quail not laying

[Rokashan]

I have one bird thats not laying. She seems to have an egg in her belly, but its soft. she hasnt laid and egg in about a week. I've tried giving her a soak in warm water for about 20 minutes, no change. She is eating and drinking fine, and using the bathroom, and all looks normal. The other 2 females I have are laying an egg every day with no fail. Any ideas?

 

[SeptemberQuail]

Do you know how long you've felt this egg in her belly for? Are you sure its definitely an egg? How old is she and has she laid an egg before?

I would have assumed that she was egg-bound but if she's eating and drinking fine and showing no signs of weakness, being lethargic or anything unusual then I'm honestly not sure as to what's happening with her. If an egg were stuck in there then she should be showing symptoms quite quickly (definitely not after a week). Although, sometimes they don't always show their symptoms because they are flock birds.

If it feels soft then I'll guess that it may turn out to be a soft-shelled/no shell egg and that she's not getting enough calcium in her food. Feed her crushed oyster shell, cooked eggshells, cuttlebone or shell grit to amp up on her calcium in-take. Occasionally it'll happen to chickens where they'll pass out a soft egg or a wrinkly shell-less one. You could also try separating her into a darker, more secluded place/cage for a day or so to see if she'll focus on trying to pass out an egg.

Just throwing out ideas.

Hope all goes well with her.

 

[Rokashan]

She has access to the same oyster shell that the other girls are eating, and they have been laying every day. This one, the one thats not laying was for several weeks laying every day. As an update, about an hour after her warm bath last night she did lay an egg. A very tiny egg about 1/4 the size of a normal quail egg. I can also now feel another egg in there, but this large soft spot is still there. The other girls dont have it. I'm thinking maybe abdominal cyst or tumor possibly?

 

[SeptemberQuail]

Maybe you could post this in the 'emergencies/diseases/injuries and cures' section in the forum to see if anyone else has had a similar experience and will know what to do. You'd most likely get a better diagnosis of what's happening, and see if there's any way around this.

Hopefully its nothing too serious. Good luck.