Help with button quails

[Roosu]

so i have 4 button quails inside my house i have them for 4 months now i got them from a breeder nearby he gave me a bag of food for the quails it contains 18% protein all of his quails are laying fine with that amount of protein so i gave them the food with some grit etc after a month the still didn't lay any eggs i moved them to a bigger cage a month later still no eggs i added some cristmas lights in the cage so they are getting enough light

i thought maybe the protein is too low so i added soy meal mealworms and some egg shells but still no eggs after this bag of food is empty i am going to buy a new bag which contains 28% protein but could this really be the problem? i just don't know what i am doing wrong
have i been moving them to much are they just stressed? please someone help

 

[MrMe3257]

I've button quail (male and female) when I bought mine in the pet shop after they specifically ordered them for me. They said not to feed lower than 20% protein so I'm feeding them with that, I was thinking of increasing the protein percentage in spring.

Sorry to answer your question you may need to allow them time,security and a varied diet.

 

[Bryam]

It is unlikely that they are not laying because of the food. Are you sure that you have female button quails? If you can post pictures of them, we can try to sex them for you!

 

[Roosu]

i am 99% sure that i have females but i can post some pictures i also have a video where you can see them dustbathing maybe it helps.. also 2 of my quails are still growing feathers back they lost a lot because the breeder had way too many males.


This is miep her sister (piep) looks almost the same


in the front is pixy her feathers are growing back nicely behind pixy is piep and on the right miep


this is Neckie she looks a little strange because she lost many feathers because the breeder had way too many males but she looks a lot better now you really don't want to see how they looked like when i first got her.
pixy lost a lot of feathers too but for some reason hers grow back way faster


here is a video link you can see them dust bathing and maybe it helps sexing them but i am almost sure they are female

at 1:30 you can also see neckie jumping on top of the others

 

[Roosu]

uhmm anyone ?

 

[Roosu]

one of the quails is getting bald on her head but she is not wounded what could this be ?
i really feel like i am doing something wrong..

 

[MrMe3257]

If theres a male he may be mounting her too much if theres no males then another hen is plucking her. Theres many causes such as nutrational, stress and more.

 

[Roosu]

what can i do about it should i separate them?

 

[MrMe3257]

You should seperate the one whose bald as her feathers will grow back in a few weeks. Also try meet all their needs food wise and a few places to hide.

 

[Bryam]

They look very young and yes they are ALL females. You will need a male if you want chicks. You should feed them a 26 percent protein to give them enough protein to produce eggs.

Good luck!