Quails arent laying yet

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Quails arent laying yet
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Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 09 5:51 pm Post subject:
I have a 10watt strip light in the house to suplement the natural light through the perspex roof. I keep it on a timer giving 16hrs total. Without you won't get many eggs till March/April but young birds should lay a few without lights.

Pel

Joined: 29 Mar 2008
Posts: 2366
Location: Sennybridge

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 09 10:10 pm Post subject:

The shed has a perspex window on the side. Is the timer battery powder? As i don't have any mains up the garden.
Yeah the males are in as i want to incubate some eggs...when the girls produce some.
I don't mind waiting a bit longer, like i said i'm not getting any eggs of my hens yet (i don't have a cockerel) so buy in eggs to eat isnt the issue as i already do that.

So is ordinary chick crumb ok then.. the cheaper place to buy food from stocks chick crumb, turkey crumb (i think), rearers then layers mash and layers pellets, but nothing more posh than that. Is the chick crumb farmgate bags?

emma102068

Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 12

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 09 12:32 am Post subject:
i get farmgate chick crumbs 25 kg for around 6 pounds. why are your hens not laying you dont need a cockerel to make them lay only to fertilise the eggs my hens lay all year and i have no cockerels as i dont wish to incubate my hen eggs. You may find you will need to run some electric supply to you shed as quails hate the cold they will not survive a cold winter without some heat source.

emma102068

Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 12

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 09 12:36 am Post subject:
the only difference between layer pelletts and ornamental poultry pellets is the size ornamental pellets being a lot smaller then layers pellets. if you have some smaller quails they will find it hard to eat the larger size layers pelletts.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 09 7:16 am Post subject:
Chick crumbs are fine but for layers they will want extra calcium. Ground limestone mixed with the crumbs at about 3% (30g to the kilo). If you haven't got mains electric in your shed how about 12 volt garden lighting.

Pel

Joined: 29 Mar 2008
Posts: 2366
Location: Sennybridge

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 09 4:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks tavascarow. I'll get chick crumbs when the bag of layers mash is finished. Can i get ground limestone (i know i can get hydrogenated limestome) from an agri-shop or do I have to go to a builders yard?
Didnt know you could get a 12volt garden lighting.. is that like those mushroom looking light?

Hi emma, my hens are still moulting and this is why they arent laying.
however i wouldnt be surprised if they are feeling a bit moody at the moment as a neighbour has got a cockerel and every time it crows my hens cluck back very grumply... they can't see each other luckily, as my hens get quite loud if something is upsetting them which they can see

I know i don't need a male bird for them to lay this is why i have no cockerel myself, but do have male quails as i want to incubate eggs, and it be a bit pointless if i put non-fertile eggs into an incubator

Think my quails are just very fussy, when i put some small bits of veg in they just chuck it out, even when they were outdoors they didnt like there veg or bread or grass.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 09 6:50 pm Post subject:
NO DON'T USE BUILDERS LIME!!! Very caustic & will burn the throats of the poor wee birds. Ground limestone is garden lime, calcium carbonate, Ca CO3. Definately not builders lime, AKA hydrogenated lime, Calcium hydroxide, CaOH & very caustic.

emma102068

Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 12

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 09 8:18 pm Post subject:
are your quails very big they may manage normal layers pelletts mixed with the chick crumb this would give them all they need nutritional wise and is easy to come by or could just crusg the layers up a bit. Mine are laying well on the above and the chicks all seem healthy when hatched. (had a batch hatch today)

Pel

Joined: 29 Mar 2008
Posts: 2366
Location: Sennybridge

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 09 8:59 pm Post subject:

I guessed hydrogentated limestone was different from ground limestone

Ok so garden shop then, if not at agri place.

The quails are the japenese types. When they had layers pellets, they seemed to get thinner so i assumed they couldnt eat it (too big), and when mixing layers mash with pellets they just chucked the pellets out

I've got about a 1/3 of a bag left of mash, but i will be getting some more rabbit food soon from the agri-shop so i can get supplies then and ask about ground limestone.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 09 9:10 pm Post subject:
Layers mash is only 16% protein & quail need more. Chick crumbs are about 18% & turkey & game crumbs a little higher again but quite a bit dearer. Mine do fine on chick crumbs so I've never bothered paying the extra for turkey/game crumbs.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9717
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 09 6:15 pm Post subject:
I was under the impression you should not feed birds chick crumb if you are eating their eggs, as chickcrumb usually comes with a coxoid in it. Farmgate chickcrumb does.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 09 8:03 pm Post subject:

colour it green wrote:

I was under the impression you should not feed birds chick crumb if you are eating their eggs, as chickcrumb usually comes with a coxoid in it.

Farmgate chickcrumb does.

I know the mill I get mine from don't add coxoid to their feed but it's a good point.

emma102068

Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 12

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 09 9:27 pm Post subject:
depending where i get mine from i sometimes use farmgate chick crumbs but i dont eat my eggsonly incubate them so does this matter

Pel

Joined: 29 Mar 2008
Posts: 2366
Location: Sennybridge

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 09 9:37 pm Post subject:
Ahh i'm hoping to eat mine, i'll have to check with them then and see what else they have. How many quails do you have emma? have you never eaten any of their eggs?

emma102068

Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 12

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 09 10:56 pm Post subject:

i always used to eat their eggs but then i found a market for hatching the eggs and selling them so at the moment i hatch them all if i can. At current i have 15 quails that i keep and the day b4 yeaterday i hatched a dozen. i dont get rid of the babies b4 6 weeks as i like to make sure they are all good and strong b4 they go. they are all my pets completely tame and the kids love to play with them.
since hatching them i do find it hard to eat the eggs as i am a bit soft and tend to imagine what cute things they could have turned into if i had hatched them.
what is the coxide that is in the feed and why should you not eat the eggs if the birds have been fed on it (i guess i should no really

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