quail on hunger strike??? and stopped laying eggs

I would need some help here to see what went wrong.
I bought 3 female and one male coturnix last year. They did really well, lots of eggs, seemed happy. Occasional fights, but managed to sort them. They are outside, so they stopped laying for the winter. This spring i lost one of the girls to the cat, so was left with 2girls and the boy.they started laying again in the middle of april, and did so for about a month.A couple of weeks ago the eggs became less, and i noticed, that one of the females is always sitting in the nest. few days ago i got an all white egg. And that was the end. No more after that.
The girl that was sitting in the nest had to be separated, an is obviously dying now. Does not eat or drink.the others started to pick on her. The other two seem to be ok, except no eggs. The boy still does his job, though not as mad about it as he would have been last year, when 3 girls had more than enough of him. I am feeding them the same brand 20% chick starter crumbs ever since i got them. They get crushed egg shell, occasional dandelion leaves, cuccumber, and add apple cider to their water.
I am beginning to wonder. Are they dying of old age? Maybe when i got them last year in spring they were on the point of laying but already 1 year old?
Would someone have any idea whats going on, and how could i do better. My my kids are really disappointed as they are always waiting for their mini "sunny-side-ups" {fried eggs} from their quails.
Thanks for any inputs.
Waiting to hear from you

I know nothing about quail but, her behavior sounds just like a chicken hen brooding eggs. The often refuse to leave the nest to eat, drink or even poop. They can starve to death if you don't make them leave the nest and take care of business for a short while. If that is the case, try moving a dish of food close to her nest, so she can reach it without leaving her egg. Also have water within reach. If you think the egg may hatch soon, put out a shallow bowl of water with clean pebbles or marbles in it, so if a chick falls in - it has some protection from drowning.

I do feel your quail is being broody - it's not an illness - and she won't die if you can get to eating/drinking. Otherwise don't stress her.

They do sound a bit young to be dying of old age. Those things are capable of living up to 5 years! I agree with drumstick diva that your quail sounds broody, though that sure is unusual in Jap quail...

I didn't realize, you had said you had to separate her. Why?

I had to separate her because became too weak. It came out of the nest one day and the boy kept jumping on her and the other girl started to pick on her. She would have been just hurt there.
I tried to give her to drink, which she did, but would not eat. I put some sugar in the water, as sometime they do for young chicks, and gave her a boiled egg too. This is 2 days now, im afraid not much can be done for her. (looks too bad), im a busy mum, can`t keep at her all day
but what about the other girl? not a single egg for about a week now.
Thanks for the previous suggestions.At first I did think she might have been broody, but never heard about refusing to eat.

felippe said:

ok. there is some improvement this pm. I expected her to be dead by now, but to my surprise it started eating and drinking on her own. she is very weak, cant stand, but already looks brighter.

thanks a lot

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Hoping she makes a good recovery.