Reduced egg laying

[molliedogspabottom]

Hi all,
I have kept quail for about 4 years now and have always had good quantities of eggs per bird.

I used to feed layers mash and chicken pellets, with a treat of greens and meal worm every day. They seemed to be a bit wasteful with mash so I changed to pellets only and then I discovered quail pellets, these are more expensive but no waste at all.

Now the girls get quail pellets greens and meal worms but I get no where near the amount of eggs per bird and most of them at the moment are about 9 months old.

Any one got any ideas ?

Heather

 

[Marigold]

Hi Heather,
No idea really, at this time of year there's obviously plenty of light and at 9 months you could expect an egg nearly every day from each hen. I suppose they're also getting grit and oystershell in a suitably small size?
My coturnix are now 15 months old and laying daily, on a similar diet to yours. If yours are 9 months old, they must have hatched last August - did they come into lay last Autumn, or was the light not good enough by October?

 

[molliedogspabottom]

Hi marigold,

Yes they started laying last years and then in late dec. I reduce the light and give them 3 months off, they are lovely and healthy looking, plenty of small grit available
I have put some of the hens layers pellets in a trough for them to see which they prefer.

 

[Marigold]

Do you still have the bag for the quail pellets? If so, I wonder what the protein level is. Some makers don't seem to realise that quail need 20-22% protein to lay well, even what you would think were the better breeds such as Garvo. Mine do well on Garvo chick feed, which has a mix of seeds, grains, mini pellets and dried crustaceans, plus mealworms and greens, plus i give small grit with ground up calcium supplement in it. But if you are feeding yours the same as last year, the lack of eggs at the peak season for laying is odd. If they are all healthy and happy, maybe they will start up again in their own good time.

 

[molliedogspabottom]

Hi Marigold,

Thanks, I will check the pellets for protein and will try adding some of the hens oyster shell smashed up smaller as the grit I got last time seems more like little stones than shell.
I have just remembered that I also invested in a slow dimmer for the lights when they turn on and off, that's new this year.
I will let you know about the feed.

Thanks Heather

 

[MalcolmP]

Hi Heather,
I was browsing the web for quail info/interest and have just found this forum.
Had to sign up right away when I saw your post, to say I hope you are not having the start of a problem that I experienced a while ago, rats stealing the eggs !
The longer story :-

I had been keeping Japanese for several years for domestic eggs/meat and my two pens of birds were a few years old, so I was not unduly suprised when their egg production diminished and then stoped.
No worries, they had "paid their way", reduce their lighting and I'll let them rest till spring and then they would either restart or I would get new stock, , , I thought.
A week went by and then all the birds in one pen vanished ! Drat!! Searched all over for the escape route but couldnt find anything. Right puzzled I was.
Another 2 weeks went by with no eggs from the second pen so no hope of breeding replacements.
Then they vanished as well !! and, slowly, the horrible truth dawned in my slow brain - rats !!
The wire mesh tops of the pens were sufficient to keep the quail in but free enough for them to bounce and not damage the quail if they did panic vtols, but ( I guess) not secure enough to deter the vermin

Sure enough, closer inspection revealed droppings here and there, my first experience with a rat infestation. Lots of rat bait/poison later and they seemed to have "gone" but it is only now, quite some time later, that I am beginning to get the urge to restock and keep some more quail, it wasnt a nice experience.

I hope I am wrong and that there is another explanation for your problem and that you find the answer soon. But vermin stealing the eggs is now well on my watch list !

 

[molliedogspabottom]

Hi Malcolm,

Thank you for your post but I am fairly sure that this is not the problem however I will inspect thoroughly tomorrow.
My quail are kept in an specially converted 10' x 6' shed,with an outside run and they are locked up at night.
I am a little paranoid about rats and so fine mesh was used under the floor and all around the outside run,but it did cross my mind at the start.
I also wondered if there is a little predator action under the shed or on the roof at night and that could be putting them off, I have seen a weasel in the garden.
I just don't know what it could be,will let you know if things change.

Heather

 

[Marigold]

Weasel is an interesting theory Heather- they are not much fatter than a pencil and so old get through 1/2'' mesh, though they wouldn't be able to steal the egg through this aperture, would they, and if they ate it in the cage you would presumably see the bits of shell. They are very fierce for their size and could kill a quail for its blood, but again you would have a bloodbath left in the cage and the rest of the body.

 

[MalcolmP]

Hi Heather, you seem to have all bases covered anti vermin so I dunno ! Fingers xxed that you get it sorted/sussed !
All I can think of so far (and I guess you have been down this route as well) is a trap to see what is going on underneath or on the roof.
Problem is that a dead trap may anihilate something unintended and a live trap will require you to deal with a rat (or several!)

shed,with an outside run and they are locked up at night

If I may go outside the remit of the orig. question :-
Do they go in by themselves or do you have to shoo them in at night?

Reason I ask is that I have only ever kept quail in cages/pens in sheds,
I am thinking (will get round to posting why in a welcome/intro later !) of keeping a new lot in a run outside.
Do they need a sheltered run, or have they the sense to use an "open to the elements" run with a shelter attached to which they will retreat during inclement weather and at night ?

 

[MalcolmP]

Hello Heather,
what happened ?
are they back to normal ?
can we help any more ?

??

 

[Red Rocky]

you are welcome to some of my eggs! (but that doesn't really help, does it?)