hello, i am very new to quails, i adore them i can see them from my kitchen and i find myself just stopping washing the pots and watching them, however they just lay there eggs all over. is this common practise for them, and what can i do?? thanks x
Quote:From what I've read about quail, this seems to be the normal, especially if you keep Japanese/Coturnix quail. I've heard some people saying that some other breeds (I think it was Bobwhite?) make a nest and lay them in there, but I've not had any experience myself with those breeds. Certainly the quail at my college don't seem to care about where they lay them, apart from one which seems to always choose the same spot under an upturned plastic dog bed. Some people who keep their birds on wire having a slightly sloping floor so that the eggs either collect at the front of the cage, or roll into a specially placed tray, but I have not used this before (the college quail are kept at the bottom of an aviary, so it's just a case of going in there and rooting around looking for them )
If they have no special area to lay their eggs, they will just drop them wherever, but any bird will do so if they don't have a 'nest'. My coturnix often lay their eggs in their dusting pans but most often they lay their eggs in the enclosed portion of their pen....probably because they feel 'safe' in there. Long story short....if you give them a quiet area to lay their eggs, they will usually lay there, but if they have no choice except to lay eggs on the wire on this side of the pen instead of the other they'll just drop them wherever.
Just Be Glad They're Not Sticky.... Otherwise You'd Be Peelin 'em Off The Walls And Ceiling Of Your Pen
Coturnix are like teenagers...just lay stuff all over and don't care. I've found eggs all over and they will not use nest boxes they will not attempt to lay in the same place twice and they just don't care. This is a bird that has been bred for the qualities it has for being docile, fast growing and heavy egg production so any natural instinct to take care of eggs has been bred out of them. This is by far the best breed of quail ever. They aren't flighty and you can handle them and they grow fast enough to keep a good production line going for eating or supply of pickled eggs!!
Quail kept in battery brooders will lay their eggs just anywhere. However, I have found that females provided with a comfortable sand box (a large shoe box filled with sand, dirt, or perlite works fine) will usually lay in the box. My girl who has a large natural area with loose soil and plants and straw digs herself a nest every day and deposits her egg in it. I love my quail too, and I'm finding that they are more and more fun to observe the more natural a setting I can provide for them.
thanks guys its all good to know. mine are japanese. they have a massive run, it has a sunlounger in ( hubby sitd in there lol ), they also have an indoor area with various shelves and ramps. however they live with chickens aswell and and i do wonder if this has something to do with feeling safe?? i am very interested in these coturnix though as everyone on here is raving about them?
Quote:I have the Bob's & the coturnix. If it was me I'd raise the coturnix they are really neat birds make pretty sounds & lay eggs like clockwork. My Bob's are wilder than a March hair. For eating purposes I like dove number 1 then coturnix & then the Bob's.
