NEED HELP PLEASE ASAP!!!!

[SamanthaWilson4]

I put my (now 7 week old) quail outside before they were 3 weeks old and they did fine. I live in NW Washington and we had a decent spell of weather at the time. Didn't lose any in the transition.

Are your quail laying yet? How much long did it take for them to start laying. I am hoping mine will be laying in the next week or two lol.

 

[bkvail]

Are your quail laying yet? How much long did it take for them to start laying. I am hoping mine will be laying in the next week or two lol.

yes, I have been getting eggs for several days now - first eggs were when they were exactly 7 weeks old.

 

[JJSS89]

They'll be fine outside. Make sure they have draft free areas to huddle together and warm-up. If you have a heatlamp - use it in a corner.

 

[dc3085]

my birds are big and fat little things. So not sure how you get that they get skinny mine are fatties lol. Big bluff balls and have been since they were born. I am sure that 2.5 days will not make that much difference on the egg laying. If it does then I will just wait another week or two for them to lay. I live in the city and having them in my house stinking the place up is grounds to have them taken away from me and my chicken and my rabbits and so not doing that. So if it comes down to it then yes. That is fine if it takes little longer for them to lay. At least I will still have them for them to lay lol

I know that they lose weight without the light at 2 weeks because well lets see, i have a large understanding poultry science because it is my hobby and because I have been raising them for years. I didn't say they get "skinny" I said they'd lose weight (they also quit gaining it at the rapid level they were under the light) The third week the temp in the brooder should 80-85* 24 hours a day for optimum growth and again because they don't generate ANY OF THEIR OWN BODY HEAT.

If your body temp won't maintain itself then how do you suppose your body would generate the heat it needs to stay alive? It will burn tissue. Fats and proteins.

edited by staff

 

[1000yearoldeggs]

Just to help some people out, even if they're feathered out you have to be careful transitioning them to go outside. I put 6 week olds outside (along with an older hen) in April (it was still pretty cold here, probably 40 or 50 degrees at night) and it triggered a molt. Inside it was probably 68-70 degrees. I felt terrible, the older hen I had stopped laying, so I know for sure it was a molt because of the inside/outside transition.

Make sure you try to transition them as slowly as you can. It doesn't matter to many people now because it's summer, but around fall it might help you out.