question about quail?

[littlepatchofheaven]

i have bobwhite quail and i noticed that their feathers are all curled up?
is this a vitamin deficiency or something else? i have 2 males and 1 female and all of them look like that, they have access to a heat lamp and are inside in my basement which is at 65-70 degrees usually- also the female is not laying eggs- she is 8 months old-what gives?
thanks! shari

 

[98 gt]

the feathers may be due to a curly gene??maybe not enough light? i think they need 16 hours of light to begin to lay eggs... how long is the heat light on??

 

[wilds of pa]

some of our white bobwhite when growing out look like that, but there feathering always becomes normal once they are almost fully mature, not sure what causes it as our game birds are fed Purina game bird rations only and we follow the diets as suggested by prunia....

charlie

 

[littlepatchofheaven]

hi, i have the heat light on 24/7, mabye that is doing it? i have a timer i could hook up. do you think i should try that?
i have been feeding nutrena game bird feed too-
thanks! S*

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
my giant a & m girl looked like this when I got her, she looked a mess! LOL! But after she molted she looked great again. One friend of mine suggested that maybe its their feathers prepairing to molt. I am unsure of this.

I also know that (this is for the OP) that roos can and will peck at a hens back relentlessly and this can damage the feathering on theback as well and the roos may be doing that to eachother as well and it will make the back feathers look pretty tattered.

If it's the curly gene i'd say look at the wings are they curly too?If so you may have a mutation on your hands. I have one such coturnix girl I hope to breed it to the point that it's more noticable though. You have to look at her wings and inspect her body feathers to see it.

The quill of the feather actually bends.

ANd I think it's 14 hours of light for any quail to lay eggs.

And you need htem on daily for them to lay eggs. But i'd remove a roo...that's too much stress on one hen.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
can you try changing that lamp to a normal bulb? Its maybe way too hot on them?

 

[littlepatchofheaven]

thanks, i will check their feathers, change bulb and only have it on for 16 hours at a time, hopefully that'll do it, oh and i was planning to get another female for the male who doesn't have one yet!
thanks for the suggestions! S*

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

My jumbo coturnix hens were like that for a while just as they were hitting maturity. Now they don't have to worry because their poor little backs are bald.