How many months do quail begin to rush? What conditions should be provided for good egg production? How difficult is such a bird to care for? These questions are often asked by fans of a product such as quail eggs. The latter are an exceptional find for the human body, as they contain a large amount of vitamins and a lot of useful trace elements.
The benefits of quail eggs
Quail eggs are an excellent tool to improve memory, normalize the nervous system and increase immunity. They bring great benefits to the children's body: they stimulate mental activity, help in the treatment of respiratory diseases; in the body of a pregnant woman, they replenish the supply of calcium and protect tooth enamel from destruction.
For prophylaxis over a long period, it is recommended to eat two eggs a day. By the way, this procedure is successfully practiced by Japanese schoolchildren and helps to improve memory, increase vision and better development in general.
It solves such a universal product and men's issues, namely it increases potency. The Germans have long tried one healing recipe. On an empty stomach they drink 4 raw quail eggs and wash them down with a tablespoon of a home-made drink - vodka infused on partitions of walnuts.
Egg Breeds
To obtain a valuable product, so to speak, right from the production facilities, many farmers plant a unique bird in their farms and almost immediately ask themselves the question of the age at which quails begin to fly. But the fact is that their egg production depends not only on the age and conditions of the keeping of birds, but also on the breed.
The most common egg breed is Japanese quail. Domesticated 1000 years ago, it lost its incubating effect, acquiring no less valuable quality - high egg production: more than 300 eggs a year, each weighing 10-12 g.
The live weight of males of the named breed is 110-120 g, females are slightly superior to males - 130-150 g. Such hens begin to haul in 40-45 days. These quail are not capricious to the conditions of detention and are fundamental in the breeding of new breeds.
Marble Quail. It is identical to the Japanese breed, from which it differs only in color.
English is black. In terms of body weight it surpasses the Japanese ones by 6-8%, significantly inferior to egg production. They differ from other species in black plumage, which has a slightly brown tint. The weight of the female is 180-200 g, males - about 170 g. During the year, from the English black quail, you can get about 280 eggs.
Kitavers. This is an Estonian bird with exceptional egg production (310 eggs per year) and meat yield. The mass of the chicken is 190-210 g, the cockerel is 160-180 g.
About egg laying quail
Possessing such qualities as rapid growth, quail begin to rush at the age of 35-40 days. The live weight of females at this moment is only 100 grams. When the quail begins to rush, the number of eggs will be small - only up to 8 pieces per month. But then this figure will increase, and in the next 6 months one layer will give about 25 eggs, therefore, their number per year will be 300 pieces.
By the way, the egg mass (average weight of 1 egg multiplied by the number of eggs) is 20-23 times greater than the weight of the laying hen, while for chickens the same indicator is 8.
Often eggs from young laying hens have a soft shell. This is due to the immaturity of the body. With proper bird care, the problem is resolved within 2 weeks.
In terms of nutrition, quail eggs are several times better than chicken eggs and, by the way, do not cause allergies. In addition, such a product does not deteriorate, because it contains lysozyme, a valuable amino acid that prevents the development of microflora. Therefore, quail eggs can be stored at room temperature.
Features of egg laying in quail
In order to obtain eggs from individuals older than 1.5 months, it is necessary to form an egg-bearing herd of hens. The presence of males in it is possible, but not necessary. On performance, this is reflected only when replacing the male. And in this case, you have to wait a week until the egg is restored. In addition, it is believed that an unfertilized egg has greater nutritional value.
When will the quail begin to rush? Usually quail rush in the afternoon or late in the evening. In such an important process, the bird follows a certain schedule: for 5-6 days it carries 1 egg, then takes a break for a couple of days.
If egg production is absent for a long period, one should ask: why do not young quail begin to rush? Perhaps the bird got stress during transportation, so you need to stock up on two-week patience, until a new herd gets used to and acclimatizes.
When the quail begins to rush when grown at home
An important factor for stable egg production is the correct conditions for quail care:
- The bird must be kept in spacious cages, the optimal size of which for a herd of 30 individuals is 750 x 350 mm at a height of 250 mm.
- It is worth considering that overpopulation will negatively affect egg production. Therefore, in each individual cell, it is recommended to grow only a uniform herd.
- The acquired bird should be kept separately from the main herd, in another room for a month. And having adapted, the quail will resume oviposition in about a week.
- It is highly recommended that they not be transplanted to another place, to be transferred to an already established group of new individuals, to rearrange cages with birds to another place, since this action causes stress in birds. Also, loud sounds frighteningly affect quail.
After how many quail begin to rush?
The most comfortable for growing hens is a temperature of 20-22 ° C. A lower or higher rate negatively affects egg production. The optimal level of humidity in this case should be - 60-70%.
It is also important to ensure that the house has full lighting for 16-17 hours a day. If the daylight hours are less than 12 hours, the quail will cease to supply the farmer with eggs that are useful and in demand among consumers. Artificial lighting can fix the problem and help answer the question when the quails begin to rush. However, it is worth considering that in too bright a light, fearful birds can get stressed and start pecking at each other.
Drafts can also be disastrous for them. Negatively affecting a fragile organism, they cause the loss of feathers and, as a result, baldness. Egg production in this case leaves much to be desired.
Cleanliness is a must
A prerequisite for quality care and stable egg production is purity in the cells. Every day it is required to remove droppings from the floors of the cells, clean the feeders and wash the drinkers. Once a week carry out their disinfection with a solution of "Creolin" (2%) or "Formalin" (0.5%). The pairs of this drug should also disinfect the incubators and eggs planned for laying.
About the composition of feed
The stability of egg production is affected by good nutrition, which should consist of balanced feed. This is well-crushed corn and wheat with the possible addition of 10-15% of other grain or special full feed. It is recommended to use chalk, soybean or oil meal, fish and meat and bone meal containing a large amount of amino acids as a mandatory additive. The strength of the shell will give the use of mineral-rich gravel and shells. There should always be fresh water in the houses.
Proper feeding for good egg production
Quail should be given a 3-time meal regimen. At the same time, the consumption of feed, always fresh, per female is about 20-30 grams, the male consumes about 18 grams. The rest of the day, the feeders should be clean and empty. The lack of food available around the clock will cause a good appetite for feeding and will not allow birds to overeat. After all, overfeeding leads to obesity and, as a result, a decrease in egg production.
It should be borne in mind that with an unbalanced composition of food and a sharp change in one type of feed to another, quail can stop egg laying. Moreover, it will take up to 2 weeks to wait for the quail to rush. During this time, their body will be able to fully recover, but the nutrition should be, again, properly balanced.
Why don’t the quail rush? The reason for this may be the age factor, when the body of the female simply wears out. After a year, the egg production rate can drop to 50%, and the laying hens should be replaced by young individuals, and the old hens will go for meat. Also, quail ceases to rush during molting.
Low egg production due to illness
Be sure to periodically inspect the quail for a disease, which can also cause a lack of egg production. Healthy quail is always mobile and active, characterized by a good appetite. They have a smooth shiny plumage, without ruffle and shaggy, and wings and legs move well. Being a bird with a fairly high immunity, with poor care, quail can still be infected with various infections that enter the body with water, food and air when replenishing the herd.
The Newcastle disease, which leads to the death of the bird within a few hours, is of great danger to quail. Contact with a healthy individual and a patient leads to infection, infection through litter is also observed. Distributors of the disease are dogs, rats, waterfowl.
In diseased quail, a state of constant drowsiness, shortness of breath, lack of appetite and mucus secretion from the beak are observed. In such cases, mandatory isolation of the infected individual and consultation with the veterinarian are necessary.