quails have suddenly stopped laying and mating???????

[zayn]

hi i am based in birmingham england and i am keeping two coturnix quails at the moment. one male one female. i got them on the 10th of july and the hen didnt start laying till 8th december where she started laying one egg a day. that was the same day when my male bird conseqeuntly started crowing and mating. now all of a sudden(since 2015) my male bird has stopped crowing and mating and has started trying to fly off when before when he was mating he didnt try to fly off. he has become his old self and the female has also suddenly stopped laying eggs..whats wrong? why has he stopped mating? is it the winter?


i am looking to get maybe 4-6 more hens to keep my male company when the farmer (comes and sells poultry in my community)my male has definatly stopped c rowing as the foam test proves he is not producing any. any experience or reasons why this sudden stop, here in england its the dead of winter, is it that? but he was mating through christmas?(winter in england lasts nov-feb roughly

any ideas or advice would be much appreciated. thank you.

zayn

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

hi i am based in birmingham england and i am keeping two coturnix quails at the moment. one male one female. i got them on the 10th of july and the hen didnt start laying till 8th december where she started laying one egg a day. that was the same day when my male bird conseqeuntly started crowing and mating. now all of a sudden(since 2015) my male bird has stopped crowing and mating and has started trying to fly off when before when he was mating he didnt try to fly off. he has become his old self and the female has also suddenly stopped laying eggs..whats wrong? why has he stopped mating? is it the winter?


i am looking to get maybe 4-6 more hens to keep my male company when the farmer (comes and sells poultry in my community)my male has definatly stopped c rowing as the foam test proves he is not producing any. any experience or reasons why this sudden stop, here in england its the dead of winter, is it that? but he was mating through christmas?(winter in england lasts nov-feb roughly

any ideas or advice would be much appreciated. thank you.

zayn

well, quail take a break for winter...it is a little odd she started laying in December. Did she start laying for the first time ever, or did she start laying just since you got her? How old is she? With out supplemental lighting, quail don't lay over the winter. All mine have stopped for the winter and will start again in the spring (or when i put a light in there). Quail, like chickens and other birds, go by how long the days are...when the days get shorter, they stop laying. Hope this helps a bit

 

[zayn]

thanks for the advice, much appreciated, she started laying 5 months since i first got her,-thursday 10th june- and didnt start laying till the 8th december, and then both male stopped matin and femalestopped laying since 2015?

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

thanks for the advice, much appreciated, she started laying 5 months since i first got her,-thursday 10th june- and didnt start laying till the 8th december, and then both male stopped matin and femalestopped laying since 2015?

hmm, well, i can only think of the light issue, strange that they layed during december. What are they eating?

 

[zayn]

they are on millet and cuttlefish on the sidw as calcium supplement which was what they ate when thy did lay.She layed one egg everydau from 8th dec till thw end of 2014

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

sounds like a fine diet...i'm not sure what is causing this

I would try putting a light over them to see if they start laying again..just a normal light will work great.

 

[Sill]

The protein content of millet is only about 11% and can be low in other nutrients. Is this all you are feeding them? That alone can cause low production, smaller eggs and stress on your hen. They really need over 20% protein, and 24-30% is better. They do take a break in winter unless they have supplemental light.

 

[zayn]

@sill @cityfarmer12 thanks for the advice. i have bought some quail food from the nearest pet store which has theae breadcrumb like thing with orange millet,sunflower seeds etc. is this ok? i once saw a post not on byc that sed these have sprays to keep them fresh which is not good for humans to eat the eggs off? is this true?

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

@sill @cityfarmer12 thanks for the advice. i have bought some quail food from the nearest pet store which has theae breadcrumb like thing with orange millet,sunflower seeds etc. is this ok? i once saw a post not on byc that sed these have sprays to keep them fresh which is not good for humans to eat the eggs off? is this true?

not sure...it should be fine.

 

[zayn]

thanks for all advice, much appreciated
zayn