My quails stopped laying eggs, why?

[Rishabh]

Before two weeks i bought 5 japanese quails, i think 2 of them are males and rest are females, on the day one i got an egg. On day 2 i got 3 eggs, i don't know which ones layed the eggs, so by seing those eggs far appart i kept two closer for hens to incubate them naturaly, but on day 3 i haven't recieved any eggs from them, i kept the eggs lied on the ground, after a week i think they won't lay eggs anymore, and they won't get broody because the eggs are not been cared by the hens, eggs have been roling in the pen, so i took out the eggs and gave them to a friend, now its over 2 weeks they haven't layed any eggs i searched on internet, i have been told to put light in the box however the light is already going in the cage, but i put one but a 5 watt CFL, because someone told the heat placed very closed to them will kill them, so i choosed the low watt cfl to give them light but not heat, the light is given 14 hours daily, and i don't know what is the proteim content of the food im giving them, the farm from which i bought them told me to ask for "Chicks feed", and i bought it, also i give them a mix of crushed egg shells and that feed, but they did'nt layed a single egg, any help pls??

 

[Sonya9]

Most likely reason is that winter is coming. If you don't want to eat the eggs perhaps you should let the hens rest until spring.

I don't have quail but if you do want the hens to hatch eggs you should do a bit of research so you are ready if/when one of your hens goes broody.

When a hen does go broody and sits on eggs for 2-3 days you want to mark and set a certain number of eggs so they all hatch at the same time (having chicks hatching days apart under a hen is bad news, having the hens sit on unmarked random eggs leads to problems especially when more and more eggs appear underneath her).

Research now so you don't learn the hard way later! Also see this thread, apparently not many will go broody: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/266462/broody-japanese-quail-hen

 

[Rishabh]

Most likely reason is that winter is coming. If you don't want to eat the eggs perhaps you should let the hens rest until spring.

I don't have quail but if you do want the hens to hatch eggs you should do a bit of research so you are ready if/when one of your hens goes broody.

When a hen does go broody and sits on eggs for 2-3 days you want to mark and set a certain number of eggs so they all hatch at the same time (having chicks hatching days apart under a hen is bad news, having the hens sit on unmarked random eggs leads to problems especially when more and more eggs appear underneath her).

Research now so you don't learn the hard way later! Also see this thread, apparently not many will go broody: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/266462/broody-japanese-quail-hen

I want their eggs for breeding, so want it all the time, but i cannot use incubator because there is no need of using it, i can easily get one day old chicks easily at cheap, but i want to do all itself and naturaly, How can i make them go broody? i like birds not to eat them, only as a pet, but can anyone tell me whats going on?? How much days will the hens lay after mating? how much eggs a clutch and how many days to lay new clutch of eggs, what am i missing here? Heat? Pls reply

 

[DK newbie]

It' hard to make a japanese quail go broody. To get an idea of what it takes, you can have a look at this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1048529/broody-japanese-quail-aviary-induced-rarities
As you got eggs the first couple of days after getting them, I think they stopped laying due to the stress of moving - they probably just laid the eggs that were already almost fully formed. If you want them to lay again, you should probably remove one roo, unless they have large aviary - the roos are likely to fight, which stresses the hens, and they are also likely to over breed the hens which will also cause stress and reduce the chance they will start laying again.
And then you should probably try to find out how much protein your feed has. If it is 18% for instance, that might be part of the explanation.
Crushed egg shells are good and I would think 14 hours of light is enough, though some might suggest 16-18 hours.
So I think it's a matter of making sure they are not stressed - though the feed might be the cause.
They don't need to be mated to lay eggs. They can lay eggs throughout the year without being with a roo at all. And as it is so hard to make them go broody, you can't really say they have a 'clutch' size - they will lay till they get broody or till something else stops them - shorter days, incorrect feeding, stress, old age.. That could be 5 eggs or it could be 500. But you can get an idea of their 'natural' clutch size by looking at the size of the hen, relative to the size of the egg. She needs to be able to cover the entire clutch. My guess would be 10-15 eggs, but I've never had coturnix.
Unless it's quite cold where you have them, I don't think lack of heat is the cause.

 

[Rishabh]

It' hard to make a japanese quail go broody. To get an idea of what it takes, you can have a look at this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1048529/broody-japanese-quail-aviary-induced-rarities
As you got eggs the first couple of days after getting them, I think they stopped laying due to the stress of moving - they probably just laid the eggs that were already almost fully formed. If you want them to lay again, you should probably remove one roo, unless they have large aviary - the roos are likely to fight, which stresses the hens, and they are also likely to over breed the hens which will also cause stress and reduce the chance they will start laying again.
And then you should probably try to find out how much protein your feed has. If it is 18% for instance, that might be part of the explanation.
Crushed egg shells are good and I would think 14 hours of light is enough, though some might suggest 16-18 hours.
So I think it's a matter of making sure they are not stressed - though the feed might be the cause.
They don't need to be mated to lay eggs. They can lay eggs throughout the year without being with a roo at all. And as it is so hard to make them go broody, you can't really say they have a 'clutch' size - they will lay till they get broody or till something else stops them - shorter days, incorrect feeding, stress, old age.. That could be 5 eggs or it could be 500. But you can get an idea of their 'natural' clutch size by looking at the size of the hen, relative to the size of the egg. She needs to be able to cover the entire clutch. My guess would be 10-15 eggs, but I've never had coturnix.
Unless it's quite cold where you have them, I don't think lack of heat is the cause.

Okay after few researches i know that they can produce eggs without roosters, but unfertile ones... As i said i have 2 roosters, now one of them is badly injured, one eye is popped and the second one was just missed full of blood, i know now that the hens are not laying eggs because they are stressed of males fighting every single second, what should i do now i dont have any more cages, and can't build anymore, should i eat both of the roosters?? Also i will keep one rooster if its possible to hens to go broody, for breeding. pls reply....

 

[DK newbie]

You should probably butcher the one with the popped eye. If the other roo is injured and being pecked on by the hens, you can put him in a temporary cage (cardboard box or similar) till he has healed. You might want to make sure that this temporary cage has one side he can see through and turn this side towards the hens and place his cage near the hens, as he will probably not like being alone.

 

[dc3085]

Your original question gets asked everytime some brings new birds home. When you move them theyll drop all the formed eggs they have, but because of the stress will not start forming eggs again for a couple weeks. They also need 14-16 hours of daylight to trick their bodies into thinking its spring. Give it two weeks with a light on for a few hours at night and theyll atart again

 

[sonny245]

Are there feathers in the cage they molt this time of year. Mine are molting now won't lay for about a month.