My Quails won't lay eggs

[Quail862]

I have 9 Japanese Quails, 8 female and 1 male. They are about 11 weeks old. They started laying eggs two weeks ago and I got 4-3 per day for two days -so happy. Then it reduced to 2 a day and now 1 a day if I am lucky. I think only one bird is laying right now and the rest are not

. I was feeding them layered chick food with 18% protein and I just switched to Meat bird food of 20% protein. They always have clean water. And Fresh veggie and mill worms occasionally. What am I doing wrong

? Do some quails just never lay eggs?

Your help is highly appreciated.

 

[DK newbie]

It might be the protein that's too low. Usually 25-30% is recommended for coturnix. Game bird starter or turkey starter is usually the way to go. Starter feeds don't have enough calcium for laying birds though, so you also need to supply extra calcium - oyster shell, for instance, but make sure to grind it down to quail size. And if you supply it in a separate bowl, they can dose it themselves.
Other options are stress or too little light. They need about 14 hours of light a day to lay. Stress could be caused by having too little space per bird, nowhere to hide, external factors such as dogs running around the cage and several other things.
And -

 

[mporche]

Put some extra light on them.They need around 14 hours a day.

 

[Daisy1998]

I have mine on 18% game bird feed and they lay great, so my guess is you changing their feed? Mine always do that, whether it's chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineas, or quail. If I change their feed, they always stop laying for the next few days. Or if I add a new bird or change pens or something it just messes up their schedule I guess.

 

[Quail862]

Thanks. The food with highest protein I can find at Murdock's is 20%. I also checked the Pet stores and they don't have anything better. Some people suggest that I can use cat food. This sounds like a crazy idea.

 

[Quail862]

Thanks. They are in my garage by the window. I just set up an extra lamp with a timer. Hope it will do something.

 

[Quail862]

Thanks. I got them when they were 3 wk old. I feed them chick starter food till they started laying. By that time I switched to the layered chicken food. When I noticed they were laying less eggs I switched to the meat bird food with higher protein. They have been on the meat bird food for over a week now.

 

[pinevalley farm]

minedont lay usaly till 12 to 15 weeks

 

[Quail862]

What type of quails do you have?

 

[contactvidura]

I think the problem is with the Male Female ratio... You must have 2 males per 8 or you can try removing male for unfertilized eggs.