Quail laied one egg and stopped.......

[happyniu]

Hi all.

I'm a newbie to the quails. I've raised them from eggs and there 2 quails 8 weeks old(one male and one female), 6 quails 5 weeks old(2 males and 4 females).
They were kept with baby chicks since they were born, then the chickens were moved out 2 weeks ago, and the quails were moved into a wired genie pig pen kept in the garage.

Then my 8 week hen laid an egg last week!(when she was 7 weeks old).

2 days before she laid the egg, just after they were moved to the new pen, I could see the difference in her and I could tell that she was going to lay. She was acting anxiously running around and her butt was in contraction mode.... So I waited, and waited, for hours......then I went off to bed.

The next day, it's the same all day.......

Finally, on the morning of the third day, I found an egg on the wired floor! I was so excited and thought I would expect an egg each day from then. But I was wrong.

The actions are the same each day, she was always in that contraction mode and running around, didn't rest much. And she started some other signs like building a nest? I put 2 small cardboard box filled with saw shavings for her to lay eggs. She was very carefully choosing the shaving that she wanted and put them in a certain way. She would go into each laying box for a few seconds and come out, once I even saw her do the "singing“, but still nothing. I've checked her tummy, no eggs stuck there either.

It's been a week now. Still no more eggs, and one of my five week hen start having that contraction mode as well. It starts to concern me now if that is the sign of laying eggs, or if it's a sign of some infection.

Or should I just wait......

BTW, in the aftnoon of I found the first egg, I found this on the edge of the cage. is this an unformed egg?

 

[Mallards and Quail]

You need to add more calcium to their diet, also from what I know about courtnix they will lay their first egg around the time you mentioned but it may take even longer for them to get on a regular basis of laying an egg a day. Also welcome to BYC! I hope you enjoy it here.

@Nabiki is more experienced with courtnix then I am

Edit: I keep tagging you right as soon as you comment lol

 

[Nabiki]

How much calcium are they getting? If they're still on game bird starter, there won't be enough calcium in her feed, and you may need to offer some on the side. Oyster or egg shells work well.

Another thing could be the move. Quail do not take well to change, and something like moving can stop them from laying for a couple weeks. If an egg was already on its way, it may have been laid before she stressed out from the move.

 

[happyniu]

Thanks for both of your replies!

I was only feeding chick starter with a little bit vege and fruit. No adding calcium at all until I saw she started laying...So is that green thing in the photo an egg without a shell? I don't really mind when they start laying but am curious what is the sign or motion for them to lay eggs. I sat there hours hoping to see that little egg comes out from the little hole

When I saw the egg I thought they settled quite well in the new cage, because they were all crowded in a container. Then I separated those three crockets, they did try to jump on her when she was trying to push...

So even without producing the egg, will they still show the same signs as laying? I've seen a few videos of egg binding. That scared me.

 

[Mallards and Quail]

Thanks for both of your replies!

I was only feeding chick starter with a little bit vege and fruit. No adding calcium at all until I saw she started laying...So is that green thing in the photo an egg without a shell? I don't really mind when they start laying but am curious what is the sign or motion for them to lay eggs. I sat there hours hoping to see that little egg comes out from the little hole

When I saw the egg I thought they settled quite well in the new cage, because they were all crowded in a container. Then I separated those three crockets, they did try to jump on her when she was trying to push...

So even without producing the egg, will they still show the same signs as laying? I've seen a few videos of egg binding. That scared me.

Update us whenever she starts laying again and what the egg looks like. There are a few illnesses that quail may get that may affect the eggs. For now it just seems like she needs to have more calcium in her diet. Make sure she is also drinking a bunch of fluids as it will help. That thing was most likely an unfinished egg. Good luck and continue to update us.

 

[Nabiki]

Thanks for both of your replies!

I was only feeding chick starter with a little bit vege and fruit. No adding calcium at all until I saw she started laying...So is that green thing in the photo an egg without a shell? I don't really mind when they start laying but am curious what is the sign or motion for them to lay eggs. I sat there hours hoping to see that little egg comes out from the little hole

When I saw the egg I thought they settled quite well in the new cage, because they were all crowded in a container. Then I separated those three crockets, they did try to jump on her when she was trying to push...

So even without producing the egg, will they still show the same signs as laying? I've seen a few videos of egg binding. That scared me.

That looks like a shelless egg to me.

I haven't really noticed any specific signs that my birds are going to lay except for egg song, which may not happen until after they lay.. To be honest, it's about the same signals as when they're going to poop.

If you every hear a small, high pitched whine, that's probably egg song.

 

[Whiskybear]

I’d like apologize for the not so sage wisdom I posted to this thread last night after the fire pit and whisky. Apparently I turn into a hippie when I drink. Sorry.

 

[happyniu]

Updates:

I've been out of town for a few days, and came back Tuesday morning. The first thing I did was check if there were any eggs. Still no luck; it had been 8 days since I found the first egg.

Regarding the egg song, I'm sure I've heard it at least twice during that week, but nothing happened. And the quail was still acting the same: anxious and wandering around. I did notice her poop was a bit watery, but not the other quails.

Went out and came back again in the late afternoon. Guess what? I found an egg! Finally the second formed egg appeared! But I wasn't too sure who laid it. The quail was eight weeks old now and the rest of the quails were just over five weeks. It might be a little bit too early for the 5-week quails to lay eggs. But they have turned quite big and fat, and started having contraction. (I've been watching if they had any contraction signs when I was comparing them with the laying quail, and there were none when they were 4-week old)

Wednesday - no egg.

Thursday lunchtime (today) - the third egg!

I'm so happy I'm starting getting healthy eggs! I'm hoping it's from the older quail, then I don't have to worry her anymore. And also expecting some eggs from those younger ones!

The things I have changed.
- adding egg shells, plenty of egg shells.
- adding protein. I've been adding worms, leftover eggs and dairy stuff(not too sure if I suppose to, but they loved it) to the side.
- kept one young rooster in their cage.
- adding vitamins(for chicken) into their water.
- adding a sand box.( yes, they couldn't bath before...)

and here is the comparison of the first two eggs.

egg one: I thought it was half of the egg has no spot first. After I left is in the nest for a while, it turned normal. So I assume it would be extra calcium covered around.

Comparison: egg 2 is a lot smoothier and bigger

Thanks for all your replying and will still update if I found anything else interesting.
@Whiskybear I did listen to you sit back and just wait. I guess you were right. It's just first time mum is always worried...LoL