Oh No!! Quail Eating Own Egg RAW!!

[Master Quaillius]

My quail just laid an egg and started pecking at it, and then ATE THE WHOLE EGG RAW!
Is this normal? Is it mentally okay for the bird? Please let me know!
Here are some pics:

I put her back in her cage because she wanted more.

 

[Jessica Thompson]

It's fine just make sure she doesn't do it again

 

[Master Quaillius]

Oh, okay then.
She has done this twice so far, but that was a long time ago.

 

[Jessica Thompson]

Ok

 

[DK newbie]

Usually it would be a sign of her lacking something - either the calcium in the shell or the protein and vitamins of the contents. It can also become a bad habit though, so you shouldn't let her do it. What are you feeding her? Does she get all the calcium, vitamins and protein she needs?

 

[Ulaidian]

I was about to ask the same.. calcium is the usual suspect, but like you say, could be many things.

 

[Jessica Thompson]

Here's my quail it's a he but when I had females he ate eggs some times.


Ps he's going on a trip with me right now

 

[JaeG]

If the shells are a bit soft/thin and a toe nail goes through the shell it can lead to them picking at the egg and eating it out of curiosity. Waste not, want not - better they get the nutrition than a predator is probably the instinctive drive that's going on. Make sure they are getting enough oyster shell but sometimes a bit of stress will cause a thin shelled egg, so it does just happen sometimes.

 

[Master Quaillius]

Usually it would be a sign of her lacking something - either the calcium in the shell or the protein and vitamins of the contents. It can also become a bad habit though, so you shouldn't let her do it. What are you feeding her? Does she get all the calcium, vitamins and protein she needs?

I feed her trill canary food 14% protein which has 20% calcium and add to the 14% protein I feed her like 100 grams of oats to up the protein. I also feed her half a chickens' egg daily. She is very spoiled though, and will eat anything from my hand
And I'm keeping a close eye on her, to make sure any egg she lays is safely put in the fridge.

 

[Master Quaillius]

If the shells are a bit soft/thin and a toe nail goes through the shell it can lead to them picking at the egg and eating it out of curiosity. Waste not, want not - better they get the nutrition than a predator is probably the instinctive drive that's going on. Make sure they are getting enough oyster shell but sometimes a bit of stress will cause a thin shelled egg, so it does just happen sometimes.

The shells are pretty hard, to not break on impact. She really had to peck at it to get the shell to break!