Still no eggs....

[sniper338]

Ive had my coturnix since the day before christmas, so just shy of 6 weeks now. They were full grown when I got them, their size hasnt changed.... I got a few eggs out of one or two hens at the start but ever since.. nada... I know for a fact these birds are 12 weeks old or more... ive had them on 14 hours of full spectrum light each day for the past 5 days... they habe plenty water at all times.... they never run out of food or grit, they have oyster shell too now... they seem happy in their cages... they chirp like crickets, males crow, cluck like chickens, they make all kinds fo sounds... I never have hear an egg call though... I dont understand why they wont lay any freaking eggs... I thought coturnix were suppose to be easy!!!

 

[dc3085]

Ive had my coturnix since the day before christmas, so just shy of 6 weeks now. They were full grown when I got them, their size hasnt changed.... I got a few eggs out of one or two hens at the start but ever since.. nada... I know for a fact these birds are 12 weeks old or more... ive had them on 14 hours of full spectrum light each day for the past 5 days... they habe plenty water at all times.... they never run out of food or grit, they have oyster shell too now... they seem happy in their cages... they chirp like crickets, males crow, cluck like chickens, they make all kinds fo sounds... I never have hear an egg call though... I dont understand why they wont lay any freaking eggs... I thought coturnix were suppose to be easy!!!

Cricket chirping is a sign of distress or desire 95% of the time. Mine only chirp like that when somethings wrong, like I removed the rooster from a small breeding group or I forgot to feed. They actually don't make any noise when they are happy. The roosters if they are crowing constantly, want something, normally they only crow a couple times a day if at all. The fact that you have switched cages and had those aggressive birds before, it may just still be stress from all of that. Also waste of time waiting to hear an egg song from a coturnix. I have 25 hens and I never hear it. Frequently when I see an egg get laid they just plop it out and keep walking.

 

[TwoCrows]

I agree with DC here in that something is a miss in your cages. As I have mentioned in the past, you need to either give them more room, or make their room more inviting. Make it a quieter environment. Your birds were stressed out to the max before you got them and that doesn't go away fast. So I would give them double the amount of space you are now giving them, add some cut branches from a tree outside in the cages, don't keep them on wire and add hay or something horse around in.

If the truck stop behind your house is just too loud at night, you will need to drown this noise out. If they are not sleeping well and night, they won't lay at all. So a loud fan, or some sort of white noise needs to be in order. Maybe you need to insulate this shed to help drown out some of the noise.

 

[sniper338]

They are all quiet when im not in the shed. They make all those noises mostly when im in there feeding them or standing in front of them. They dont care for me much. Only a few are the noise makers and the others stay quiet. Im guessing I may just be sol with raising quail. They arent working out the way it was suppose to...

 

[TwoCrows]

It all boils down to healthy birds and a healthy environment.

I don't think you are SOL. I think you need to start with healthy stock raised in this environment. You can do it, but I am not so sure you can with the present stock that you have.

 

[sniper338]

There isnt anything more I can do. Space isnt an option. The cages they have is what they have. I cant put more money into it. Everything ive seen or read they should be fine in those cages. Tons of people have no problems...

 

[TwoCrows]

As I just mentioned, it is your birds. You need to start over with healthy birds/eggs. These birds are never going to be good producers.

 

[dc3085]

As I just mentioned, it is your birds. You need to start over with healthy birds/eggs. These birds are never going to be good producers.

X2

It would save you a lot of headache to just start fresh. With birds you know are quality.

I have a cage that is similar to what you use and I will tell you that their stress level stays higher and you will have more psychotic breakdowns. Its the trade you make for trying to raise so many birds in so little space.

 

[sniper338]

X2

It would save you a lot of headache to just start fresh. With birds you know are quality. 


What do yall think if I separated the hens out into one cage a piece where they didnt have another bird to influence their stress for a while and see what happens? Could I then move around the roo cage to cage to breed for a day or two each...? They didnt seem bad today... they were pretty quiet... I just feel like its a waste to freezer camp all these birds without trying everything.... I mean I paid $5 a piece for them... it would be an expensive butcher... possibly a learning lesson not to buy mass raised quail...

The thing I just dont get is a few of them laid eggs the first week I had them... I know they are capable...

I have a cage that is similar to what you use and I will tell you that their stress level stays higher and you will have more psychotic breakdowns. Its the trade you make for trying to raise so many birds in so little space.

 

[James the Bald]

Here's a strange idea; like a last ditch effort here... are your quail in an area where they can receive natural light? There may be a possibility that they are stressed by the artificial light. I know it sounds strange, but how about giving that a go and see how things turn out.
I made the boo boo of putting some lights directly above one cage... the light was inches from the top of the cage... I raised it almost 2' and had eggs the next day. Hope this works as I 'd hate to see some potential egg producers become stew.
James