Why aren't my quail laying??

"Free quail", the Craigslist ad said. So, I drove a couple hours to pick up (9) five week old quail. the guy lived in a small apartment, and said he hatched and brooded them as a hobby, but, couldn't keep them.

I brought them home, set them up in a nice coop. At about ten weeks i got a couple eggs. Probably half a dozen over a week or two. Then, nothing

I pulled the excess males, upped their protein, maintained 15 hours of light, and moved them into spot with less disturbances.

It's been 6-8 weeks, and not another single egg. What's up? Have I forgotten something important, like reading them a story and singing them a lullaby every night?

I bought 20 at sale barn in may 18 female 2 male 6 week old should start laying at 8 weeks . still no eggs come last weekend so butcherd them when I butcherd meat rabbits. I tried everything and never could get them to lay

I was debating on a thread asking to encourage laying, or recipe for Christmas dinner.

Play some smooth jazz in the coop. Maybe the females want a little wooing.

I just want eggs. I could care less if they are fertile.

Are they outside? I kept mine outside and never had any trouble, how cold it where you are keeping them?

What kind of Quail?

we used to raise coturnix quail and if you feed them 25% protein and clean water they would be laying in 6 weeks after hatching. My wife has a sportsman incubator and u could get a ton of generations and birds in a couple years! Are your quail older then you where told? they don't last long and burn out. extremely easy birds to raise and great with kids to learn

They are Jumbo Corturnix. They are outside in a wire hutch. with straw bales on three sides and half straw floor. Currently the temps range from 20°F either side of freezing. Their water sits on top of a coffee can with a light bulb in it for heat.

When I got them, they were taken right out of his brooder, so not old birds

something getting the eggs before u do?

No way anything is getting into the hutch. There is also no evidence they may be eating them.

have them for supper and get a new batch

I started them with 18% poultry crumble. When I got concerned about them not laying I stepped up to a gamebird crumble. I forgot the protein, probably not 25, but, was considerably higher than the layer mix. At this stage of the game, the only thing on a high protein diet is going to me.

I used 26% turkey starter, no med's in the mix.

I have a small wooden box with a lid at the back of the pen with straw to get out of the wind and lay in.. mine still lay every day. Some are two years old. The dry straw stimulates them to lay I think. I get more eggs when I freshen the straw.

I also feed greens every day. lettuce cabbage, grass ,cover. they love it and lay good.

A dry clean pen helps too.

I dont think protein is as important as they say. Mine do great on layer pellets. I mix in a little bird seed too.

I have raised many hundreds of tthousands of coturnix quail since 1996. Coturnix, especially in cold climates, do and perform much better with the deep litter method than on wire. Manure throws heat as it decomposes. Coturnix also waste less feed by throwing it out, like they do on wire. Below 20F coturnix stop laying well even with the deep litter method. Rapidly changing weather makes them lay poorly too. On wire, especially if exposed to wind, coturnix lay poorly at freezing temperatures. I give my quail 24 hour light. I feed a 15% protein layer mash at all ages. Higher protein diets make quail grow faster, but it makes them poor layers and significantly shortens their life spans. I believe high calcium levels are the most important feed element for egg production.

Fat build up on the ovaries hurts the fertility of hens. Overweight males breed poorly. Don't over feed.

You can easily tell if a hen is laying by looking at her vent. Hens that are currently laying will have a wide vent that is moist and has a lot of color.

Males that are breeding well will have some give in the flesh covering the foam ball on the tail side of the vent. If the flesh is very firm over the ball, they're not breeding females. If there is no foam they are immature or have something else wrong with them.

The largest quail are poor producers of eggs. They lay less while laying, lay for a shorter period of time and die earlier. A lot of lines of jumbo brown coturnix are basically meat birds, similar to cornish rock cross chicken. They have very good weight gain on high protein diets, but won't ever lay well. They're just not bred for it. Medium sized coturnix lay many more eggs.

Keith

Yip Whatever their past; these are meat birds, and are guaranteed to die earlier.

Somehow I get the feeling that the guy I got them from was/is doing some selective breeding, and I got his culls. WTH, this is my first time out with quail. I'm looking forward to some good eating; and my next batch is going to have some kind of pedigree.

Good ideaT rex

Even with your additional artificial light, the birds are outside and probably using the normal daylight lessening time to take a break. A lot of chicken breeds quit laying for some days in the winter. Ours are right now. Also if they would be molting they quit laying. Sometimes stress etc. sets the group into a molt. With none laying I don't think it is a feed issue.

Bryce

Coturnix quail are very easy to selectively breed to what you want, because their life cycles are so quick. They hatch in just a little over 17 days and many of mine lay by 6 weeks and 2 days after hatching. When I kept track of it, the earliest I have had any lay was 5 weeks and 5 days. Pullet eggs are smaller than normal, but usually hatch fairly well.

There are some people who very carefully select their breeders for specific purposes, but most people just breed whatever they have. Few people understand the need to or have the heart to cull. Most animals bred in captivity, should never be used as breeders. Only the best should be bred.

I like colors. With the modifiers and patterning genes there are probably more than 60 colors in Coturnix now. I think I have all of the colors Coturnix come in or at least the ability to produce them.

If you don't select for size, Coturnix get smaller and lay smaller eggs over the generations. They become more like white leghorns, having smaller body size, except that you lose egg size too. There's a definite tradeoff between quail size and laying capability. Bigger quail lay poorly. There is also a tradeoff between egg size and number of eggs laid during the lifetime of the hen. Hens that lay huge eggs die young and rarely lay daily. The most common cause of death for hens in their prime is prolapsing when laying.

I keep 3.5 hens per rooster in colonies consisting of 20 roosters and 90 hens. I cull birds very frequently. I have buyers that purchase all of my culls. I do the first culll at around 10 weeks. All unhealthy, damaged or deformed, adult quail are culled. All quail that are not breeding are culled. Roosters are culled first for size and then color. Hens are culled for size, but less harshly. Around 16 weeks I cull again. If I ever see a quail eating an egg, it's instantly culled. Badly injured quail are instantly culled. Full adult quail that are flighty or wild acting are culled.

Keith

yip, my birds are looking tastier everyday.

I also have chickens, that have basically the same living conditions. They are laying as expected.

The next batch of quail is going to have come from a better place.