and Crickets
- Insectivore Mix
- Native plants and branches (paperbark is a big hit because it has all sorts of creepy crawlies hiding in there that they can peck out).
They are prolific egg layers and I get an egg from each of my girls every second or third day.
However, Button Quail tend to be terrible mothers in captivity. They will almost never incubate their eggs. If they do manage to hatch their eggs then they might kill the chicks because they seem to have no idea what they are.
It is very important to consider their housing before bringing Button Quail home. They have this tendency to "popcorn". This means that if they get a fright (which is quite often) then they will shoot up in the air at a million miles a second. They can shoot up over three meters in the air! I actually lost a little girl Button Quail this way. She popcorned while inside and she broke her neck against the ceiling.
Very traumatic! So their enclosure should have netting or cloth draped under the ceiling so they have something to bounce back on.They have their own enclosure.I absolutely LOOOVE button quail! They are SO TINY & precious
What kind of enclosure do you keep yours in? Or do they live in an aviary?
It is 2m x 1m x 1m. Here are some photos of when my partner and I first brought it home:
It now has a wind shield, heat lamp and sprinkler system installed inside.
They absolutely adore mealworms!WOW!! They are adorable...thanks for sharing! A friend has some in her lovebird flight. Thanks for sharing! I'll have to tell her to try some mealworms
Any insects really. It is actually very interesting to watch them "hunt" their insect prey. I've seen my girls snatch moths and flies right out of the air!Ha ha ha!Awww I loves me Button Quail, I could not tolerate the males Darth Vader sound however.
Freaked me out completely.
I've never had a male so I can't imagine the sound.Have you heard the female "evil clown laugh"? I was scared stiff when I heard it the first time! It is a whispering sort of evil laugh that they make when it's dark. The girls used to sleep in my room while becoming acclimatising to outside living and the first night as soon as I switched off my light I heard this terrifying sound! They would actually keep me up at night because I wasn't sure if they were calling or if it actually was an evil clown under my bed!
They are really very cute and interesting little birds to have around! I adore them.
Because of all of the above reasons I could never order Button Quail eggs and then incubating them myself. With this method you have no control over what sexes you will get. You might end up with 10 males and then you will need to rehome almost all of them (unless you have a lot of space and money to keep them all)! It is exceptionally difficult to find suitable homes for males just like it is to find suitable homes for male chickens. Also, a lot of snake owners feed out Button Quail to their pets so it's important to make sure you find a suitable home for the chicks (unless, of course, you don't mind them becoming snake food).
Just keep this in mind before you order some eggs.
There certainly are people who can do this successfully (Kristy being a prime example), so don't let all my rambling information dishearten you. They really are fantastic pets to have and I would recommend them to most people. 
Kristy
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LOL
I gave my fellow board members first dibs on my babies too (free of course). It was fun to incubate, but your right Kelsey I wouldn't want any boys at all so I think I would buy straight up young girlies
No I don't think I ever heard that girl "evil clown laugh" but maybe I did and I thought it was the male doing it.
WOW! Facinating! Can you tell the sex of them upon hatch?
Babybreau
Rollerblading along the road
They sure are adorable!! I love the silver one!!
What WONDERFUL & VALUABLE info! Thank you!Thank you for all the lovely comments on my babies!
My girls really are fantastic little girls to have around. And when I say girls, I mean GIRLS!
Male Button Quail can be (and almost always are) exceptionally aggressive. Never, ever house more than one male in an enclosure unless you have an absolutely huge area for them to be in with lots and lots of hiding places. Males tend to kill other males. They peck at the back of another male's head until the peck through the head!
It is also not wise to house one male with only one female. Males are very... virile... and they will constantly pester the female to mate. So much so that they could accidentally end up killing the female.
If you want to house a male with other Button Quail then you should give him a minimum of three females in his enclosure. That way you can give two of your females a break at a time while he goes off and pesters the other one.
Single females housed with a male will often have a shorter lifespan as it is very stressful to be constantly chased and pecked into submission.
That is why they best combo to have (in my opinion) is any number of females. They are very docile little girls and they will almost never fight. Just keep in mind that Button Quail love company. My two girls will always sleep on top of each other at night and they will do absolutely everything together.
Their diet consists of:
- A good quail seed mix
- Shellgrit
- Veggies (they love broccoli, carrot, beetroot, cos lettuce)
- Mealworms and Crickets
- Insectivore Mix
- Native plants and branches (paperbark is a big hit because it has all sorts of creepy crawlies hiding in there that they can peck out).
They are prolific egg layers and I get an egg from each of my girls every second or third day.
However, Button Quail tend to be terrible mothers in captivity. They will almost never incubate their eggs. If they do manage to hatch their eggs then they might kill the chicks because they seem to have no idea what they are.
It is very important to consider their housing before bringing Button Quail home. They have this tendency to "popcorn". This means that if they get a fright (which is quite often) then they will shoot up in the air at a million miles a second. They can shoot up over three meters in the air! I actually lost a little girl Button Quail this way. She popcorned while inside and she broke her neck against the ceiling.
They have their own enclosure.
It now has a wind shield, heat lamp and sprinkler system installed inside.
They absolutely adore mealworms!
Ha ha ha!
Have you heard the female "evil clown laugh"? I was scared stiff when I heard it the first time! It is a whispering sort of evil laugh that they make when it's dark. The girls used to sleep in my room while becoming acclimatising to outside living and the first night as soon as I switched off my light I heard this terrifying sound! They would actually keep me up at night because I wasn't sure if they were calling or if it actually was an evil clown under my bed!
They are really very cute and interesting little birds to have around! I adore them.
Because of all of the above reasons I could never order Button Quail eggs and then incubating them myself. With this method you have no control over what sexes you will get. You might end up with 10 males and then you will need to rehome almost all of them (unless you have a lot of space and money to keep them all)! It is exceptionally difficult to find suitable homes for males just like it is to find suitable homes for male chickens. Also, a lot of snake owners feed out Button Quail to their pets so it's important to make sure you find a suitable home for the chicks (unless, of course, you don't mind them becoming snake food).
Just keep this in mind before you order some eggs.
Okay, I DEFINITELY do NOT want males...perhaps when/if I am ready, I'll get young females from a bird fair - Joined
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No, unfortunately you can't.
At least not visually. They are only slightly bigger than a thumb when first hatched so sexing them like you would chicken chicks is out of the question.The get their adult plumage pretty early on though (I think 2 months?). The males have a very pretty white bib on their throats, so sexing them is very easy once their adult colours come in (except for the white mutation - which is not available in Australia).
Thanks!
Ironically Pirate (the silver one) is actually blind in one eye (I should get her a little eye flap like a real pirate!). She's coping perfectly fine with just one eye and Fizz actually calls to her and leads her to the mealworms when they are around and she can't find them straight away. 
waterfaller1
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They are adorable. A man I know in Miami keeps them in the bottom of his aviary with honeycreepers.
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Lol, thanks!What WONDERFUL & VALUABLE info! Thank you!
It took a lot of phone calls and trail and error to find out some of these things about Button Quail.Female Button Quail are really some of the best pet birds I've ever met. They can become quite tame (as you can see in my photos) and my girlies even run up to me in the mornings to take a mealworm each from my hand.
I forgot to mention they absolutely adore sand baths. So if you keep them indoors it would be good to take them outside every now and then and give them a bowl of sand. Or, I suppose, you could give them a bowl of sand indoors... but you'll need to vacuum afterward.
I've hear that Button Quail are very good little cleaners at the bottom of aviaries.
As long as the species they are housed with aren't bullies, then they live quite happily.The produce a lot of poop though... so I suppose one would end up having to clean the aviary quite often anyway.
What cute girls. My hubby let me know yesterday he wants to get acouple for our aviary. So my research begins to see if it'd be a good thing.
Greycloud
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They are just so adorable! I love the pics on the red comforter.
When I worked at the zoo, we had a pretty red him who just adopted me as her Momma. I loved that pretty girl. She would lay upside down in my arms and fall sound asleep for an hour.
When I worked at the zoo, we had a pretty red him who just adopted me as her Momma. I loved that pretty girl. She would lay upside down in my arms and fall sound asleep for an hour.
Great thread, packed with heaps of useful info! Thanks so much. It'll be a great help with my getting started with quail. I think i'll get one more female so i have 1 male to 3 female (and so i can have Eenie, Meenie, Miney and Mo, lol).
Thanks so much. It'll be a great help with my getting started with quail. I think i'll get one more female so i have 1 male to 3 female (and so i can have Eenie, Meenie, Miney and Mo, lol).- Joined
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Cool!What cute girls. My hubby let me know yesterday he wants to get acouple for our aviary. So my research begins to see if it'd be a good thing.
Have you made a decision yet? Awww, that is so cute!
Ha ha ha, love the names!Great thread, packed with heaps of useful info!
waterfaller1
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Those would be cute names Bea!
I saw baby ones at the last show. They were teeny tiny. I have a pic somewhere I think.
I saw baby ones at the last show. They were teeny tiny. I have a pic somewhere I think.
waterfaller1
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