Single Quail Not Laying

[FluffsAndQuails]

Hi everyone! I'm a long term fan of this forum, but have only just made an account

I have two batches of Coturnix quail that I hatched from fertile eggs - the first batch only had one hen (a Golden Italian), and the second batch had two (a Pharaoh and a Tuxedo). There's about 3 weeks age difference between the two batches.

Both the hens from the second batch have been laying for at least 4 weeks now, but the Golden from my first batch has never laid. She's also very rarely mated by either of our two males (one plus a backup, I'm intending on breeding more so I can get more females, I know it's a bit roo-heavy!).

She's definitely a female - she has a spotty chest, female vent, and I've never seen her crow. She's a bit over 13 weeks old, and the others started laying at 7 weeks (all the eggs were from the same breeder so they should have similar genetics).

Does anyone have any idea why she's never laid an egg? She's otherwise well in herself, very friendly for a quail.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[FluffsAndQuails]

Also I forgot to mention, I'm in the Southern Hemisphere so it's the middle of summer currently, so daylight hours shouldn't be an issue!

 

[Quailobsessed]

What's your setup like? What are you feeding them. What's the protein percent in their feed?

I had a female that never laid or let the male mate her but after he died and we got her another mate and another female for company, she laid eggs and even went broody.

 

[FluffsAndQuails]

Thanks for your reply!

They're outside in a large rabbit hutch, ~9ft long and 3ft wide, and just 5 of them inside. They have ad-lib access to feed and water and a sand box, plus an inside area for escaping the sun and laying. I give them a commercial gamebird feed that's advertised as being a complete feed for adult quail, 20% protein. It may be a little low on the protein side? But the other two quail have been laying every day since starting so I'd assume they're not too deficient?

That's interesting about your quail, I wonder if it would be worth temporarily removing one of the males in case she's finding two of them stressful. Thanks again!

 

[Quailobsessed]

Thanks for your reply!

They're outside in a large rabbit hutch, ~9ft long and 3ft wide, and just 5 of them inside. They have ad-lib access to feed and water and a sand box, plus an inside area for escaping the sun and laying. I give them a commercial gamebird feed that's advertised as being a complete feed for adult quail, 20% protein. It may be a little low on the protein side? But the other two quail have been laying every day since starting so I'd assume they're not too deficient?

That's interesting about your quail, I wonder if it would be worth temporarily removing one of the males in case she's finding two of them stressful. Thanks again!

Sure, try that.