Still no eggs, ready to give up on quail!

[magikchick]

So I switched to game bird food 2 weeks ago. I got 3 eggs and now nothing. Most of these birds are over 20 weeks old! I'm ready to put them all in the freezer and move on to something else. I got people wanting to buy eggs. Can't keep feeding all these quail for nothing.

 

[mamawolf544]

I am no expert. But I feed mine an All-Way crumble. That is what it is called, it's for babies and layers. I give them a 1/2 a boiled egg a week, some like it some dont. And I add baby grit and oyster shell to their food once a week. I feed mine 2 times a day and I get 15 eggs everyday. That's all the hens I have. I also give them vitamin/electrolite water depending on how hot it is here in Texas.
Good luck,
Terri

 

[JewellFarm]

Wow, 20 weeks and no eggs. Mine have been laying since 7 weeks. I don't know what to tell you. Are you sure they are in a place where nothing can get to the eggs? They should be laying by now. Maybe others can chime in and help you out.

 

[magikchick]

I have 4 pens with a total of 25 females. I've seen mating going on. The most I've gotten has been 3 eggs in one day and that was almost 2 weeks ago. I give them boiled eggs, vitimans, acv, yogurt, greens you name it I've tried it.

 

[Bossroo]

What type of quail do you have? They may be seasonal layers. How much LIGHT are they exposed to and for how LONG? Most game birds are long daylight layers.

 

[magikchick]

Coturnix and I have them outside in Florida so they have been getting plenty of light.

 

[farrier!]

Quote:
I would suggest giving them nothing but a good game bird feed for a few weeks. I would guess that all the other stuff is lowering their protein too much. It may be messing up the Ca/Ph balance too.

 

[fitzy]

this might be a dumb question, but how often are you checking for eggs? also, is the cage sloped with an egg catcher so they don't step on them and break/eat them? do you see empty shells laying around or under the cage?

I recently moved my coturnix to another cage (with some modifications) and egg production went up significantly. Also, from my research it seems that quail are very prone to calcium depletion....I give mine a cuttlebone at least once a week to keep up their calcium intake. You can purchase them at any pet store for around 50c or so. I bought the whole box and the guy gave me a good discount.

hope this helps!

 

[shawnkfl]

edit....just noticed that you did get some eggs prior

 

[skywatcher]

Give them some greens lettecue, clover,grass etc.. this always seems to get me extra eggs. My convey of 35 lays on a good day 24 eggs However since tempertures are in the mid 80s the egg rate has been cut in half to 11-13 eggs a day. Keep a bowl of sand inside their cage for dust bathes and grit. Silly quail don't want to take water baths.