“Pastured” quail don’t lay eggs?

[gafultz]

just a quick question. My mentor who is letting me run my quail behind her goats has warned me that pastured quail won’t lay eggs. She said she’s tried it in her yard and in her green house
And anytime you move them, it takes up to two weeks for them to become comfortable to start laying. I have not finished the tractor build yet. But to me this sounds like balony.
She’s told me 1 male to 5ish females, high protein feed like turkey feed. Never said anything about giving supplemental calcium though.
So I thought I would ask, if anyone has “pastured” quail and if they stopped laying because of it?
Any thoughts or recommendations are welcome.

 

[igorsMistress]

I don’t know about changing things causing them to quit, but I imagine it could cause a short delay. It takes chickens and ducks a day or two to adjust but then they’re fine and start laying as usual.

I kept quail in my shade garden, they laid plenty of eggs. I had to hunt for them every day, but the quail were reliable layers the whole time. They like to hide their eggs under plants and stuff so maybe your mentor didn’t look hard enough. Mine never used a nest box so it was like easter every day.

 

[Nabiki]

Quail don't like change and will stop laying for up to two weeks with a large change. That being said, I move my quail a few times a year from one raised garden bed to another. They are in the same greenhouse with the same pen with the same setup otherwise, though. They may pause for a day or two when I move them, but that's about it.

It does depend on the individuals, though. Some are calmer than others.

Here is an article on feed that may help you as well.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/what-to-feed-your-quail.79205/

 

[CliftonQuail]

just a quick question. My mentor who is letting me run my quail behind her goats has warned me that pastured quail won’t lay eggs. She said she’s tried it in her yard and in her green house
And anytime you move them, it takes up to two weeks for them to become comfortable to start laying. I have not finished the tractor build yet. But to me this sounds like balony.
She’s told me 1 male to 5ish females, high protein feed like turkey feed. Never said anything about giving supplemental calcium though.
So I thought I would ask, if anyone has “pastured” quail and if they stopped laying because of it?
Any thoughts or recommendations are welcome.

I've been planning to run meat chicken in tractors. Recently I saw a YouTube video from someone who said they run their meat quail in tractors and it got me to thinking about doing the same, but it'll be next spring before I'll be ready to try that. If you go ahead with your plan to run laying birds in a tractor, I hope you'll come back here and give an update. I'm curious to know if moving the tractor interrupts their laying.
For coturnix, 1 male to 5 females is the most recommended ratio that I've seen here and elsewhere.

 

[Susan Skylark]

I’ve never had trouble with ‘change things and stop laying for 2 weeks.’ We’ve switched up birds in each pen, moved inside birds out and vice versa, even had fireworks going off one night while moving them. I have a naughty cull bird in isolation and she’s still laying. I’d think just moving a quail tractor a few feet wouldn’t faze them at all! As for feed, if you want decent eggs, look for 20 percent protein and 3.5 percent calcium for your adult hens. I’m actually feeding a high protein chicken layer feed and even tried a couple chicks on it from hatch (protein is technically low and calcium is high) but at five weeks they seem to be doing well. Otherwise turkey layer feed, game bird layer feed, or possibly an all flock with an added calcium source could potentially work.