My Coturnix wont lay any eggs :(

[drewskimac]

I've had the quail since august and they have yet to lay any eggs. (They were about 6 weeks old when i got them back in august) I've been feeding them layer pellets but a couple of days ago i began giving them egg crumbles. Also, for a week ive been giving them light from 6pm (When it gets dark) to about 10pm, and a couple days ago i extended the light from 6pm to 11 pm. Any reccomendations? Any and all appreciated, thanks!

 

[stephstuckman]

Mine took about 3 weeks before they started to lay after I put lights up last fall. I slowly got a few more eggs very 3 or 4 days once they started. At most I get about 8-10 eggs from 13 hens. The weather was in the teens and negative temps for a while though so I think that was pretty good. Now that it's getting warmer they give me 10 eggs a day. We have started getting temps up to 68 F during the day which is crazy warm for colorado in February. We have no snow left already too. It will be a dry year if we don't get April/may rain.

 

[orumpoultry]

What protein level are they getting? If they are deprived of proper protein they won't lay, even if they have enough light. Your normal layer pellet doesn't have enough protein in it to do them any good. The closer to 30%, the better.

 

[stephstuckman]

Mine do awesome on 22% feed. The only higher protein food around here I can get is medicated.

 

[drewskimac]

Mine took about 3 weeks before they started to lay after I put lights up last fall. I slowly got a few more eggs very 3 or 4 days once they started. At most I get about 8-10 eggs from 13 hens. The weather was in the teens and negative temps for a while though so I think that was pretty good. Now that it's getting warmer they give me 10 eggs a day. We have started getting temps up to 68 F during the day which is crazy warm for colorado in February. We have no snow left already too. It will be a dry year if we don't get April/may rain.

awesome, thanks for the response

 

[drewskimac]

What protein level are they getting? If they are deprived of proper protein they won't lay, even if they have enough light. Your normal layer pellet doesn't have enough protein in it to do them any good. The closer to 30%, the better.

I will check on that, thanks!

 

[drewskimac]

Mine do awesome on 22% feed. The only higher protein food around here I can get is medicated.

Really? That's good! Well, i think i'm going to start feeding mine live mealworms, so that should help mine a bit.