Buttons eat their eggs too?

[shelleyd2008]

I saw a post that said a button someone had should be laying, so one of the others may be eating the egg? I was getting from 5-7 eggs a day, and now I get maybe 2. It looks like there may be some that are molting, so I thought that was it.

There have been a few eggs I have found that had holes in them. I figured they just stepped on it or something. I never thought they would eat them!

How can I tell if they are eating the eggs, or if they just aren't laying? Is there anyway to stop them from eating them, if that's what they are doing?

 

[monarc23]

I wish i could help ya here Shelley. I cull the egg eaters, but iwth buttons i bet it would be hard to decide who's the egg eater lol! i hope they arent eatin em!

 

[BirdBoy88]

lol i know this all to well....

i finally got one egg last week first egg since September 08 and now they stop again so it was only one egg... so i am replacing them with the new chicks i hatch out from eggs i am getting tomorrow...lol

IMO once they stop laying THEY STOP lol! well for me anyway

 

[shelleyd2008]

These guys are barely 11 weeks old, so I doubt that they have just stopped laying. I really think they are molting, and I'm hoping that I'm right!

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Mine have slowed up a little too, Shelley.

Well, that means for a week I was getting maybe 1 egg per day out of two female buttons. I need more females

Yesterday, though, I got two eggs, like they had been doing before - so maybe it was a molt.

Also, I changed the bedding in there yesterday to the pellets, they seem to like it better than the shavings.

meri

 

[shelleyd2008]

Well, like I said, it does look like they are molting. So that's probably part of the problem. And I did just recently put shavings in there, when they were just on newspaper, and the 'grit' that they would bathe in. That would get all over the place. So I'm hoping that's what it is.

But I have found some eggs that had holes in them, so I don't know if that was a pecking hole or a stepped on hole. I was hoping it was just stepped on, as I've only found some with a hole in it, not any shell pieces or anything.

 

[ButtonQuailHeaven]

Button Quail do not go through a noticable molt. Sounds to me like they are feather picking and not happy. Are you keeping them in a flock or in pairs? Button Quail do best in pairs and are not happy in a flock like chickens. I bet you would get more eggs if you kept one pair to a cage. Also what are you giving for calcium? They could be eating eggs for the calcium they need for laying.

 

[shelleyd2008]

They have a cuttle bone in there for calcium. They are all in a 'flock' at the moment, as I don't have any other option right now. I am hoping to get some more girls with my upcoming hatch, as I am a bit boy heavy right now.

 

[ButtonQuailHeaven]

Once you divide them up they will do better as far as feathers and egg laying. I use a calcium supplement for their water. At the very least they should have oyster grit. Watch for egg binding as they are very prone to it without enough calcium.

 

[Bettacreek]

Ohh, what kind of suppliments are you using for the water? Is that all you use, or do you use it in combination with oyster grit? (Sorry for the hijack!)
Hopefully your guys start improving.