Coturnix Quail stopped laying

[winc564]

Hello. I am new to quail this year. I purchased 8 females and 2 males. They were "between 7 and 8 weeks" when I picked them up and began laying steadily around 10 weeks. They are approximately 13 weeks old now.

I noticed that one of my males was being picked at, so I separated them into two coveys. Each has one male and four females. For the first week, things were fairly normal, but now nobody is laying! What did I do wrong?

Also, my little male is still being picked on by his hens. (When I separated them, I had assumed it was the other, larger male that was doing the damage.) Most of the feathers from his neck are gone. Any help is appreciated.

 

[2chicksagain]

hmm.. it is probably the stress of being seperated, and in a few weeks they will start again.

 

[winc564]

The day I posted this, they started laying again.

They aren't totally up to speed again, but it's picking up. I am going to go with stress.