Quail screaming after laying?

[sammit]

hey guys! ive kept chickens before but im new to quails. ive had these guys for about a month now after doing a lot of research into smaller forms of poultry.

i was just wondering, Minty (the tuxedo), does this noise for about 30min-1hr AFTER laying. i can see no prolapse or any reason she would do this. she makes nests just fine, she gets up and walks, she eats and she poops normally. all while making this pitiful cry . shes been laying for about a week now and has done so every day.

also, can anyone help me sex Oliver (the tibetian). i was reading on here that black beaks can mean male? i tried vent sexing and i wasnt knowing really what to look for but theres a pronounced black bump. hes currently making the alert call cricket noise too that i was told by the breeder was female???

so hello from your newest quail convert! i plan to hang around here, its a nice place

 

[SeptemberQuail]

That screaming noise is normal, I'm pretty sure, since my quail used do it to (during breeding season here. breeding season is over for my quail, but I'm guessing from where you're at, its still breeding season for your quail). Apparently, when the females scream like that, its called an 'egg call' and it apparently means that their eggs are fertile, or well, they're calling out to everyone going, "Hey everyone, there's a baby in this egg!"
This is only from what I've learnt, but I believe its true because when I cracked open the eggs after my female would screech, they had the white dot in it.

I don't understand vent sexing as I don't exactly know what to find so I'm not much help there, but if Oliver is tame enough, you could try picking him up, flipping him over (gently) and pulling back his tail feathers to where his vent is, and then very gently, squeeze the sides of his vent (don't touch the actual vent, just squeeze the sides) and a white foamy substance should come out. Only males produce this stuff, apparently its kidney waste/sperm. If he crows, that'll be another sign.

My male would crow if I separate him from his girls, so if that doesn't work, try separating him for a few minutes.

 

[James the Bald]

Welcome! I've never had one fuss "after" laying an egg. Mine will chirp before they lay, then after that, they seem to just carry on like nothing happened. Yours must be asking for a cigarette.

I think you are confusing the "black beak" with the "black mask" that the male Bobwhite sports. So for Oliver, he may end up being "Olivia".

Here is a thread you may be interested in.
I hope this helps,
James

 

[flg8r]

I have two tibetans with black beaks and one laid an egg so I don't think that theory is 100%...

I had sexed one of them to be male but wasn't sure on the other until an egg finally appeared. People make it sound easy - heck I can hardly get a good grip on them to flip them with one hand much less doing anything else!

 

[James the Bald]

I try to handle all of my birds daily (and my 16 yo daughter does as well), so they are so skiddish when we have to take them out of their cage for cleaning.
As for the black beak, I honestly never heard of that way of sexing quail in anything I have read. And before I found this site, I read as much as I could about quail for almost 6 months before taking the first step. Besides pulling the quail out of the grow out cage when they crowed, my wife and I use the method described in the link I previously posted. And I have Texas A&M's, so that is basically the only way I can separate them, as the only coloration besides white is the 2 black dots on the top of their heads.
James

 

[sammit]

the tibetian hasnt crowed, or made any behaivour like it would be male. and seperating them only gets both of them doing that loud cricket sounding alarm call. and the black beak thing was off a lady who bred the tibetians and swore that the darker beaks meant male. oh well, i know now that isnt true!!

tuxedo is still laying and screaming. it seems a bit odd that shes acting like this when pretty much everyone ive spoken to IRL have said quails just lay and walk off. you would think that making this much noise would attract predators!!

 

[Sess]

SeptemberQuail You are right it is a egg call but not because it is fertile.
Quails do that call everytime they lay a egg it just depends on the quail I know my eldest female she does that call everytime but they do that to annouce that they are ready for mating since they are laying eggs, if she keeps crying that's because theirs a male nearby that she's trying to grab his attention. Such weird birds. xD

 

[jsheepdog]

My coturnix quail does the egg call, before & after laying.

However, my two button hens lay without a sound. The only way I know they are about to lay is when they are flinging bedding material over themselves.

My button hens started laying 2 weeks apart from each other. I was hoping the one that hadn't laid to be a roo but the egg appeared.

One of the earlier confirmation about the sex of my male coturnix was the foam found on his poop.

So if Oliver hasn't crowed & you've not noticed any foam, it's probably Olivia Just hasn't laid yet.

I'm new to keeping quails too! And I'm learning a lot from everyone here. So here's my two cents worth from my experience.

Keep us updated

 

[qlicer49]

So you keep your Japanese quail and Tibetan together I've really been wanting some Tibetan, but only have 1 cage for now.

 

[sammit]

well they are the same type of quail arent they? i thought tibetians were just a different colour/breed within the jap/coturinx quail like jumbos or texas whites...