My quail will just not lay!

[Yvonne37894]

I don't see the food in cage. Do they have free choice to feed 24-7 They are eating machines. More so then a horse.

 

[becky3086]

Do you see them mating at all? Do your males make that odd male call of theirs and are they within hearing distance of each other?
Just trying to figure out what might be going on. So far, my thoughts are that you should stop feeding them anything but gamebird feed, they really don't need anything else.

 

[darkfur]

I find that production doesn't drop off, just fertility. I have a 20 month old at the moment who lays an egg every day, but they are almost all infertile now.
I think there is a mating problem - in my breeding cages the females all look really scruffy from being jumped on all the time. Yours look very tidy and smooth feathered which would suggest they aren't being mated. Are you sure there are males in there? I don't think I see any males in the photos although they could have their back to the camera. Have you heard crowing or preferably seen mating? Or have poops with foamy stuff on them?

 

[smallbluejellybean]

Maybe switch the males around. You know how picky some of us women are.

Afterthought: Maybe 16-17 hours of day light is too much. I have button quail and the first male I got my females hated him and went and got a new one and walla!!! Lots of babies now.

 

[worldling]

#1. Don't feed any animal white bread!
#2. Feed the same high protein 25%+ complete game bird ration with little to no "treats". Just because you think they like it doesn't mean it's good for them.
#3. NO Florescent lighting...ever. Natural sun light or nasty evil energy wasting full spectrum incandescent lighting only. (LED lighting has not been tested by me yet) So I can't say no.

Coturnix hens do not need a male/roo within 100 miles to lay an egg. Roo switching can only exacerbate the problem.
Coturnix love sameness. Same pen mates,same high protein feed, same water bottle, feeder, etc...
Do not feed/over feed greens. Ice burgh lettuce is a total no no for coturnix.

Just a few of my suggestions. My coturnix hens are not laying right now because it's like 15 deg. F. here.

 

[nicoskk]

I do see them mating from time to time and males do make that noise (kou kou krrrrr)

.
they do have food available 24/7 from boxes hunging outside the pen.

The only problem is that i can't find any game bird food so i feed them chicken food, (mixed with chick food so i can provide them higher protein)

 

[miss_thenorth]

Quote:
Turkey starter also has a high protein content. If you have to feed chick food, supplement with cat food or scrambled or boiled eggs, or bugs.

Wordling--why not flourescent? While my birds get natural sunlight in the summer, I supplement with flourescent in the winter. I seem to have absolutely no problems with it--still getting eggs, and all are healthy.

I agree though, stop all treats except cat food to up the protein, and look for turkey starter. I haven't tried, - will they eat meat scraps? And I also do not recommend mixing up your groups. They don't do well with change. When I had to move mine from outside to in the barn due to winter approaching, they took a two week hiatus from laying- just from the move.

 

[Prettiest Frog]

Quote:
The laying quality and fertility rate both went up for my birdies when I started giving them mealworms. I do break the white bread rule occasionally. I dampen the leftover heel a bit and set it face down on top of the mealworm habitat overnight. The worms crawl in, then let the kids toss it into the birds, who pull the worms back out.

Though my bread is homemade and I tend to add stuff to it anyway, like bran and germ.


Florescent light works for my birds too, in fact they seem to actually do better under the florescent. But everyone's birds have their own picky little preferences. My Pharaoh stopped laying for two weeks when I had to replace their food dish.

 

[95yj]

i'd give them something to hide behind or in. i use two pieces of wood attached in a t shape or a cardboard box. it can't hurt...

 

[becky3086]

I still get eggs in the winter even when it is very cold but the amount of eggs does drop off. I haven't noticed that whatever light I used made a difference. I have one set of regular brown corturnix in a cage in a quite dark spot and they still lay eggs.
I would stop the treats, increase the protien, and I have to agree, I would switch them around some.