Bobs stopped laying??

[blackswamp]

I recently moved all my bobs from an inside pen to a new enclosure outside.  I know that they are young, 15 weeks most of them, but I do have a few that I know are old enough to breed for sure.  Before I moved them, I was getting eggs about every other day, every 3 days, from at least one or two of my hens.  After the move, I got a single egg on the second day and haven't had anything since.  They were all together, but today I moved trios, MFF, into sectioned breeder pens in hopes of upping the egg production.  And I do still see the males breeding the females.
Now my questions:
  I have supplemented their regular diet with crushed oyster shell (36% calcium) for shell production/strength, but should I still change to a layer diet for my laying females? (I'm thinking yes.)

  Could the stress of the move into a new pen have stopped/slowed egg production? (Another yes here.)  They have been in the new pen now for almost 3 weeks.

  Should I still expect natural laying out of the females this late into the year? Or do I need to add artificial light to lengthen daylight times?

Thanks in advance for any knowledge you can throw my way.

blackswamp

[casnyder]

My chickens have stopped laying for the year (located at about the 40th parallel).  The chickens get no artificial light.  A lot of bird species will stop laying for a week or three when moved, I imagine quail are no different.  

What are you feeding them now, if not laying mash?  I switch chickens to scratch and corn through the winter, but I sort of suspect that game birds need to continue to get a higher protein diet.  The extra calcium doesn't sound healthy though, when they are not laying.  It has to come out somewhere, and I'd be afraid of the damage it does to the kidneys as it does come back out.

Be well,
Chris

[squirrelhunter]

Definitely stress, that usually does it for my birds.

[mt view farm]

our birds usually stop laying when the weather turns colder and the time changes (located in southwestern Virginia). We run artificial lighting in the chicken house and they start laying again withing a couple of weeks.  We also put out warm water a couple of times a day and it seems to help.  Haven't tried artificial light with the quail yet.

[quailacres]

Moving bobs can cause them to stop laying for a while. You should be back on track soon!