Other parts going bald and they consume too much food.

[vladimir]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a newbie for raising quail. I have Japanese Settle and they are now 70 days old. Their now producing 85% to 91%of eggs everyday. My problem is their wings and their upper neck going bald. I don't know what is the problem because I'm cleaning their cage everyday. And my another problem is they consume too much feeds. I have 460 heads but they consume 50kilos in 4 days only. I read some articles that the ratio will be 50kilos for 5 days for my 460 heads. If I feed them small amount of feed to achieve 5 days for 50kgs, there egg production goes down to 50%. I lost all my profit because of there high consumption of food.

Thanks for your help guys.

 

[TwoCrows]

It is molting season! Quail are busy replacing all those worn feathers now that breeding season is over. And during this time, the feed consumption will go up due to the need of more protein. Feathers are mostly protein. They will stop laying this time of year and won't start back up til spring. I prefer to give them a break during this time, however you can force them to lay by making sure they have 14 hours of day light using artificial lighting, along with heat. Be careful adding heat during the cold winter as if you lose power and being that the quail have become accustom to added heat, they may not survive.

Oh and welcome to

Edit to add: Also, if you find that your quail are eating too much feed, then it is possible that your feed is not providing enough of what they need, so hence, they are eating more of it to get what they need. You might try a new feed that has more protein, vitamins, minerals, etc...and see if they need to consume less.

 

[vladimir]

Thanks for your advice. But we are tropical country, there is no winter season in here. For now, is rainy season and it only rains in morning and evening. It is advisable to have an artificial light for 14hours because we have sunrise for 5:30AM and sunset for 6PM. I turn off the light in 5AM and turn on in 6PM.

Thank you very much.