weird button quail questions, shell less eggs, broody girl, balls on claws?

[taprock]

A few new situations in the past week I'm not sure about.

Our one female has started laying shell less eggs the past three days. I know the oyster shell that is in her cage now is much larger pieces than in the past but I wasn't sure if that is the only thing to do for her? All of the egg yolks have also gone from a nice orange to a mild yellow. What are they lacking?

I have another female who keeps going broody. I wouldn't mind letting her hatch some but as soon as she starts sitting she also is mean to her mate, chasing, pecking and won't let him near her. Is this normal broody behavior? What do you do for the poor boy if you let her sit on the eggs?

Just in the last week all of the quail have been developing hard balls on their claws. I am assuming they are like manure balls that can develop on feather footed chickens. I'm just not sure why now when we have never had any in the past. We have newspaper on the bottom of the cage and then some shredded paper in the bottom. The balls were hooked to their claws and hard like a rock that only came off with soaking.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[jbobs]

Looks like you have some problems here. buttons are way too small to consume chicken oystershell - get powdered calcium from the reptile section of the pet store (or you can buy a 50lb bag at the feed store LOL) and sprinkle that on their food once a week. The yolk color has changed because they are not getting any greens in their diet - it doesn't matter for nutritional value much if you are eating them and certainly doesn;t affect fertility as far as I know, but quail should have some access to greens. the balls on the feet are manure - they have accumulated because newspaper is not appropriate bedding - the droppings just sit on top, the birds walk in it, and their feet get caked in it. Use shavings as bedding or finely cut up hay and change it frequently - these balls can rot off their toes so i suggest you soak them in warm water and work them off gently. make sure to get all the feces off and if the toes bleed, which they might if th balls have been on a while, put some betadine or iodine solution on them (not alcohol or peroxide)

I would not be trying to breed these birds until they are getting better nutriton and are in better shape. What are they eating out of curiosity?
Good luck!

 

[mossypath]

With the rise in coffee prices I haven’t been using my grinder for coffee so it now mostly grinds down crumbles for newborns and chicken oyster shell for the Quail. Just a thought since you already have them.

You can also rinse, dry and grind chicken egg shells for her.

 

[mossypath]

I found the YouTube video on cleaning buttons feet. Last time I tried this I set my small “vet” cage in the sink and ran off to do something and she sat in the water. Next time I won’t leave them alone.

 

[taprock]

For feed they get 60/40 game bird crumble and parakeet seeds. I have tried fresh fruit in the past and they wouldn't eat it. What kind of fresh foods do you feed?

I'll make some changes and see if it helps out. Thanks much.

 

[Sumatra503]

For feed they get 60/40 game bird crumble and parakeet seeds. I have tried fresh fruit in the past and they wouldn't eat it. What kind of fresh foods do you feed?

I'll make some changes and see if it helps out. Thanks much.

For fresh foods you can feed most greens, avoiding iceberg lettuce. Just chop it up really fine and they should eat it.

 

[jbobs]

yeah they can be kind of picky if they have never had it before - mine liked romaine lettuce and grass clippings (no fertilizer of course) If they are getting whole seeds they should have some grit available too to help them digest it. Grinding the oystershell in a coffee grinder or magic bullet is a great idea!

 

[taprock]

I have put pine shavings in for bedding and ground up some egg shell fine for them. I finally found a regular egg with shell today. As far as the green. I chopped some clover up and they turned up their beaks at it. I will keep trying other greens.