Laying issues or me too impatient?

[Johnny829]

Hello guys,

I live in Florida and have to raise coturnix quails in my basement because of many factors. I give them 14 hours LED soft white lightning every day, temperature around 76, Dumor 24% chicken starter, free-choice oyster shell, fresh water and sand bath.

I have these female adult birds shipped to me 7 days ago and they did lay eggs the very first day they got here and then haven't laid any eggs until today. I understand the stress of the shipping and re-homing and everything. They look very happy and healthy. Even though it's winter, I guess temperature and daylight don't seem like an issue to me here.

The only issue I can think of is that I do need/have to change newspapers below their cage every day to keep my basement clean even though I have very good ventilation there. This does kind of disturb/bother them every day but I change newspapers quick and short and it maximum takes 10 minutes a day. So I'm wondering if it's just me being too impatient to want them lay eggs or there is truly something I need to change/improve to have them keep laying eggs. Any thoughts? Thank you!

 

[R2elk]

I give them 14 hours LED soft white lightning every day,

I would switch these out to daylight bulbs.

 

[Nabiki]

I'd give them some more time. You may also want to give them 15 or 16 hours of light per day.

Do they have boxes or plants to hide in? Having places to hide is important for their comfort too. The plants don't have to be real. Fake plants work and get pecked less.

 

[JMoje]

Are they fighting at all? If they are chasing each other around, I find the ones that get picked on don't lay. Aggressive birds I move into a separate cage. The more peaceful the birds are with each other, the more eggs I seem to get.

 

[2 many chickens]

I would do at least 16 hours of light a day if you want eggs. I'm sure they will settle in and start laying again soon.

 

[mixedUPturk]

One wk is too soon to expect shipped birds to begin laying. They'll get there on your regimen but if you could switch to a better game bird feed theyd fare better. Chick feed doesn't cover all of game birds nutritional requirements just the protein. The eggs they laid upon arrival were too far down in the track for the hens to stop them. 2 wks would be really good for them to start laying but i wouldn't be surprised if it took closer to 4. Shouldnt be a problem as you just wanted pets @Johnny829 quail are highly sensitive to stress but theyll get over it.

 

[laurenbarnes07]

Try feeding them sunflower seed in a separate bowl. I was having the same problems and gave some to them and they laid fabulously the day after they were given it.