How long does it take a quail to lay a clutch of eggs, and other breeding questions.

[CuriousCreature]

Protein-wise they get game-bird pellets and finch seed, as well as a handful of mealworms and crickets daily. I also sometimes give them some Shaw's Egg Biscuit as a treat.

I've heard that you can give them dry cat-food in dire circumstances but I wasn't sure whether to go for that or not - seems a bit wrong to feed them chicken!

 

[GrandmaBird]

the gamebird crumbles is enough protein if you add the insects once or twice a WEEK not everyday as they can make fat birds and you cannot see the fat it is stored around the liver which is not healthy. Do they get added calcium? The hens need it and the males will eat a bit too. I wouldn't give them the cat food sounds like they are getting enough protein. Let us know what happens.

 

[CuriousCreature]

Hmm fair enough. It's a shame though as they get a lot of entertainment out of chasing those crickets around. And the mealworms are just the mini ones - a fraction the size of the standard ones. But I'll try cutting back to twice a week.

As for calcium they always have access to plenty of crushed oyster shell. But I also bought a calcium supplement for their water today, to give them a boost.

 

[Dinx]

Another thought is that if it persists and boils down to a personality thing, you might NOT want to be hatching her eggs and promoting that trait in your flock. Although I'm new to quail, I've bred various pet bird species and personality is definitely partially genetic. My master bedroom was the "master birdroom". I took the tiny bedroom for myself. It's a love thing. LOL

 

[CuriousCreature]

Hmm yes, I'd been wondering about that as well. I've got a batch of eggs incubating at the moment - most of them are from my mild-mannered hen but a few of them are from the pecking hen. If I notice the same habit in any of the resulting chicks I will not use any more of her eggs for hatching. However my current thinking is that it could be caused by a lack of protein rather than personality. None of the quails seem particularly enthusiastic about the Heygates game-bird pellets and to be honest I've never actually witnessed the pecking hen eating them - just the treat seeds and bugs, and often the feathers she plucks out of the males. It might explain why the habit started as soon as she started laying. So I switched to a high-protein turkey crumb recently and she's been tucking into it happily, and not pecking nearly as often. Hopefully things will continue to improve.

 

[kingmt]

Sounds like it could be. They need meat protein in their diet.