Could the yellow genes in Cortunix quail cause fertility issues?

[South Bay Beach Bum]

I have several beautiful yellow cortunix quail that are 8 weeks old. On page 101 of K. Puddephatt's book Urban Quail-Keeping she states that goldens can have high fatalities and health complications. My males are not producing foam, nor do they crow, and the females are laying eggs that are not fertilized. Could infertility be one of the health issues Karen talks about? I have a light on my quail for 14 hours. They are on deep litter, and the temperature here in Southern California drops down to the 60's at night. I also am getting 12+ eggs a day. Not one of them have a white ring around the germinal disc.

 

[FloorCandy]

I often have males that don’t foam until 8+ weeks. How many males do you have? Some lines are foaming and laying early, some late. My scarlets and Egyptians are currently foaming at 4.5 weeks, but I have rosettas at 9 weeks who aren’t foaming. I think it’s just in the dna. I have heard about goldens having issues, but I was under the impression that had been worked out of most lines.

 

[South Bay Beach Bum]

Thank you very much. This makes me feel so much better. I thought there was something wrong with my birds. I have 22 quail 4 males 10 females and 8 ? 2 males crow and I get between 8-12 eggs per day all infertile. I have a light on them so they get 14 hours of light per day.

 

[Ebony Rose]

The ratio is off on your males to females. Each cock needs 'at least' three hens. Hens that are overbred often lay sterile eggs due to the stress of the whole ordeal.
Strongly recommend you pick your best two or three cocks (only you know what your breeding criteria is so 'best' can mean many things to different people), and re-home or eat the other cocks. Mature quail hens lay (on average) one egg every 26 hours. Of the eight that you haven't determined gender, is that because they are immature or are you unable to vent sex them? Going just by the number of eggs you're reporting, as many as twelve in a day, and assuming they're all sexually mature, I'd guess you have a total of 14 hens and 8 cocks. As you can see, the ratio is much less than optimal for their comfort and reproductive health.

 

[South Bay Beach Bum]

The ratio is off on your males to females. Each cock needs 'at least' three hens. Hens that are overbred often lay sterile eggs due to the stress of the whole ordeal.
Strongly recommend you pick your best two or three cocks (only you know what your breeding criteria is so 'best' can mean many things to different people), and re-home or eat the other cocks. Mature quail hens lay (on average) one egg every 26 hours. Of the eight that you haven't determined gender, is that because they are immature or are you unable to vent sex them? Going just by the number of eggs you're reporting, as many as twelve in a day, and assuming they're all sexually mature, I'd guess you have a total of 14 hens and 8 cocks. As you can see, the ratio is much less than optimal for their comfort and reproductive health.

I am not sure what the sex is of the 8 unknowns, 4 of them are tuxedos, 2 are a solid gold color and 2 are Italians that I think are boys by their feathers (but they have some spots too), but no foam yet. Thank you for letting me know about hens laying sterile eggs, I did not know that. I will wait a few more weeks to see if they mature sexually, then decide which ones will become dinner.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Not one of them have a white ring around the germinal disc.

How long are you waiting to crack them? Maybe let them warm up a bit and see if the bull's eye becomes more apparent?

I too was going to suggest that maybe the females despite laying eggs does not equal the same as them being viable themselves.. similar to how ovulating women might not be fertile.

I would also note that 14 hours of light is the minimum lighting schedule, according to my understanding.

I don't currently and haven't yet kept quail despite looking into and considering it.. So I'm mostly joining in for learning purposes.. Seems it's more complicated than people let on?!

 

[South Bay Beach Bum]

I learn so much from this site thank you,

 

[Ebony Rose]

Do you know how to vent sex your quail? There's a few really good reads on the forums here about it, but in a nutshell the vent on laying hens is a laying-down oval shape. The vent on immature males and non-laying hens is a little, round O. And it's hard to miss the bulbous (often red) scrotum of mature males that produces a white foam when GENTLY squeezed. Here's a very short yet decent youtube on the subject, and pay attention to the position of his hands as he flips the birds over onto their back, I've found that holding them like this is not only secure, but also allows me to see what I'm doing :d Also note that younger birds may still have their baby-speckles on the chest and could turn out to be males afterall (He mentions that in the video, but spent less than 10 seconds pointing it out).
Best to vent sex at 6 weeks, then again at 8 weeks to determine your question marks.

 

[South Bay Beach Bum]

Do you know how to vent sex your quail? There's a few really good reads on the forums here about it, but in a nutshell the vent on laying hens is a laying-down oval shape. The vent on immature males and non-laying hens is a little, round O. And it's hard to miss the bulbous (often red) scrotum of mature males that produces a white foam when GENTLY squeezed. Here's a very short yet decent youtube on the subject, and pay attention to the position of his hands as he flips the birds over onto their back, I've found that holding them like this is not only secure, but also allows me to see what I'm doing :d Also note that younger birds may still have their baby-speckles on the chest and could turn out to be males afterall (He mentions that in the video, but spent less than 10 seconds pointing it out).
Best to vent sex at 6 weeks, then again at 8 weeks to determine your question marks.

Thank you. Yes I have done the reading and watched the you tube videos. The vents look like a little round O. I guess they are taking their time to mature. They are almost 9 weeks old.

 

[Ebony Rose]

On the plus side, some of those immature birds could be hens