Why my Button Quails are not laying Eggs? :'( Help me Figure it out

siD69

Hatching
6 Years
Jun 20, 2013
7
0
9
Hi, i am Dianna Sid. I have Query regarding my Quails.
I have bought 4 of them recently about 3 weeks ago. There ages are above 2 months { I guess }. I asked the bird keeper to give me 2 males and 2 females, so he gave me 2 White Button Quail Males & 1 White Button Quail Female & 1 Golden Quail (Don't Know it's Exact Group Name) Female.

  • I also can't distinguish there Sex. I think the bird keeper made me fool & gave me all male birds.
    th.gif
  • I am regularly feeding them with Millet and Grains. Then Why are they not laying eggs?
I am too worried about them. Am i fearing right that the bird keeper have made me fool?
plz help me on it ASAP
 
It's possible that you do have males and females. Whenever you move birds, quail, chickens....,they will take a break from laying until they get over the move to a new environment all together. They could start laying any day if it has been 3 weeks.
 
Here are some initial pics i am posting.
I am marking them as said by the shop keeper, no experience of distinguishing their Sex.
Help me out...







Females are marked with Pink Colored " F "


Another better view of so-called Females.
 
It's possible that you do have males and females. Whenever you move birds, quail, chickens....,they will take a break from laying until they get over the move to a new environment all together. They could start laying any day if it has been 3 weeks.
Can you help me distinguish the males and females, if u can.
i have taken some of there pictures.
also uploaded a few one.
 
That is a very beautiful cage, although it looks like it might be too small for all of them together. You want to have happy quail & happy quail need some room! The general rule is 1square foot per bird, but it's okay to give them more room than that.

For some ideas:

  • A rabbit hutch w/o lid on the ground is a perfect play area when you supervise them.
  • A box with wood ash, sand and/or peat moss mix is great for a dust bath. And quail LOVE to dust bathe!
  • A box that they can 'hide' in where it's nice & dark. It's also a great nesting box if you put in some dry grass. You can keep this inside their home cage.
  • Quail love extra protien so make sure to feed them bugs if you find them. Mealworms, flies, even ants you catch in the house can be fed to quail. Just make sure you've not laid out any ant bait as you don't want your quail to get sick from the poison.

Those ideas & items above would make great additions for your quail as it would help them relax & hopefully lay eggs soon!
 
Ditto to what Quilsong mentioned. I think the elephant in the room here is that itty-bitty cage you are using to house four adult button quail. Keeping in mind that quail are ground-dwelling foragers, they need more leg-room than what your current hanging cage is allowing them. A new and larger critter cage will run you around $89 at your local pet store, but you can find them as low as $25 on Craigslist (look for a rabbit cage, critter cage, or even a guinea pig cage - the longer and larger the cage, the better for these birds.) I would buy two of these cages, and house each pair separately (it appears that you have two definite females, but the other two I cannot tell for certain without seeing some vent photos.) Also, since these are birds that do not perch like other tropical birds, I would reconsider where you are placing their feed dishes -- I would place their feed and oyster shell/gravel in bowls placed lower to the ground, rather than hanging from the side of the cage where they have to hop up and perch to feed. Again, as Quailsong also mentioned, hiding places really do add a feeling of comfort and safety for them. You can add plastic plants and logs for them to hide under, but again, you need to provide them with more space to allow for this. I agree that you have a really cute and unique cage, but it is not an appropriate one for use with these birds.
 
I am figuring that siD69 is not in the USA or Canada, am I right?
First you should have them in a much larger area if you are going to keep 2 pair together. And they need a high protein (25-30%) diet not chicken or chick feed, grains and millet are not enough protein. If you get the diet and living arrangements correct you should have laying in 2-3 weeks after they settle in and relax. Please also give them extra calcium by way of crushed chicken egg shell that has been boiled or baked to sterilize them before feeding or you can buy crushed oyster shell that works great. They will love a sand or dirt bath, do not give them a water bath! And of course fresh cool drinking water at all times. hope this helps...good luck.
 
I'm having the same dilemma...I got my quail last week and they are not laying eggs yet either. Now i know i'll need a little patience. Thanks for that information, i was starting to worry that something was wrong!

Even if they did not lay eggs at all they are truly charming pets :eek:) Their soft tweets, and gentle crows are soothing.

I was wondering why it was stressed that there should not be a bird bath in the habitat???

I was also wondering if "insect pate" was good for them? I bought just about everything available at my petstore that i suspected would be desired, but its a pet store, not a farmers store.

They have oystershell with alguae, insect pate, birdseed, grit, millet and avian calcium...and i offer a few.. mealworms each day. Does this sound adequate?
 

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