Hey y'all, how's it goin?
I just have been having a horrible time here. About eight weeks ago I purchased a baker's dozen of baby coturnix, hoping at least 6 of them would be hens, wanting the eggs. Well, we lost two early on, and eleven out of thirteen ain't that bad but, when they matured, I ended up with SEVEN roos and only four hens. Somehow, my dog was able to get one last week, and darn if it wasn't a hen.
...which of course it was. So then there were three.
Yesterday, I had a fowl time getting the roos "dressed" for dinner, (which was hard because I raised them from day 1,) and today I looked in the coop and saw a bloody egg dragging from one of my precious hens. "Uh oh," I thought, then I grabbed her and ran her butt under some water to try and loosen the egg, only to realize that it actually had burst out through the side of her cloaca! Poor baby! They hadn't laid any eggs yet, and I didn't realize she was bound as she was eating and drinking ok. It was only when I actually saw the egg that I knew she was in trouble.
Since she was well doomed, I quickly dispatched her and did an impromptu necropsy, and saw that she had three full sized eggs right behind the first, which was a rubber, and she had at least five immature eggs behind those. The only thing I can think of was that she actually tried to produce several at once, or the first, (which wasn't big at all, but it was a rough rubber egg,) got stuck and plugged up the works. I felt so bad for her, and I am worried about my remaining two hens. Have I done something wrong? Did I wait too long to cull the roos? They were getting rough, but we just moved to our ranch and my husband and I were quite busy, and frankly, I wasn't looking forward to the deed and kept putting it off. Could they have injured her in some way? Seven against three is pretty bad, I know, but they were only at it for a few days at most, and in a very large coop. Or is it just one of those things?
Should I give extra calcium to the hens? They are on chick starter, does it have enough calcium, or should I switch to a game bird feed? I thought the high protein would be better for them, as the game bird feed only has something like 19%, which sounds a bit odd to me.
Should I proactively oil the other hen's cloacas, just in case? I don't want to lose any more; my three year old is banking on her quail eggs.
I just have been having a horrible time here. About eight weeks ago I purchased a baker's dozen of baby coturnix, hoping at least 6 of them would be hens, wanting the eggs. Well, we lost two early on, and eleven out of thirteen ain't that bad but, when they matured, I ended up with SEVEN roos and only four hens. Somehow, my dog was able to get one last week, and darn if it wasn't a hen.
...which of course it was. So then there were three.Yesterday, I had a fowl time getting the roos "dressed" for dinner, (which was hard because I raised them from day 1,) and today I looked in the coop and saw a bloody egg dragging from one of my precious hens. "Uh oh," I thought, then I grabbed her and ran her butt under some water to try and loosen the egg, only to realize that it actually had burst out through the side of her cloaca! Poor baby! They hadn't laid any eggs yet, and I didn't realize she was bound as she was eating and drinking ok. It was only when I actually saw the egg that I knew she was in trouble.
Since she was well doomed, I quickly dispatched her and did an impromptu necropsy, and saw that she had three full sized eggs right behind the first, which was a rubber, and she had at least five immature eggs behind those. The only thing I can think of was that she actually tried to produce several at once, or the first, (which wasn't big at all, but it was a rough rubber egg,) got stuck and plugged up the works. I felt so bad for her, and I am worried about my remaining two hens. Have I done something wrong? Did I wait too long to cull the roos? They were getting rough, but we just moved to our ranch and my husband and I were quite busy, and frankly, I wasn't looking forward to the deed and kept putting it off. Could they have injured her in some way? Seven against three is pretty bad, I know, but they were only at it for a few days at most, and in a very large coop. Or is it just one of those things?
Should I give extra calcium to the hens? They are on chick starter, does it have enough calcium, or should I switch to a game bird feed? I thought the high protein would be better for them, as the game bird feed only has something like 19%, which sounds a bit odd to me.
Should I proactively oil the other hen's cloacas, just in case? I don't want to lose any more; my three year old is banking on her quail eggs.
Last edited:
