BobWhites Stopped Laying

[kiaya611]

I haven't had quail before, although I have had many birds.  I recently was given 6 breeding PR of Bob Whites and my friend told me that they were basically laying an egg a day.  In fact even before I could get them home, there was an egg in the box that I was transporting them in.  I had them in a large carrier for 2 days while I built their outdoor pen and each day there were at least 4 eggs in the carrier.  The after the first day I had them in their pen, I found 4 eggs on the ground.

Now for the last 3 days, I haven't seen one egg.  I haven't seen any evidence or remains of an egg.

They are in a 6X8X8high flight pen and I don't have any coop for them yet, but I tarped 1/4 of the pen for shade and protection from the weather (if they so desired).  I planted bushes so they would have places to hide and feel protected.


FRONT VIEW


REAR VIEW


SIDE VIEW


BOB WHITE QUAIL IN PEN WITH SOME OF THE PLANTINGS

Are they not laying anymore because of the shock of the move, or is it because they were used to being indoors and now they are outdoors, or by moving them outdoors, did it turn off some internal clock since it isn't in a controlled environment with heat and lighting, etc.

I would be very interested in your thoughts.

Thank you,

Steven

[Reeves]

Common for birds that have been moved to quit laying.

By the way, I count 7 males of the 9 I can see.

They may have "issues" in a pen that size ? (people that raise them in quantity will likely have more on this)

[kiaya611]

That is interesting that you brought that up (about the 7 males).  I know he said he was giving me 6 PAIRS.  I could have sworn I counted 6 and 6.  They are not hard to tell apart so I will have to go out in the morning (when it is light) and count again.  Very interesting and very observant of you.

My friend had them in a colony breeding environment, but I don't know much more than that.  He just had a over abundance of breeders and asked if I wanted any.  I had never raised quail before and since I had chickens, turkeys, peafowl and am incubating guineas and am hoping to get a breeding PR of Sebastopol goslings, I thought it could be interesting to add quail to the mix since they don't take up much room and I know of people that like them (for eggs and meat).

In any case, I will be checking more closely in the morning.

BTW, In what research I have done (which at this point isn't all that much since this all occurred unexpectedly, I read in more than one place that quail required 1sqft per bird.  I have 12 birds (12sqft) and I have a pen that is 48sqft.  I know that I have seen pictures that have them in breeding cages that look like they are "wing to wing".  I would think that this would be more than adequate space for 6 PR. 

Am I flawed in my calculations?  I would be interested in knowing.  I have made sure so far to give all of my birds plenty of space per bird when I have built their pens and coops.

Again I would be interested in everyone's input.

Thank you,

Steven

[bird288]

kiaya611,,,
   I see you got your birds on the ground ,,Do you have earth worms up there ,If you do its a death trap ,,
 I live in Texas ,I had my on the ground in a pen something like your ,Half Covered ,,
 The quail will eat the worms and become sick and die ,,I learn the hard way ,,If you can Cover the whole pen ,,Thats my 2cents worth ,,Best of Luck ,,,,,,,God Bless,,,Jay

[kiaya611]

Hi Jay,

We do have earth worms here.  I know that they can be hosts for other worms.  I deworm my other birds periodically for this reason...I had planned to do the same with the quail.

Besides earthworms being hosts to other worms species, are they poisonous to quail?  I have seen pictures of other pens that are on the ground and planted so I wasn't aware that this was a problem.

Could you elaborate or maybe someone tell me of the problems with having quail on the ground?

Thank you,

[aKirA]

Common for birds that have been moved to quit laying.

By the way, I count 7 males of the 9 I can see.

They may have "issues" in a pen that size ? (people that raise them in quantity will likely have more on this)

Yep definately looks like 7 males and 2 females. For that ratio of female...you may find 1 or two eggs every other day. Give them some time to adjust to their living space.

[Reeves]

I have always raised mine on the ground, with no problems. Like you, I worm my birds though.

As far as space, I may not be the one to ask 

I have only two pair of Valley Quail now. They have a 72 sq. ft. run on grass, then a "hutch" off the ground, covered, for another 20 sq. ft. each. (total 92 sq ft each pair)

My Amherst pen is 576 sq. ft. run, 40 sq. ft. inside their "house". Just a trio in it.

etc.

If I were you, and mainly wanted just pets, I'd build the size pens you have for each pair. I'd also put the pens in various places on the property. That will make them call to each other more. (I miss hearing the Bobwhite calls !)

[bird288]

Steven:
 Earth worms also has worms and when the quail eats them ,The worms that are inside the earth worms ,Hatch out then they will hatch out in the quail ,,You can break up the soil and lime it real good ,,Get rid of them ,,,
 Plus keep thier feed dry ,If it gets mildew ,,Not good ,,They also will die
  Like I said its a death trap ,,Some people have better luck raising them on the ground (Not Me ),,,If you will do some research on here and other sites you will find interested information on this ,,Good Luck ,,And  Remember our Vets & Troops on this Day
  God Bless,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Jay

[kiaya611]

By the way, I count 7 males of the 9 I can see.

This morning, I went out after it got light and counted and found in fact I have 7 males and 5 females.

Sooo...this means, that I need to get rid of 2 of the males to "balance things out again". 

I must be going blind in my old age...Or maybe too many prescriptions.  Can't believe I missed that one.

Well, I guess the remainder will have even more room.

Thanks for pointing that out Reeves!

[kiaya611]

Changed the diet of the quail.  I was mistakenly feeding them % protein gamebird feed and since they are adults, I changed it to 20%.  Don't know how exactly I made that mistake, but maybe it will make a difference in them laying again...besides moving them, that is the only thing that I can see that I have done different than the previous owner who was getting a egg a day from them.  As with so many things...time will tell...

[gp]

If you want them to lay eggs you need to get rid of all the males but 2.  That will give you your 1 male to 3 female ratio you need for colony breeding.

Also you should put them on a good layer food like purina gamebird layena.

[guitarist619]

i have seen this pic quite alot and have been wondering what kind of plants do you have in there?

[CharlieHorse]

i have seen this pic quite alot and have been wondering what kind of plants do you have in there?

Unless they're artificial, those birds will turn that into a bare landscape in a short time.   They'll eat/peck the bark right off of those plants as soon as that grass is gone/smashed.   I don't know about gamebirds, but many ornamental plants are poisonous to livestock, I don't know why birds would be any different.  Of course, the less birds, the better the survival rate for vegetation. 10-12 bobs in that size pen will clean house.