Chicken egg shells for quails

[rag1201]

I've been feeding my quails chicken egg shells mixed in their feed but not exactly sure how many I need to use. I'm currently adding 1 egg shell for every 100grams of feed i.e. 10 egg shells for every kilogram.

We dont get quail feed in India unless you order it in tons in which case they prepare it specifically for you. I therefore prepare my own feed, attaching the image of the formulation. I'm getting close to 27% protein using this formulation.

My question is how many chicken egg shells are required for 1kg of this feed? (Oyster shells are not easily available here)

One of my quails laid an egg on 3 August and then again on 8 August but nothing after that. Is it due to low protein or calcium?

I'm raising these indoors and giving then 15-16 hours of full spectrum artificial light.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[BReeder!]

I wouldn't mix it in the feed, but offer it separately in a dish by itself. I used to put a whole bowl (size of a dog bowl) in with my quail. They never seemed to target it as good, but just ate a little bit like chickens tend to do with egg shell or oyster shell.

Make sure the egg shells are clean by rinsing them after cracking an egg unless the are from hard boiled eggs. The idea is to minimize egg contents in the crushed egg shells.

I doubt the lack of eggs is due to calcium if you are already supplementing. 26% protein is good IMO as well. Are the birds young? Did they just start laying? It may be very sporatic at first. You also mentioned full spectrum light. That's fine by me, but it's it a light dedicated for the quail pen or are they in a cage that may be shade although the room is in has full spectrum lighting? And is it possible to introduce natural light through a window or by moving outside? The natural light would rule out the light source as an issue. Lastly, how many makes and females do you have? If they are coturnix like I had, I would recommend no more than 1 male for every 3 females. Some like even more females in the ratio. Overbreeding could cause stress, which could slow/stop egg production. Consider any other stressers as well: new item in the cage/pen, another animal like chickens, dogs, cats, etc, people walking by, loud noise.

 

[rag1201]

I wouldn't mix it in the feed, but offer it separately in a dish by itself. I used to put a whole bowl (size of a dog bowl) in with my quail. They never seemed to target it as good, but just ate a little bit like chickens tend to do with egg shell or oyster shell.

Make sure the egg shells are clean by rinsing them after cracking an egg unless the are from hard boiled eggs. The idea is to minimize egg contents in the crushed egg shells.

I doubt the lack of eggs is due to calcium if you are already supplementing. 26% protein is good IMO as well. Are the birds young? Did they just start laying? It may be very sporatic at first. You also mentioned full spectrum light. That's fine by me, but it's it a light dedicated for the quail pen or are they in a cage that may be shade although the room is in has full spectrum lighting? And is it possible to introduce natural light through a window or by moving outside? The natural light would rule out the light source as an issue. Lastly, how many makes and females do you have? If they are coturnix like I had, I would recommend no more than 1 male for every 3 females. Some like even more females in the ratio. Overbreeding could cause stress, which could slow/stop egg production. Consider any other stressers as well: new item in the cage/pen, another animal like chickens, dogs, cats, etc, people walking by, loud noise.

Thanks for your inputs. I'm not exactly sure about the bird age but it's been 6 weeks since I got them from a friend. They just started laying on 3 August and have o only got 2 eggs till date.

And yes, I have a full spectrum light dedicated to the quail cage and all 3 are females.. No rooster in the batch. I have kept them close to the window so they do get a bit of natural light although I wouldn't bank on it.

But Yea, since I raise them indoors in my room, people walkin by is a common thing but we don't have any other pets at home. Loud noises, well yes there are some vehicle noises now n then, I didn't know that could also affect their laying cycle.

 

[Nabiki]

I second keeping the crushed eggshell in a separate bowl on the side. They will eat as much as they need. They should have 14-16 hours of light per day to lay. They will also stop laying if they are stressed for any reason. It sounds like you're keeping them indoors, so predators aren't a problem, and you don't have any boys to stress, them, so I think they're not getting enough light.

 

[rag1201]

I second keeping the crushed eggshell in a separate bowl on the side. They will eat as much as they need. They should have 14-16 hours of light per day to lay. They will also stop laying if they are stressed for any reason. It sounds like you're keeping them indoors, so predators aren't a problem, and you don't have any boys to stress, them, so I think they're not getting enough light.

Thanks, will try keeping the egg shells separate and see how that goes. But I'm quite sure the are getting enough light. I have a dedicated full spectrum light which I usually switch on at 9am and switch off at 12am. So they're getting around 15 hours. (Attached a pic)

 

[Nabiki]

They need some hiding places and a dirt bath. That cage will be too small for them once you've added those things, but they will be much happier and more likely to lay when you've done that.

It looks like they're on wire, too, so the dirt bath and hiding places will also give them a place to rest their feet.

 

[rag1201]

They need some hiding places and a dirt bath. That cage will be too small for them once you've added those things, but they will be much happier and more likely to lay when you've done that.

It looks like they're on wire, too, so the dirt bath and hiding places will also give them a place to rest their feet.

I see.. I think I can accommodate something for them to hide in but dirt bath is a big no in the cage as I'm raising them indoors.

Also, I plan to do this on a large scale (1000+ quail) for egg production. How feasible would a dirt bath or a hiding spot be when I raise like 1000-2000 quails? A lot of large scale production videos I've seen all have only a wire floor.

 

[JaeG]

Quail don't like change so moving environments can stop them laying for around 4 weeks. Once they settle in they'll lay every day.

 

[Nabiki]

I see.. I think I can accommodate something for them to hide in but dirt bath is a big no in the cage as I'm raising them indoors.

Also, I plan to do this on a large scale (1000+ quail) for egg production. How feasible would a dirt bath or a hiding spot be when I raise like 1000-2000 quails? A lot of large scale production videos I've seen all have only a wire floor.

That's a tough one. If the property I'm looking at goes through, I plan to have about 100 full time quail, and they will be in 5' x 5' pens on dirt with a maximum of 10 birds/pen. I understand that you don't have the space for that, but in my opinion, large commercial operations do not treat their birds well. That's why I raise my own.