quail laying shut down

[matt swenson]

i was getting 3 dozen eggs a day, then had a raccoon attack. now no one is laying. like only 2 eggs a day. it's been two weeks since the attack. wondering if it the attack combined with the amount of day light. do birds need light to keep laying this time of year? lost mainly males in the attack. do quail lay better when they have males around ?

 

[ashlierami]

i was getting 3 dozen eggs a day, then had a raccoon attack. now no one is laying. like only 2 eggs a day. it's been two weeks since the attack. wondering if it the attack combined with the amount of day light. do birds need light to keep laying this time of year? lost mainly males in the attack. do quail lay better when they have males around ?

Stress and limited daylight will affect your eggs. 14 or so hours. Below 12 and egg production will slow down or stop. They will lay with or without a male just they won't be fertile that's all the male is for .

 

[Phunktacular]

That is amazing, the exact same thing happened to me. I've only got 17 hens and they weren't even attacked. Roosters, 2 cages down did but, every single one of my hens stopped laying almost immediately. I haven't gotten a single egg in almost a month. I'm going to get some extended light hours on them and hopefully, that'll start getting me some eggs soon.

 

[mixedUPturk]

Any stress will make the production falter but a big thing like that im not surprised they quit for 2 wks on you. Just pulling mine out to pressure wash their cages they quit for a week or adding a new hen they quit for 2 days. Theyll really punish you when theyre slightly upset.

I just looked it up, Cape Cod is getting about 12 hours of sunlight a day this time of year. So u should get eggs every day and a third. It isnt 14 hrs or No eggs it is 14-16 hours Per Egg.

 

[mixedUPturk]

You might make peace with them by offering them fresh dust baths. That always eases the tension for mine-- they love a fresh bath.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Mine expect fresh sand for their dust baths whenever there's less than an inch of sand left. They ALSO expect whole leaf iceberg lettuce (about zero nutrition, but it's packed full of water, so it won't blow their diet), chopped broccoli flowers, chopped green cabbage (mine won't touch the red cabbage, but love green). I offer kale when it's available and priced reasonably; a pity that those conditions are only one time annually. This veggie treat is their demand for deigning to clean their cage. I'm making it sound like a joke, but it seriously does seem as if they go on strike until my flock is reassured by the overabundance of great to eat treats. Sadly, I must allow them to strike for a day or two before my gift has the desired effect; putting veggies in the same day as cleaning doesn't seem to have the same impact. I have been able to reduce the severity of their withdrawal by making a point of hand turning their litter daily, which further extends the time needed between an 'out with the old, in with the new' cleaning; they seem less alarmed.

 

[mwm715]

i was getting 3 dozen eggs a day, then had a raccoon attack. now no one is laying. like only 2 eggs a day. it's been two weeks since the attack. wondering if it the attack combined with the amount of day light. do birds need light to keep laying this time of year? lost mainly males in the attack. do quail lay better when they have males around ?

Has your egg production gotten any better now??

 

[Phunktacular]

I know message wasn't directed at me but, had almost exact same thing happen at almost exact same time frame. My hens shut down and haven't gotten an egg in over a month.

 

[mwm715]

I know message wasn't directed at me but, had almost exact same thing happen at almost exact same time frame. My hens shut down and haven't gotten an egg in over a month.

I was asking because the SAME thing has happened to me!! I feel like I’ve done everything to fix the problem, and still not a single egg!

 

[Phunktacular]

I'm getting ready to process all of the extra males this or next weekend and moving the hens back to the garage for the winter. I'll be able to control climate and lighting easier there. I'm hoping that takes care of the problem.