BUTTON QUAIL DEATHS

[comptoncritters]

HELLO, I HAVE 40 BUTTON QUAIL, I HAVE TRYED EVERYTHING, BUT STILL I LOSE MY HENS WHEN THEY ARE LAYING THERE EGGS, CAN SOME BODY HELP ME

 

[Kevin565]

What are you feeding them?

 

[comptoncritters]

WAS FEEDING HIGH PROTEIN, BUT ISWITCHED TO PLAIN CHICK STARTER, SEEMED TO HELP FOR A LITTLE BIT BUT I LOST ONE AGIN LAST NIGHT

 

[GrandmaBird]

how are they housed? in pairs or a group? are the inside or outside? too many questions. please lets us know how you are taking care of them. It could be sickness, feeding, or lots of other things. If the chick starter is medicated you will have sterile males and females from the meds in the fed. they should be on a good 22% or higher gamebird (turkey, pheasant and such) not chicken feed.

are they dieing while they are laying an egg or what? they should have oyster shell for strong eggs. are they egg bound?

 

[comptoncritters]

I got them house inside temp controlled, got pairs , trios , and groups
we had on high protein, was told to take off since they were not laying there eggs.
I guess you would call it egg bound , you can see the egg , but it don't come out but the bird has died because of it

 

[MrNappy]

Calcium is your best friend

Feed em crushed oyster shell, chicken eggshell, ostrich eggshell, whatever floats your bubble

They need calcium

+ If they are getting egg-bound that means they want to lay, so let them lay, and give em more protein

 

[comptoncritters]

how would the liquid calcium work? would that be the best? where can you get it?

 

[TwoCrows]

If this was happening to my birds, I would start by cutting way down on day light hours...enough to get them to stop laying and mating. Turn out the lights, covering their area with something so that they only received about 8 hours of low light a day. Give them a rest. Then start in with everything that has calcium....crushed oystershell in the feed, eggshells, kale is high in calcium, even yogurt. Anything that has calcium that I could add to their feed or as a treat. Lower the protein in the feed. Less protein means less production of eggs to be laid. The amount of protein has nothing to do with becoming egg bound, however too much protein produces more eggs.

I would keep them from laying for a month or more and then if all went well, I might slowly add more light and up the protein and see how things went.

 

[MrNappy]

Yea, but if they're young birds some might still lay, he might have to do a combination of everything

 

[GrandmaBird]

From the book "A Closer Look at Button Quail" written by Jodi McDonald of Braken Ridge Ranch, she sells it on her web site: www.brackenridgeranch.com


Some causes for egg binding:

Hen was too young or too old
Hen were obese, with fat deposits in oviduct or around vent
Infection or injury occurred in oviduct
Birds were kept in area with improper temperature, generally too cold.
Egg laying excessive, birds not given the winter rest period
Diet was improper, lacking in calcium, protein, vitamins A, E and D
Stress
Egg was oversized or malformed
Occasionally, due to hereditary factors, hens were overly small
Clean fresh water was lacking.


Hope this helps...